After months of mounting controversy and clashes with city leaders, St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery was ordered to jail Tuesday following a federal hearing that laid bare what a judge called a troubling pattern of deception and defiance.

The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Bodenhausen capped weeks of intensifying scrutiny of the sheriff, who has faced pressure to resign even as he insisted on his innocence. Mayor Cara Spencer said the situation “has reached new heights and must now come to an end,” urging Montgomery to step aside and allow the city to “move forward during a time of transition.”

City officials have already taken steps to limit Montgomery’s authority and maintain stability within the sheriff’s office, where Col. Yousef Yasharahla has assumed command in his abse

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