St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery is heading to jail after a judge ruled the sheriff violated his bond.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Bodenhausen made the ruling Tuesday morning after Montgomery was accused of several violations of his federal release conditions.
Montgomery’s second-in-command, Col. Yousef Yasharahla, is now in charge of the sheriff’s office.
The arrest marks a major development in Montgomery’s monthslong legal saga, during which he has maintained his innocence.
Montgomery was indicted by a federal grand jury in August for having then-acting jail Commissioner Tammy Ross handcuffed in February. Bodenhausen placed Montgomery on house arrest last week after the sheriff was charged with five additional federal felonies, including four for witness retaliation and one charge of witness tampering. The sheriff was ordered to wear an ankle monitor and put on house arrest until Tuesday’s hearing.
Montgomery pleaded not guilty to all five charges, claiming that the sheriff’s office put a team in place to handle disciplinary actions and that an individual was fired for shredding documents she wasn’t supposed to in the dead of night. The sheriff’s attorneys filed a motion Monday asking that the court keep him on bond and argued against his arrest, citing the lack of a criminal history and lack of evidence filed in the case.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed a motion in St. Louis Circuit Court on Friday asking a judge to immediately oust Montgomery from office — the third attempt to remove the sheriff in the department's long-running quo warranto against Montgomery.
Circuit Judge Steven R. Ohmer denied the request Friday, citing a need for a trial and a lack of evidence from the attorney general’s office. Hanaway’s office said in court documents that it would be impossible for Montgomery to do his job as sheriff if sent to jail.
Ohmer has scheduled the next hearing in the quo warranto for Oct. 29. The trial in the case is set for November.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
