Meth-For-Sex Charge Lands Former Sheriff In Jail Named For Him

Charged this week with trying to trade methamphetamine for sex with a man, former Arapahoe County (Colo.) sheriff Patrick Sullivan is now sitting in jail.

More specifically, he's being held in the county's Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility. That's right. It's named after him. His bail has been set at $500,000.

Enlarge this image toggle caption RJ Sangosti/AP RJ Sangosti/AP

The Denver Post writes today that Sullivan's arrest, after "a transaction monitored by deputies working with a confidential informant" and a month-long investigation, has "sparked shock — even bewilderment — among longtime law officers."

Sullivan, 68, is "a law enforcement legend" in Colorado who served six terms as sheriff before retiring in 2002 and was known as "Hollywood Pat," the Post says. It writes that "in one incident in 1989, he sped his Jeep into the line of fire to rescue a wounded deputy, then roared backward through a fence in a bold escape captured by television cameras."

Denver's KUSA-TV has a video report here.