VENTURA : Ex-Deputy Ends Appeal of Firing
A former Ventura County sheriff’s deputy, who was fired after being accused of selling cocaine before she joined the force, gave up her bid Wednesday to be reinstated.
April C. Falwell, 30, had appealed her firing to the county Civil Service Commission, but withdrew the appeal early Wednesday “for a variety of personal reasons,” said her attorney, Paul Goyette.
“She felt it was just in the best interests of her, and her family as well, if she did not go forward” with the appeal, Goyette said. “I do know in one respect she’s glad to have this whole thing behind her, because it was a big strain on her.”
Falwell, a four-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was fired Aug. 24 after a long investigation into allegations by admitted drug dealer Todd Eric Kates. Kates said that Falwell sold him cocaine several times in 1983, more than two years before she joined the force, according to court documents. She denies she ever sold drugs.
County legal and sheriff’s officials have declined to comment on the case.
During the investigation, Kates was sentenced to six years in state prison on charges of possessing cocaine for sale, and transporting or selling narcotics.
Falwell tried unsuccessfully to have the civil service hearing closed to the public.
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