Drug investigators said county targeted them over politics. Here’s what a judge ruled

A federal judge in Tacoma has dismissed a lawsuit brought by nine former members of a Pierce County Sheriff’s Department Special Investigations Unit who claimed the bosses instigated baseless investigations of the outfit and shut it down to influence an election.

U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright granted Pierce County’s motion for summary judgment Tuesday after finding the plaintiffs failed to show sufficient evidence proving their claims. The lawsuit was brought after the Sheriff’s Department twice shut down the narcotics trafficking investigations team in the months before the 2020 race for sheriff.

Prosecutor Mary Robnett, whose office defended the county, former Sheriff Paul Pastor and Undersheriff Brent Bomkamp, said Wednesday that they were gratified by the outcome of the case.

“It’s time to move forward,” Robnett said in an emailed statement. “I’m glad our office’s relationship with the Sheriff’s Department remained strong throughout this process.”

The plaintiffs were nine of 13 members of the Special Investigations Unit, and $1.5 million claims were filed on behalf of each of them: Lt. Cynthia Fajardo, Sgt. Chris Adamson, detectives Darrin Rayner, Ryan Olivarez, Elizabeth Reigle and Shaun Darby, and deputies Jason Bray, Lucas Cole and James Maas.

Their attorney, Joan Mell, told The News Tribune on Wednesday that she planned to appeal to the 9th Circuit. Mell said it was a sad day for the safety of Pierce County and that Robnett had done a disservice to the community.

“It’s a sad day when cops are so disparaged and mistreated that they can be lied about and their names dragged through the mud, and their identities and families put at risk and their informants put at risk,” the attorney said.

The Special Investigations Unit was first disbanded in April 2020 after deputy prosecutors and at least one drug unit member raised concerns about its practices, including writing fake police reports and conducting improper searches. Those concerns resulted in criminal charges not being pursued against two drug traffickers.

A subsequent internal investigation conducted by an outside law enforcement agency flagged 45 possible policy violations. A review of that investigation sustained seven violations, largely clearing the unit of serious wrongdoing and finding that the internal investigation was the result of communication issues and a broken relationship with prosecutors. Fajardo and Darby were disciplined as a result of the investigation. Fajardo and Darby were found to have unsatisfactory job performance, and Darby was also reprimanded for insubordination and violating a policy regarding confidential informants.

The first shutdown came within a month of the filing deadline for the sheriff’s election, in which Fajardo was a candidate. She lost to Ed Troyer. Fajardo has again filed for candidacy in the 2024 election for sheriff.

When former Sheriff Pastor relaunched the Special Investigations Unit on July 10, 2020, all of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit except for Fajardo and Darby returned to the team.

The relaunch came with new leadership and some new detectives, and 10 members were placed on prosecutors’ “potential impeachment recurring witness list,” which became a sticking point of the lawsuit. Being on the list requires prosecutors to disclose information to defense attorneys that would call the witness’ credibility into question. Five members also were being internally investigated by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.

Within days the narcotics team was again disbanded.

Cartwright wrote in her 30-page order that Pastor and Undersheriff Brent Bomkamp, both defendants in the lawsuit, closed the unit “almost immediately” after The News Tribune published an article July 15, which Cartwright said revealed the plaintiffs had spoken to news reporters about the matter.

The story reported that the drug unit was being internally investigated, and it included a collective statement from the unit which stated that the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had permanently damaged their reputations by placing members, including Fajardo, on the potential impeachment list.

When the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in July 2021, they alleged that Pierce County, Pastor and Bomkamp retaliated against their First Amendment rights by shutting down the Special Investigation Unit, and they brought claims for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract among others.

Cartwright wrote that the plaintiffs specifically alleged they were retaliated against for writing a letter to Pastor seeking representation from the sheriff’s guild, for supporting Fajardo’s campaign for sheriff and for making statements to The News Tribune.

No evidence was cited to show that plaintiffs’ letter to Pastor was a motivating factor in the defendants’ decision to shut down the team, Cartwright wrote, and the judge made a similar finding regarding the plaintiffs’ political activism for Fajardo. She noted that the first shutdown happened before Fajardo announced her campaign, and evidence of Bomkamp and Pastor’s support for Troyer came months later.

“There is simply no evidence in the record that connects Pastor’s decision to shut down the SIU in April 2020 to Fajardo’s plans to announce her candidacy a month later, or to the other Plaintiffs’ support of her,” Cartwright wrote.

In Pierce County’s motion for summary judgment, filed March 11, the defendants stated that the shutdowns were necessary because of serious concerns regarding the unit’s practices.

Bomkamp testified under deposition that he shut down the unit July 15 after receiving an email from Robnett regarding The News Tribune article because the Prosecutor’s Office was not willing to work with a number of people in the unit.

Cartwright recognized that was sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude that plaintiffs’ speech to the newspaper was a substantial or motivating factor in the decision to shut down the unit and reassign the plaintiffs. But the judge found that under the circumstances, Pastor and Bomkamp’s interest in the proper functioning of the Sheriff’s Department and its ability to work with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office outweighed the plaintiffs First Amendment rights.