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The Wrightstown gate at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, in this file photo. (MIchael Mancuso | Times of Trenton)

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OCEAN COUNTY -- Maj. Keith Sandull spent the past 14 years climbing the ranks in one of the largest police departments in the state.

In October 2012, he was promoted to chief of investigations for internal affairs, the second-highest ranking position in the 400-person civilian police department at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

Now, however, an incident from 20 years ago is threatening to derail Sandull's career.

In 1996, Sandull was arrested on sexual assault and official misconduct charges while working as patrolman in the Avon by the Sea Police Department. He was accused of using his position to coerce a woman into having sex with him on multiple occasions.

The charges were dismissed after Sandull completed a pretrial intervention program for first time offenders. He had the records of his arrest expunged in 2002, according to his attorney.

That same year, Sandull became a patrolman at Fort Monmouth and rose to the rank of chief before the base closed. In 2012, he joined the police department for Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and within months was promoted to chief of investigations.

But it was that job as lead internal affairs investigator that brought his past back into the open last year and launched an unusual cop vs. cop lawsuit in which both parties have been dogged by allegations of misconduct.

DEFAMATION SUIT

Sandull, 48, of Howell, filed a defamation lawsuit last month in Superior Court in Ocean County against a patrolman in the joint base police department, Ryan Verrecchio, his attorney and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Sandull alleges that Verrecchio began digging into his past in retaliation for a 2014 internal affairs investigation that determined allegations of sexual harassment and misuse of a firearm against Verrecchio were credible.

Verrecchio made an open public records request to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office and obtained the 1996 complaint filed against Sandull at the time of his arrest, according to Sandull's lawsuit.

Verrecchio and his attorney, Cheri Cannon, sent that complaint and a link to a 1996 New York Times story about the arrest to base officials and questioned Sandull's credibility.

Since then, Sandull said in his lawsuit that his security clearance has been placed under review and he lost his supervisory role over internal affairs, as well as other duties.

"The disclosure of this information provided Verrecchio the ammunition he needed

to ruin Major Sandull's otherwise unblemished reputation," the lawsuit states. "Prior to the disclosure of false and confidential information, Major Sandull was a

highly respected Investigator."

Sandull named the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office as a defendant in the defamation suit because he alleges the criminal complaint was expunged and should not have been provided in response to Verrecchio's records request.

Sandull, who made a base salary of $89,000 and $15,000 in overtime last year, is seeking unspecified damages.

Attorneys for both Sandull and Verrecchio declined to make their clients available for comment about the dispute.

AVON ARREST



Sandull was arrested in 1996 on charges he was using his position as an Avon by the Sea police officer to coerce a woman into having sex with him, authorities said at the time.

In a 1996 Star-Ledger account of the arrest story, Monmouth County prosecutors said Sandull offered to help a woman resolve a pending drug case in exchange for sex and the woman agreed.

The woman later reported the arrangement and Monmouth County detectives hid inside her residence when Sandull visited while in uniform and began fondling her, prosecutors said at the time. The detectives arrested Sandull and the charges were widely publicized.

A short New York Times story published in 1996 about the arrest remains the top Google search result for "Keith Sandull."

Sandull was indicted the following year on counts of aggravated sexual assault, official misconduct, criminal sexual contact and sexual coercion, according to a statement from Mathew Tully, an attorney representing Verrecchio.

Edward Dimon, the attorney who filed the defamation lawsuit on behalf of Sandull, said his client resolved those charges by entering the state's pretrial intervention program, which allows for charges to be dismissed after the program is completed.

In 2002, Sandull had the charges expunged - a legal process that results in the removal of the arrest and conviction records.

Verrecchio, however, obtained a copy of the original complaint after filing a public records request in November with the Monmouth prosecutor and it was shared with base officials, the lawsuit states.

"After receiving the information from the Prosecutor's Office, Ptl. Verrecchio and

his attorney, Cannon, undertook to smear Major Sandull's reputation and otherwise diminish his credibility at work," the lawsuit said.

Sandull claims in his defamation suit that the allegations against him in 1996 were misleading and were made by a confidential informant involved with drug cases.

"Verrecchio and his attorney, Cannon, disclosed false, misleading and confidential information about Major Sandull in an attempt to leverage lesser disciplinary action," according to the lawsuit.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said in an email Friday that they had no records relating to Sandull's case.

FORT MONMOUTH HIRING

Dimon said that the terms of the pretrial intervention program agreement did not bar Sandull from taking a job with police or the military in the future.

However, New Jersey law mandates that the military or a law enforcement agency must have access to an applicant's entire record - including expunged charges.

That was true in Sandull's case when he applied for a position at Fort Monmouth in Eatontown in 2002. The military base saw Sandull's 1996 sexual assault and misconduct charges before they offered him a job as an officer at the base, Dimon said.

Sandull remained at the base for years and was promoted four times before Fort Monmouth closed and he transferred to the joint base, he said in his lawsuit.

His personnel file - with the 1996 case information included - transferred with him, Dimon said.

Since he's been a federal police officer at both bases, Sandull said he's had an "unblemished reputation," and was well respected within the base, according to the lawsuit.

But that changed last year after Verrecchio and his attorney, Cannon, began sending information about his expunged case to base officials, the suit said.

Cannon sent a letter in November to numerous people at the base about the arrest.

"Not only does this account call into question Sandull's credibility in a matter

where Mr. Verrecchio is being alleged to have made 'sexually harassing'

remarks, it calls into question ALL of the Joint Base's investigations," Cannon wrote, according to Sandull's lawsuit.

INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Sandull says in the lawsuit that he started investigating Verrecchio in 2014 for misuse of a firearm and sexual harassment, allegations that were deemed substantiated.

Tully said Verrecchio began raising questions about the 1996 charges against Sandull because they are relevant to his ability to investigate a fellow officer.

"We're concerned. How did this guy get hired?" Tully said in an interview Friday.

"How could someone with his past be trustworthy enough?"

The complaint Verrecchio filed against Sandull in November, claims that Sandull should not have been hired as a police officer in any capacity following the 1996 charges.

Tully said that, as an internal investigator, Sandull would have testified at various criminal hearings.

"People went to jail or may still be in jail based on his testimony," Tully said. He said that his law firm is looking into getting testimony Sandull gave at criminal hearings impeached.

Sandull addressed his credibility in the lawsuit, saying that after the complaint was filed, he was put under investigation by the base's legal department and was removed from several positions.

"My investigations will constantly be called into question, as will my credibility and integrity," Sandull said in the suit, adding that he is reliving the stress and embarrassment from the 1996 charges all over again.

The suit says Verrecchio also spread the information to other base police officers, and a reporter in Delaware, to discredit him.

WHISTLEBLOWER SUIT

Tully said Verrecchio is planning to file a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit in response to the allegations by Sandull. He said the case has the potential to silence any employee at the base who has concerns about superiors.

"This has completely shut down all whistleblowing. No one will come forward and complain," Tully said.

In addition, Tully said Sandull's lawsuit contains protected information that should not have been revealed by a federal employee.

A spokeswoman for the joint base said the lawsuit and Sandull's case are being examined.

"(The military) takes these matters very seriously and we're looking into the concerns raised by Mr. Tully," Air Force Senior Airman Lauren Pitts said Friday.

Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.