Owensboro resident and former deputy with the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office Troy
Calvert took a plea deal this week that resulted in his pleading guilty to five counts of retaliation against a participant in the legal process. A jury trial was originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday morning, but Calvert made a last-minute decision to plead guilty instead.
These five counts of retaliation against participants in the legal process include threats made by Calvert toward Family Court Judge Julie Hawes Gordon, Circuit Court Judge Jay Wethington, his ex-wife Tara Calvert, and his two children. One of the counts was dropped, but the other five, which are classified as Class D felonies, remained in place as of Wednesday.
These incidents occurred between April 20, 2018 and January 2019. Calvert lost his job with DCSO in early 2018 as well.
Judge Ken M. Howard, the chief circuit court judge for the 9th Judicial Circuit that presides over Hardin County, replaced Wethington and Judge Joseph Castlen after Calvert made requests for a new judge based on concerns that he would receive an unfair trial otherwise.
Howard said on Wednesday that Calvert’s plea meant he was giving up his right to a jury trial and that he was claiming full responsibility for the charges against him.
“You’re telling me that this is a final decision,” Howard said. “You can’t change your mind tonight, tomorrow or next month.”
Calvert accepted those stipulations and told Howard, under oath, that he committed the five acts he was being charged for. The judge recommended five years on each count, running concurrently or, at the same time, for a total sentence of five years in jail.
Howard also recommended Calvert receive five years of shock probation following his stint in jail, where he cannot have any contact whatsoever with his ex-wife and two children.
Because Calvert has already served at least a year in jail and is only required to serve 15 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole, it’s likely that Calvert won’t spend much more time behind bars following the official sentencing, which is scheduled for Oct. 4 at 2 p.m.
“Parole isn’t controlled by anyone on this board, so you may have to serve your full five years,” Howard told him.
Calvert’s attorney asked that his sentencing be scheduled directly after the hearing, per Calvert’s request, but that request was denied. The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office asked that they have more time so that the victims involved in this case could submit victim impact statements to the court.
Howard said he would allow the victims to provide impact statements before next week’s sentencing.
Prior to Wednesday’s court hearing, the Court of Appeals had vacated some previous charges against Calvert, finding that he was denied due process when he was held in contempt for stalking.
On June 12, 2018, Calvert agreed to wear an ankle monitoring device to “assure Tara he was remaining 500 feet away and to protect himself from false allegations,” the Court of Appeals states.
At an Aug. 22 hearing, Jason Pagan, owner of the Catch ‘N Release program that managed Calvert’s voluntary ankle monitor, testified that in 32 days of monitoring Calvert, he had never come within 500 feet of his ex-wife’s residence.
However, Pagan said, Calvert had been monitored very close to Harmony Road — on 80 different occasions over the 32-day span.
However, the Court of Appeals found that Calvert’s actions did not meet the statutory definition of stalking.
A ruling by Family Court holding Calvert in contempt of court for failing to obtain a mental health evaluation and failure to commit himself to the Henderson County Detention Center to serve 60 days was also overturned.
The Court of Appeals vacated the contempt charge because they found that Calvert had no insurance and, therefore, could not obtain his mental evaluation. The Family Court also never issued a commitment order, meaning that when Calvert presented himself to be held at HCDC, they wouldn’t take him because there was no order from the court.
Calvert will remain in custody at the Daviess County Detention Center until his Oct. 4 sentencing. Daviess Commonwealth’s Attorney Bruce Kuegel said that, while all of the victims contacted approved Calvert’s plea deal, it can be frustrating for prosecutors when suspects decide to take these plea bargains at last call.
“It’s more common than we’d like for it to be,” he said. “The day of the trial, we’re ready to go to trial. We’ve expended our resources, as far as getting subpoenas, delivering people under subpoena to testify going over the case, so — it’s not ideal.”
Kuegel also believes Calvert’s domestic violence order is still currently active, meaning he should not come within 500 feet of his family, aside from the fact he is to have absolutely no contact with any of them during his five-year probation.
