COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Jurors hearing the retrial of a former El Paso County sheriff charged with extortion say they are deadlocked.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports jurors told the judge Monday they were at an impasse in the case against former Sheriff Terry Maketa. The judge instructed them to keep trying.
If the jury cannot reach a unanimous decision, the judge could declare a mistrial.
Maketa's first trial on the extortion charge ended in a mistrial last year because jurors were deadlocked then as well.
He is charged with threatening to terminate a $5.2 million jail health care contract unless the provider fired a woman whom he was unhappy with.
Maketa is also charged with conspiracy to commit extortion and official misconduct. Jurors didn't say if they were deadlocked on those counts.