Also, state criminal investigators said they have wrapped up their case and will present their findings today to the state attorney general’s office for possible prosecution.Jeff Fowler, a patrol sergeant and firearms instructor, was terminated after an internal investigation linked him to the large amount of stolen rifle and handgun ammunition, Sheriff Chris Hoffman said Thursday.
Fowler had been on administrative leave since the Montana Department of Criminal Investigation started its investigation on June 16, a day after Hoffman reported the missing ammunition.
Hoffman’s announcement was the first time that authorities have released Fowler’s name.Hoffman said his office’s internal investigation was separate from the DCI’s criminal inquiry.
John Strandell, the DCI’s chief of investigations, said his agency would file its case with the state attorney general’s office today.
“We’ve had an agent doing some follow up in Hamilton,” Strandell said. “We’ll send the case to prosecutors for review as early as next week.”Strandell said a large amount of the stolen ammunition has been recovered from Bitterroot Valley gun shops and is being held as evidence.He and Hoffman declined to say how much ammunition was stolen, how much remained to be recovered or how the theft was discovered.
The ammunition was bought by the sheriff’s office for training and duty use.Hoffman said the ammunition room has been secured and the departmental policy on who has access to it has been reviewed.Fowler joined the sheriff’s office as a patrol deputy in 1999 and most recently was a patrol sergeant, firearms instructor and senior rifle instructor.He also was the sheriff’s representative on the county’s DUI Task Force and senior breathalyzer test specialist.
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