Former Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Adam Alcon pleaded guilty on July 5 to a charge of official misconduct, according to a statement released Friday by Deputy District Attorney Sheena Goldsborough.
Alcon was fired from his position as a patrol sergeant on April 24, after working as a full-time Montezuma County officer for about 11 years. He first appeared in court on May 31 to face charges resulting from the alleged theft of equipment, including a rifle scope and a pair of night vision goggles, from the sheriff’s office inventory earlier this year. At a disposition hearing on July 5, he pleaded guilty to first-degree official misconduct, a Class 2 misdemeanor.
“Although Mr. Alcon accepted responsibility for his actions, the consequences of this conviction will render Mr. Alcon unemployable as a law enforcement officer,” Goldsborough wrote on Friday.
Alcon originally faced a charge of stealing property worth $2,000 to $5,000, a Class 6 felony, in addition to the misconduct charge. The official plea agreement shows that charge was dismissed as one of the terms of Alcon’s guilty plea. In an email on Monday, District Attorney Will Furse wrote that the court allowed the charge to be dropped due to Alcon’s cooperation with the investigation and his lack of a previous criminal record.
The court ordered Alcon to pay a fine of $250, plus costs and fees, Furse wrote, which the plea agreement showed is the minimum sentence for a Class 2 misdemeanor. Alcon will not be required to serve jail time.
The missing property was recovered during the investigation in April, Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin said. He said sheriff’s office staff found some of the equipment in the possession of someone who had purchased it, and Alcon turned in the rest to internal investigators.
“He fully cooperated with the internal investigation, which was best,” Nowlin said.
Alcon had worked as a full-time patrol officer for the sheriff’s office for 11 years when he was fired.
According to performance evaluations obtained by The Journal, Alcon was average in most areas of law enforcement throughout his career, such as problem-solving and investigative skills. Early evaluations of his time in the detention division mentioned that he was “quick to pull out the (restraint) chair and Taser,” but not in a way that broke department policy.
Alcon rose through the ranks of the department, starting as a part-time employee in 2002 and earning the rank of sergeant by 2012, according to the performance evaluations. Supervisors commented that he was a good candidate for a leadership role in the department.
By 2010, Alcon had risen to the rank of corporal, and by 2012 he had become a patrol sergeant, according to the evaluations. He transferred to the detective division in 2014, which had been his goal for some time, according to that year’s report. His last performance evaluation, in 2015, was the first to say he exceeded office standards on taking care of agency resources.
Alcon started with the department as a community corrections deputy in 2002. He also worked as a detention deputy, focusing on court security, detention and inmate transportation, before becoming a full-time patrol officer in 2006, according to his performance evaluations.
In his 2007 evaluation, the first report completed after Alcon became a full-time deputy, Alcon wrote that he was optimistic about the future.
“It has been a great first year to what hopes to be a promising career with (the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office),” he wrote in the self-evaluation portion of the report.
In Alcon’s 2009 performance review, then-Sgt. Jason Spruell gave the deputy high praise all around. Spruell wrote that Alcon was a “great asset” to the sheriff’s office.
“I wish we had more employees with Deputy Alcon’s drive and attitude,” Spruell wrote in the report. Spruell, the son of former Montezuma County Dennis Spruell, is now the Mancos marshal.