The Missouri Attorney General’s office on Thursday dropped its claim that Sheriff Alfred Montgomery hired his half-brother after DNA evidence showed otherwise. On the same day, federal prosecutors indicted Montgomery on a misdemeanor charge stemming from him ordering his deputies to handcuff deputy jail commissioner, Tammy Ross, after she refused to give him access to a detainee.

The handcuffing incident began early this year after Montgomery heard accusations about a sheriff’s deputy having sexual encounters with an inmate. When Montgomery went to the City Justice Center, insisting on seeing the detainee, Ross allegedly refused to let him do so. Reportedly, Montgomery announced she was being held “in contempt” and ordered a deputy to handcuff her and take her to his office.

The St. Loui

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