Fraternal Order Of Police Accuses Denver DA Of 'Politically Motivated Indictment' In Frank Gale Case
DENVER (CBS4)- The Colorado State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police is accusing the Denver District Attorney's Office of obtaining what it calls a "politically motivated indictment" of one of its past presidents.
Frank Gale is facing six charges related to using funds that were to belong to a charity.
Ecumenical Refugee and Immigration Services was to receive some $50,000 in restitution money from an unrelated case.
Gale was the organization's board president, now he is accused of taking a large portion of that money for himself.
Gale is well known a past president of the state Fraternal Order of Police, which issued a statement calling him "a man of the highest integrity."
The statement adds, "The FOP believes this is a politically motivated investigation purposely targeting a prominent individual."
Back in 2008 when CBS4 investigator Rick Sallinger discovered a secret lockup being prepared for protestors at the Democratic National Convention, Gale was the spokesman for the Denver Sheriffs Department.
He later served as chief of the Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center in downtown Denver before he was fired. He was accused of giving preferential treatment to an arrested deputy.
The indictment claims Gale laundered money by placing the charity's money in bank accounts he controlled. Some of it was allegedly withdrawn through ATMs. CBS4 attempted to seek out Gale to get his response to the charges which also include forgery to obtain the charity's truck. He was not at his home and his attorney did not return a call.
The state FOP called the charges "baseless" but the Denver District Attorney's office issued a statement, "The indictment speaks for itself, an indictment returned by independent community members serving on the grand jury after hearing evidence presented by career prosecutors with decades of experience in the DA's Office."
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.