Cop’s lies put innocent people in jail, authorities say. But he won’t serve time.
A former Florida sheriff’s deputy whose lies put innocent people behinds bars for drug offenses will give up his license to practice law enforcement, but not his freedom, the Florida Times-Union reported.
During at least four traffic stops last year, Nassau County cop Kyle Tholl didn’t test the drugs he found or try to verify if the person had a prescription for them, WOKV said. His inaction left his victims facing charges, the station reported.
When Tholl made a traffic stop in October, he claimed to have field-tested 21 “little yellow pills” found in the driver’s car and said the pills tested positive for ecstasy, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Tholl also said he found a clear plastic bag that contained methamphetamine, the affidavit said. The driver was arrested on drug possession charges.
But when another deputy tested the drugs, his results ran contrary to what Tholl claimed to find: the pills didn’t test positive for ecstasy, nor did the residue in the bag test positive for methamphetamine (it did test positive for fentanyl), according to court documents. Video from inside the car showed Tholl hadn’t tested anything, authorities said.
A few weeks later, Tholl stopped Phillip Curtiss on a highway and wrote in an arrest affidavit that he found two pills identified as Lisinopril, a prescription blood pressure medication, according to court documents.
Despite telling Tholl that he had a prescription for the drugs, Curtiss was arrested, the affidavit said. Deputies later located Curtiss’ prescription receipt in his wallet — but still left him in jail, the Times-Union reported.
Curtiss reportedly lost his job during his 35-day stint behind bars, which he served after pleading no contest to possessing drugs without a prescription, according to the Times-Union.
Tholl pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of perjury and making a false statement under oath, WOKV reported. His punishment includes a year’s probation and community service, plus a payout to one of his victims, according to the radio station.
Sheriff Bill Leeper has said he isn’t sure why Tholl, who was fired in December, would “throw away his career for no reason,” the Times-Union reported.