Terry Maketa 
This is a Thursday, May 26, 2016, booking photograph of Terry Maketa, the former sheriff of El Paso County, Colo., who resigned in 2014. Maketa was indicted on charges on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, including extortion, false imprisonment, second-degree kidnapping and official misconduct. Maketa was indicted along with a former undersheriff and a department commander. (El Paso County, Colo., Sheriffs Department via AP) 
Magazine salesmen and embattled Sheriff Terry Maketa at a press conference last year, photo via 7 News 
posing partially naked in a selfie(Photo: Colorado Springs Gazette) 
El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa speaks to supporters of the recall election to oust Senate President John Morse at a rally outside the Pioneer Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo. Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. Relatives of three people killed in the mass shootings in Aurora and Newtown campaigned Wednesday for one of two Colorado state senators facing recall elections for their votes on gun control, while sheriffs who oppose the new gun laws rallied those hoping to kick both Democrats out of office. Colorado was the only state outside the East Coast to tighten its gun laws after last year’s mass shootings, and the recalls are seen as a gauge of support for gun control in this battleground state. Gun-rights activists set up the state’s first legislative recall elections after Morse and Giron’s votes on gun control measures, including expanded background checks and a new limit on ammunition magazines. (AP Photo, The Gazette, Michael Ciaglo)
COLORADO SPRINGS | A former Colorado sheriff on trial for extortion used his authority like a club, intimidating subordinates as well as contractors with his department, prosecutors argued Thursday.
Former El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa is charged with threatening to terminate a $5.3 million contract with the county jail’s health provider if it did not fire an employee who refused to support a favorite of Maketa’s to succeed him as sheriff.
Maketa is also charged with witness intimidation and official misconduct for allegedly trying to undermine the credibility of three deputies.
In opening statements, special prosecutor Chris Wilcox said Maketa retaliated against employees he believed crossed him and once coerced a domestic violence victim to drop charges against a sheriff’s deputy.
Maketa also threatened to terminate the health provider contract to advance the cause of then-Undersheriff Paula Presley to succeed him as sheriff, Wilcox said.
Maketa’s attorney, Pamela Mackey, countered that Maketa never demanded that anyone be fired and that he had little involvement with the domestic violence case.
Opening statements, witness called in Colorado sheriff trial