“On February 22, 2013 the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office received a request from local attorney McCracken Poston to 'invite the Georgia Bureau of Investigations to look into matters' involving Federal Agent Ken Hillman of the FBI.
“These matters have to do with alleged indiscretions, policy and procedural violations involving agent Hillman and Mr. Poston's client’s soon-to-be ex-wife.
“Mr. Poston did not allege any wrongdoing involving employees of the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office.
“Any issues Mr. Poston may have with Agent Hillman should be addressed with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. It is my understanding that they are conducting an internal investigation at his request. Neither the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office nor the Georgia Bureau of Investigations investigate policy and/or procedural violations of Federal Agents or get involved in civil divorce cases. I do not feel this is a wise expense of the taxpayer's money when it does not affect the duty of my office.
“The Sheriffs Office will fully cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigations internal investigation when and if the time comes.”
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In response to sheriff Gary Sisk’s statement, attorney McCracken Poston has issued this statement:
“The information regarding these traffic stops must be pretty hot for the Sheriff's office to try to shut it down like this!
“Once again, I am not the attorney of record for Emerson Russell. R. Kevin Silvey is his attorney.
“The matters requested of the Sheriff to review happened long before Agent Ken Hillman even knew the Russell family, and have nothing to do with any divorce action. The matters requested of the Sheriff to review are the decisions and actions of his department on how it conducted itself after a series of traffic stops that involved a federal agent.
“It is a clever ploy to try to cast these issues in the light of a divorce case, but as I said, these issues involve our Sheriff's department's actions, inactions and decisions long before the agent at issue met any of the Russell's.
“While the FBI has in fact conducted a preliminary investigation of Ken Hillman, the FBI will have no jurisdiction in the issue of the actions of the Catoosa County Sheriff's Department. Any series of decisions by our Sheriff's Department to authorize multiple suspected DUI stops on the same individual to become courtesy taxi services for the suspect are decisions that the taxpayers of Catoosa County would like to look into. Of course, Sheriff Sisk was a high ranking officer in the previous administration when these questionable decisions were made. I have no idea if he knew about them at the time, but his reluctance to conduct his office with transparency is troubling.
“I'm sure the Sheriff either knows or has at least done some level of inquiry in his own department. I think he should answer a few simple questions:
“1) Was his department involved in traffic stops of FBI Agent Ken Hillman? When, and what were the nature of those stops?
“2) What was the response of the Sheriff's Department to those stops? Who made the ultimate decisions?
“3) Was a federal agent allowed to “phone a friend” or was another person allowed to come pick up the agent to keep him from continuing to drive?
“4) Was a federal agent allowed to continue driving after a traffic stop when there was evidence that he should not have been allowed to continue driving?
“The citizens deserve to have confidence in their government, and because of the diversion tactics used today they will now go without the assurances that a review by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation could have given them.
“I am a citizen of Catoosa County. I do not think I am alone in wanting these questions answered.”
Cops give depositions, cops take craps, cops eat lunch, cops are generally busy, and sometimes they have to do things they don't like. If these questions would gobble up too much time, I say hire more, and do a much better vetting process from the get go.
And then there's this. "Once again, I am not the attorney of record for Emerson Russell. R. Kevin Silvey is his attorney." Ken Poston. Hmm.
Also, we aren't talking about them doing favors for a murder. Law enforcement agencies scratch each others backs and have since they began. He drove an agent and his drunk girlfriend home. No he shouldn't have done it. He should have called them a cab but that's his mistake. Let it go!