Westmorland officials are being sued by police officers
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Two Westmorland city officials are being sued after one officer was fired and another was allegedly harassed while on the job.
Westmorland resident Michael McCurry supports two officers who are suing city council member Henry Graham and Police Chief Perry Monita for abuse of authority.
“You can’t come to Westmorland, and even though it’s just a tiny town, and take advantage of Westmorland by abusing your power,” McCurry said.
The lawsuit filed by former police officer Maximus Barabino and officer Alfonso Martinez, who is still working for the department.
“These officers have been targeted for retaliation because they stood up. One of the officers stood up at council and spoke out against certain things that were going on in the city. And the other one was wrongfully terminated and his name has been tarnished,” McCurry said.
The officers claim in the lawsuit that they’re victims of harassment, destruction of evidence and wrongful termination – all because they spoke out against an alleged theft of federal grant funds by former police chief Fred Beltran and his son, former sergeant Freddie Beltran.
“They [the Beltrans] put their timecard in for the ghost hours. They were paid for the ghost hours. Then when the investigation came out by the FBI, and the evidence came back that they had enough evidence to prosecute them and the city attorney Mitch Driskill and the council failed to prosecute them,” McCurry said.
McCurry pointed to a copy of a city email in his hands that mentions the findings of the investigation conducted by the FBI and the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office.
“They had the proof to prosecute the ex-chief and the ex-sergeant of Westmorland,” McCurry said.
McCurry said Barabino and Martinez were punished for speaking out against the city’s failure to act.
“And the cover-up is still going till this day,” McCurry said.
We reached out to Westmorland City Attorney Mitch Driskill. He said he hadn’t read the lawsuit yet. He had no comments.
To read the full lawsuit, click the link below:
