COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A former El Paso County Sheriff's Office (EPSO) Deputy accepted a plea deal after being accused of faking cancer and defrauding his coworkers.
RELATED: Former El Paso Co. Deputy faked cancer, divorce to defraud coworkers, live double life
Former El Paso County Deputy Kevin Sypher faced charges of fraud and theft stemming from allegations of Sypher living a double life and faking a cancer diagnosis. Court documents show Sypher stole over $20,000 from seven victims. Then he used the money for vacations in California and Florida.
"Mr. Sypher's situation sort of snowballed to where it got out of control. That's where I think the disappearance came in. He really felt like he had nowhere else to turn or anyone else that could help him," Beau Worthington, one of Sypher's defense attorneys told KRDO13 Investigates . Authorities launched two separate searches for Sypher in the past few years. The last search lasted a year when Sypher went missing in Rocky Mountain National Park.
In an El Paso County Courtroom, Sypher accepted a plea deal where he pleaded guilty to two charges, a felony theft charge and a misdemeanor charge of official misconduct. While discussing the details of the plea deal with the judge, Senior Deputy District Attorney Tony Gioia called the charges against Sypher an anomaly. Gioia added that before the charges were filed, "you would have heard that [Sypher's] the nicest guy you ever met."
RELATED: Wife betrayed, coworkers victim of former El Paso County deputy facing fraud, theft charges
Sypher received a 2 year deferred sentence for theft, and 2 years for the official misconduct charge.
Sypher's defense team in court said that he intends to pay victims all seven back. They also said that he has frontal global dementia and that is why he faked cancer. Specifically, they discussed the stigma surrounding mental health and law enforcement officers.
"[Sypher] has every intention of repaying the money back," Worthington said. "I know he's wanted to do that from day one, and that's something we've talked about very extensively."
The prosecution now has 42 days to officially submit restitution.
Part of what launched the investigation into Sypher was an Internal Affairs complaint that was filed by a EPSO volunteer.
On March 6, 2023, he asked a volunteer of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, and a friend since 2010, to participate in a role-playing exercise that would be used for crisis negotiation training.
However, the volunteer later learned the call wasn’t role-play for a training exercise. The person on the other line, who was Sypher’s soon-to-be second ex-wife called back the next day, saying she was confused and the doctors at the hospital didn’t know what cancer she was talking about.
That’s when the volunteer filed an Internal Affairs complaint with EPSO.
That volunteer, Dr. John Michael Williams Sr., asked to remain anonymous while the court proceedings were ongoing but, after Sypher accepted the plea and was sentenced, Dr. Williams sat down with KRDO13 Investigates . His interview can be watched below.
The post Former El Paso Co. Deputy pleads guilty, accused of faking cancer, defrauding coworkers appeared first on KRDO .
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