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RIGHT NOW, THE CEO OF A COMPANY HIRED BY THE STATE TO CONDUCT SAFETY TESTS AT COURTHOUSES AND COURT BUILDINGS IS BLASTING THE DALLAS COUNTY SHERIFF. TWO EMPLOYEES, JUSTIN WYNN AND GARY DEMECURIO, WORK FOR COLORADO-BASED CYBER SECURITY COMPANY, COALFIRE. THEY WERE CHARGED WITH TRESPASSING AFTER THEY WERE CAUGHT INSIDE THE DALLAS COUNTY COURTHOUSE BACK IN SEPTEMBER AND WERE ARRESTE COALFIRE CEO TOM MCANDREW POSTED A LENGTHY STATEMENT ON THEIR WEBSITE DESCRIBING WHAT HAPPENED AND, BLASTED SHERIFF CHAD LEONAR THE CEO SAYS HE EXPECTED T CHARGES TO BE DROPPED AFTER THE IOWA SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE APOLOGIZED AND ADMITTED MISTAKES. AFTER HIS EMPLOYEES DISCOVERED THE FRONT DOORS OF THE DALLAS COUNTY COURTHOUSE WERE UNLOC

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The CEO of a company hired by the state to conduct security tests at Iowa courthouses and the state court building released a statement Wednesday in support of two employees now charged with trespassing.Officials say 29-year-old Justin Wynn, of Naples, Florida, and 43-year old Gary Demercurio, of Seattle, work for Westminster, Colorado-based cybersecurity company Coalfire.Wynn and Demercurio were caught inside the Dallas County Courthouse in Adel after midnight Sept. 11 and arrested. The two were also suspected of doing the same at the Polk County Courthouse, but were never charged in that incident.They were initially charged with felony burglary charges, but those charges were reduced to trespassing. Court records show County Attorney Charles Sinnard asked a district court judge last Friday to reduce the charge from felony burglary to a trespass charge. Judge Terry Rickers approved the change.In response, Coalfire CEO Tom McAndrew penned a lengthy statement on the Coalfire website describing what happened the night of Sept. 11 and lambasting Sheriff Chad Leonard.“The ongoing situation in Iowa is completely ridiculous, and I hope that the citizens of Iowa continue to push for justice and common sense. Today, we found out that charges against Justin Wynn and Gary DeMercurio, the two Coalfire employees at the center of the Dallas County Courthouse incident on September 11, 2019, have been reduced from felony accusations of Burglary in the third-degree and possession of burglary tools to criminal trespass,” said McAndrew. “I do not consider this a “win” for our employees, and Coalfire will continue to support and aggressively pursue all avenues to ensure that all charges are dropped and their criminal records are purged of any wrongdoing. After the Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice apologized and admitted mistakes were made, I was expecting all charges to be dropped.”McAndrew went on to describe how his employees discovered the front doors to the Dallas County Courthouse were unlocked.“The day after the successful entry into the Judicial Branch Building, the employees walked up to the main entrance of Dallas County Courthouse around midnight. Our employees could have simply walked in through the front door since it was open - however, they chose to close and lock the door, so they could provide the state of Iowa with insights on ways that potential criminals could gain access. Our employees, being of the highest caliber and committed to delivering the best results on the project, chose to give the county the benefit of the doubt and test the courthouse as if they had found it in a secure state, which it was not.”McAndrew then described how deputies initially responded after Coalfire employees intentionally tripped an alarm inside the building.“After gaining access through the locked door, our team intentionally tripped the alarm in order to test the security response, which was an objective of the project. After setting off the alarm in the Dallas courthouse, Mr. Wynn and Mr. DeMercurio stayed at the courthouse to meet County law enforcement responding to the alarm. When the initial law enforcement arrived, there were no issues as the team explained what they were doing and presented our engagement letter along with identification. As the team waited for a deputy to verify their credentials, they then showed the remaining officers how entry was made along with some of the tools and tactics that could have been used, much to the deputies’ delight, which I believe would be evident if video of the response was made publicly available,” said McAndrew. “The team was ready to leave after one of the deputies returned the authorization letter to them and stated: “You guys should be all good to go.” It was at that point that the local sheriff, Chad Leonard, arrived at the Dallas Courthouse. Despite the authorization letter, his deputies onsite already having verified our team, and State employees urging their release, the local sheriff proceeded to arrest Mr. Wynn and Mr. DeMercurio.”McAndrew says he was surprised at the response from Sheriff Leonard.“Failing to de-escalate the issue and bring in State/County politics, Sheriff Leonard communicated in an email “that this building belonged to the taxpayers of Dallas County and the State had no authority to authorize a break-in." Leonard also added that a state employee asked him not to tell other sheriffs about the incident to ensure the operation continued at other locations, but that he was going to tell every sheriff. I don’t know why he reacted the way he did. I’ve never met or spoken to Sheriff Leonard. Perhaps he didn’t like being tested without his knowledge or that our team found major security concerns at the facilities he was protecting. Sheriff Leonard failed to exercise common sense and good judgement and turned this engagement into a political battle between the State and the County. I was stunned that the next morning the issues were not resolved and were actually amplified when bail was set as $100,000,” said McAndrew. Wynn and Demercurio are scheduled to appear in court Nov. 6 on the trespass charges.KCCI’s Alex Schuman is working to contact Sheriff Leonard and McAndrew and will have more on this developing story later today on the KCCI Breaking News and Weather App and KCCI 8 News.Iowa Judicial Branch shares findings of investigation into courthouse break-insIowa Supreme Court Chief Justice apologizes over courthouse burglariesDocuments: Courthouse break-in attempts part of agreement, but not at nightKCCI Investigates: The line between ethical hackers and burglarsDeputies believe same suspects burglarized two Iowa courthouses