On the Beat in the Bluegrass

PARIS — A former Bourbon County chief deputy jailer accused of wrongdoing on her job entered an Alford plea during a court hearing Thursday morning and will be sentenced in March.

Sandy Dotson, who was appointed to her position after jailer Tony Horn was elected in November 2007, has also resigned from her job at the jail, her attorney said Thursday.

Dotson, who had worked at the jail about eight years, was charged with two counts of tampering with physical evidence and one count of official misconduct.

She entered an Alford plea on one count of tampering with physical evidence, a Class D felony, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor. The second tampering charge was dropped in the plea agreement.

An Alford plea means Dotson does not admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction.

Dotson’s attorney, Tucker Richardson, said he thought there was potential for a favorable outcome in a trial, but Dotson wanted to move on with her life.

“She just wanted to get it over with,” Richardson said.

Dotson declined to comment.

Dotson was accused of ordering a deputy jailer to create a false observation call record after inmate Daniel Trimble committed suicide in February. She was also accused of concealing a file related to the ensuing investigation and failing to investigate or report the disappearance of methadone pills.

Horn has been charged with two counts of tampering with public records, a class D felony, and two counts of official misconduct.

An indictment says Horn ordered the destruction of e-mails after Trimble’s death with “the intent to impair the e-mails’ availability for use in the official proceeding.”

Horn faxed a fabricated document to the Department of Corrections in February because he thought an investigation was pending, the indictment says.

Horn is also accused of failing to investigate or report to the Department of Corrections the disappearance of 30 methadone pills, according to court records. And, in July, Horn allowed an inmate who was charged with first-degree robbery to be on work release without a court order.

Horn’s case is still pending; his next court date has not been scheduled.

Dotson is scheduled to be sentenced March 4. Prosecutors recommended that Dotson serve a yearlong sentence for the felony, the minimum, and 12 months, the maximum sentence, for official misconduct. The sentences would run concurrently.

In September, Bourbon County Judge-Executive Donnie Foley said Horn and Dotson had given up duties at the jail pending the outcome of the case, but their titles had not been revoked. Both were still receiving paychecks.

Horn’s employment status with the county is unclear.