Clark Co. Sheriff Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges One Day After Resigning

Yesterday, Clark Co. Sheriff Danny Rodden (D) resigned just two months after he faced a federal indictment that accused him of tampering with evidence and making false statements to FBI agents regarding his relationship with a prostitute at a Louisville hotel. Today, he pleaded guilty to three counts filed against him, including counseling in the destruction of evidence and two counts of providing false statements to law enforcement, in exchange for an agreement to dismiss other charges against him according to the Jeffersonville Evening News.

Under the stipulated facts of his plea agreement, Rodden admitted that he met with a prostitute in a hotel room at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on May 29, 2013 in which he paid $300 to the prostitute for oral sex and also provided the prostitute with a uniformed shirt and other clothing bearing the insignia of the Clark Co. Sheriff's Department. FBI agents interviewed Rodden in May of this year a short time after the prostitute agreed to become an informant for the agency. Rodden told the agent he never had sex with that woman or paid her for sex. Immediately after the interview, Rodden telephoned the prostitute and ordered her to dispose of the clothing bearing the sheriff's department insignia that he had given to her. During a subsequent interview with FBI agents in June, Rodden again lied about his relationship with the prostitute and denied he had her telephone number. Rodden's criminal defense team included high-profile Indianapolis attorney Jim Voyles and Larry "Trash Can" Wilder of Jeffersonville.

According to federal prosecutors, Rodden is likely to be sentenced between 10 and 16 months if the federal judge accepts the plea agreement. Rodden had been placed on administrative leave on July 30 following his indictment. A chief deputy who assumed his duties initially, John Kahafer, died unexpectedly on August 25 days after being hospitalized. Another deputy, Brian Meyer, became active sheriff. The Clark Co. Democratic Party will hold a caucus to select someone to fill out the remainder of Rodden's term, which ends this year. Meyer, the Democratic candidate on the November ballot, is expected to be chosen by the party to fill out the remainder of Rodden's term. Jamey Noel, the Clark Co. Republican Chairman, is the GOP candidate for sheriff this November. Rodden is the second Indiana sheriff to see his career end this year over a relationship with a prostitute. Boone Co. Sheriff Ken Campbell (R) resigned earlier this year for allegedly having a relationship with the very same prostitute who ended Rodden's career. No charges have been filed against Campbell.

Clark County Sheriff Arrested By FBI In Prostitution Sting

UPDATED: The two-term Democratic sheriff of Clark County, Indiana, Danny Rodden, has been a bad boy according to the FBI. A federal grand jury in New Albany has indicted Rodden on charges of attempted evidence destruction and making false statements to FBI agents during an investigation of his relationship with a prostitute. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Sheriff Rodden is accused of providing law enforcement credentials to a prostitute last year so she could rent rooms at a Louisville hotel at government discounted rates. Rodden is accused of meeting the prostitute at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Louisville where he allegedly paid her $300 to perform oral sex. Rodden is not seeking re-election this year due to the state's constitutional term limits barring him from seeking a third consecutive term. Clark County Commissioners are huddling with their attorneys to determine how to proceed in handling Rodden's possible removal from office before the end of his term.

Last month, Boone Co. Sheriff Ken Campbell (R) was forced to step down due to his relationship with a prostitute. An Indianapolis Star report this evening cites a source as claiming the same woman involved in the investigation of Sheriff Campbell is at the center of the charges now brought against Sheriff Rodden. Campbell has still not been charged despite his resignation last month when law enforcement officials became aware of his relationship with the woman in question.

An interesting sidebar is a conversation I had last year with a source involved in the escort business after I questioned the practice of undercover Carmel police actually engaging in sex acts with prostitution targets before placing them under arrest. This source told me that undercover Indianapolis police had actually completed sex acts with an escort before arresting them. According to the source, the undercover officer would only engage in sex with the prostitution target if he was physically attracted to his target; otherwise, the arrest would be made as soon as an agreement had been reached to exchange sex for money.

Another law enforcement source contacted me after Indianapolis police busted up a high-end prostitution ring that was being operated out of the Sheraton Hotel at Keystone at the Crossing where johns were paying $550 an hour and up for the sexual services of very attractive escorts. The law enforcement official complained that very prominent persons in the Indianapolis community were known by police to be utilizing the services of these escorts, including one of Indianapolis' most prominent criminal defense attorneys, but none of the johns were arrested in the sting to protect these  high-profile clients from public embarrassment.

Larry "Trash Can" Wilder Now Representing Katina Powell, Denies She Pimped Out Underage Daughters

The adult escort who co-authored a book with Dick Cady accusing the University of Louisville basketball program of paying her and other escorts to provide adult entertainment to the team's basketball players and recruits is now represented by Larry Wilder, a Jeffersonville, Indiana lawyer once found passed out in a trash can following a night of heavy drinking in Louisville. Wilder tells the USA Today that none of Powell's daughters were underage at the time they were used in their mother's adult entertainment business despite claims made in her book to the contrary and her book makes no such claims despite news reports to the contrary

Wilder told the newspaper Powell decided to retain him because of concern she could face criminal charges based on statements she made in her new book, "Breaking Cardinal Rules." “The book does not indicate that any of her daughters were not of legal age to undertake the activities they undertook,” Wilder told USA Today. The national newspaper raised Wilder's past drinking episode in the article. "Wilder was found passed out in a trash can in 2009, and photographs were leaked to the News and Tribune in his home of Jeffersonville, Ind," USA Today reported. "As a result, Wilder lost jobs as an attorney for the Jefferson City Council and the Clark County, and he told the Louisville Courier-Journal that he'd been out for a night of celebratory drinking."

Wilder told the paper he had represented other prominent clients as a criminal defense attorney, including University of Louisville athletes. One of Wilder's former clients was former Clark County Sheriff Danny Rodden, who pleaded guilty one year ago to lying to the FBI and witness tampering regarding allegations he had paid for sex with a prostitute in a Louisville hotel room. Rodden admitted that he met with a prostitute in a hotel room at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on May 29, 2013 in which he paid $300 to the prostitute for oral sex and also provided the prostitute with a uniformed shirt and other clothing bearing the insignia of the Clark Co. Sheriff's Department. Rodden was accused of telling the prostitute to get rid of the evidence and lie about his involvement with her. Indianapolis criminal defense attorney Jim Voyles also represented Rodden in that criminal case. Do you think there's any connection to that case and Ms. Powell's allegations against the Cardinals' basketball program?

Powell's own book appeared to implicate her in the human trafficking of her daughters. Quoting from her book, the Courier-Journal wrote on October 5, 2015 of Powell's daughter's involvement in her adult escort business: "She admits, for example, that she pimped her three daughters — the youngest when she was only 15 — and she makes no apologies for it. "People may think that I expose my kids,” she writes. “But ----, they enjoy themselves, they meet new people. ... For those who have a problem with it, kiss my ---." Wilder is saying something quite different now. "Based on the facts, none of those daughters were underage at the time they engaged in conduct involving Mrs. Powell, involving all of these folks who are up in a hornet’s nest."

Inmate Taken From County Jail To Help Move Junk Furniture From Clark Co. Judge's Rental Property

A Clark Co. circuit court judge whose handling of a local drug court has been under scrutiny by state judicial officials is back in the news. The News & Tribune is reporting that an inmate at the Clark Co. jail was removed from the facility and taken to a rental property owned by Judge Jerry Jacobi where he helped removed junk furniture left behind by a former tenant. A community service coordinator, Joe Renck, was authorized to remove the inmate from the jail by the chief deputy in the sheriff's department, Brian Meyer, to help move the furniture from Jacobi's rental property. Renck says he was asked by Judge Jacobi to remove the furniture.

Renck defended the use of an inmate to perform personal work for Judge Jacobi, noting that he used his own personal vehicle to move the furniture. Renck said he returned the inmate to the jail after he helped load the furniture items in his vehicle before he transported them to a half-way house. Renck didn't believe there was any favorable treatment given to Judge Jacobi since he was donating the items to a nonprofit organization.  “Jacobi don’t know anything. He just asked me if I would get the stuff. He has no idea who went with me or nothing. The judge don’t know that I used [the inmate],” Renck said. “[Jacobi] just asked me, just as a friend.” Renck claimed he wasn't on duty at the time, although the News & Tribune reported that he turned in hours worked for that day, which he says was to make up hours from the Labor Day weekend. Judge Jacobi hung up the telephone when a reporter for the News & Tribune attempted to reach him to get his comment on the matter.

Chief Deputy Sheriff Brian Meyer, who has been acting as sheriff since Sheriff Danny Rodden was indicted by federal prosecutors concerning his relationship with a prostitute, defended Renck's actions, although he said he was unaware the inmate was going to be used to remove furniture from Judge Jacobi's rental property. Judge Dab Moore, who had authorized the inmate's transfer into the community corrections program saw it differently because Renck lacked any arrest powers. “How he [the inmate] gets released to do moving business is not within any definition of community service that I’ve ever heard. It’s a real safety risk, because if he decided to take off and run, Mr. Renck can’t chase him and he doesn’t have any authority to stop him. It’s a bad situation.” Meyer didn't see the issue of flight as an issue, noting that the inmate had been allowed to wash cars on county property while unsupervised for the past several months.

The Indiana Judicial Center suspended the Clark Co. drug treatment court Judge Jacobi oversees earlier this year after it was learned that drug court participants were jailed for months without cause and subjected to unauthorized searches and arrests by the drug court. Lawsuits have been filed against the court for violating drug court participant's constitutional rights, which have been certified for class action status. The Indiana Judicial Center removed current drug court participants from Judge Jacobi's supervision.