St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery, center, leaves the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse with his attorneys Bill Margulis, left, and Justin Gelfand, right, in St. Louis on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025 (Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP).
A Missouri sheriff is in federal custody after he was indicted for allegedly retaliating against and intimidating witnesses in a case that stemmed from him having a jail administrator arrested.
St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery was first indicted in August on allegations of misdemeanor deprivation of rights under the color of law when he allegedly had the acting administrator of the St. Louis City Justice Center arrested in February for not allowing his deputies in jail. While out on bond, feds allege, Montgomery retaliated against witnesses of the jail administrator”s arrest by demoting or firing them.
Montgomery was recorded on a phone call last month with a St. Louis Sheriff’s Office employee discussing his actions, feds say. The employee he demoted was identified in the indictment as W.H.
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“On or about September 5, 2025, in a recorded phone call with a SLSO employee, Montgomery stated, ‘[W.H.] ain’t have s— to do with it. We read the depositions. I thought it was [W.H.]. That’s why I put [W.H.] back in his place, that’s why I demoted him at first, cause motherf—ers made it seem like it was … and they made it seem like it was [W.H.],” feds wrote.
Then he turned his ire on the other three witnesses, identified as L.S., T.S. 1 and T.S. 2.
From the indictment:
ln the September 5, 2025 recorded phone call, Montgomery further stated that “[L.S., T.S.2, T.S.1] been playing f—ing games since day one. [L.S., T.S.2, and T.S.1] the ones been telling the feds all type of s—… We got it on record, the depositions, [L.S., T.S.2, and T.S. 1] statements to the FBI, all the s— [L.S., T.S.2, and T.S.1] been telling them people … It’s been the motherf—ers the whole f—ing time … I’m sick of this s— and I’m sick of these snake motherf—ers … [T.S.1, L.S., and T.S.2] gotta go … [T.S.1, L.S., and T.S.2] definitely gotta go … I don’t have to take this s—, I’m the f—ing sheriff. I say it’s either done or it ain’t. I don’t have to tolerate this s—. You work for the pleasure of me. I brought you in this motherf—er, I will move you up out this motherf—er.
CBS affiliate KMOV reported that prosecutors alleged in court that Montgomery used a “burner phone” he bought while out on bond to make the alleged intimidation call.
Feds also allege that Montgomery barred the three witnesses from the courthouse and put one of them on unpaid administrative leave for “insubordination,” but never provided a basis for the decision.
On Tuesday, feds handed down a superseding indictment of Montgomery for four counts of witness retaliation and one count of witness tampering.
Montgomery, who was on house arrest from his first indictment, was placed into federal custody on Tuesday. Cops recovered 14 firearms from his home, KTVI reported.
His attorney proclaimed his client innocent.
“What happened here is the sheriff was indicted for five felonies he didn’t commit,” Justin Gelfand told reporters after the hearing, per CBS affiliate KMOV. “”Since when do you have a defense lawyer begging to put on evidence of actual innocence in a federal courtroom and a prosecutor saying I don’t want to hear it? That’s not justice.”
As a result of Montgomery’s arrest, officials named an interim sheriff, KMOV reported. Voters elected Montgomery, a Democrat, last year.
