SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich held a press conference on Monday to further explain why he chose to fire Deputy Craig Chamberlin. He was fired last week after an investigation into his conduct.
Knezovich fired former Deputy Craig after an internal investigation in November. It stemmed from a reference letter Chamberlin wrote for a man charged with possession of child pornography.
Knezovich said he was not fired for writing that letter, but rather because he believes Chamberlin lied about the circumstances surrounding it.
“Not only has he lied to us in this investigation, he is lying to you in the media,” Knezovich said.
The Sheriff claims Chamberlin lied about not knowing the man he wrote the reference letter for was charged with possession of child pornography. But Chamberlin insists he only knew there was an active investigation after confirming with a sex crimes detective.
“I did not ask what type of case, he did not specify what type of case, he told me there was an active case and it was a Spokane Police Department case," Chamberlin. said. "And that's all I wanted to know."
According to Sheriff Knezovich, Chamberlin’s story changed in all three interviews during the internal investigation.
“It was almost impossible for me to keep it all straight," Knezovich said.
But Chamberlin said that's not the case.
“I was completely 100% forthcoming about this entire process," he said "For one, it had absolutely nothing to do with me, it wasn't my investigation.”
The Sheriff said Chamberlin's record with the sheriff's office includes three total internal investigations. Chamberlin is adamant the Sheriff had political motives for firing him--since he is now running for Sheriff.
But Knezovich said that isn't true because he's spent a decade trying to salvage Chamberlain's career—which included several years of serving as the Sheriff’s public information officer.
"If he tried to salvage me, if I was that much of a hindrance, that much of an issue to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, why was I the face of the department?" Chamberlin said.
Knezovich said it’s a possibility Chamberlin would still be a deputy had he not lied. But, he would have still enforced a temporary suspension if that had been the case.
KREM 2 submitted a public records request for documents relating to Chamberlin's internal investigations. We will share our findings once we get those copies.