America's best sheriff will soon be on the other side of the prison bars.
The Arapahoe County ex-sheriff once beloved for his anti-drug crusades will spend 15 months locked up — for probation violations on his 2012 meth conviction.
On Thursday, a judge sentenced Pat Sullivan, who once won the national "Sheriff of the Year" title, to more than a year in prison. Last month, the 71-year-old admitted to failing and missing drug tests, the Denver Post reported
Judge William Sylvester said Sullivan skipped 26 urine tests in his two years on probation. Another 10 tested positive for meth or alcohol.
"I have a drug problem, and I have had a drug problem for a long time," Sullivan said in court. "All I can do is live a better life from today."
[video]
The ex-officer was convicted in 2012 for trading meth for sex. In 2011, cameras caught him offering the drug as payment to an male informant, who was undercover as a prostitute.
He was sentenced to 38 days in jail and two years of probation, Denver's 9 News reported.
But during that probation, Sullivan found excuses to skip regular drug tests and flunked many of the few he took, probation officer Hallie Miller said.
Once, he told police his neighbor drugged him. Another time, he said he was on vitamins that rendered the positive results.
