Judge fines Uintah Co. cop for contempt

NAPLES, Uintah County — A police lieutenant has been given a suspended jail sentence for exceeding the authority of a search warrant.

Naples Police Lt. Manny Escoto was ordered to serve 30 days in jail and pay a $350 fine during an Oct. 28 hearing for a contempt-of-court violation. Eighth District Judge A. Lynn Payne suspended the jail term. He ordered Escoto to pay the fine by Nov. 9.

In a Sept. 15 complaint, Payne said Escoto appeared in his chambers seeking a warrant to access information on a cell phone. Police were investigating allegations that a juvenile had engaged in sexual activity with a 12-year-old girl. They believed the phone contained text messages, images and videos related to alleged sexual activity with other possible victims, according to the search-warrant application.

In his complaint, Payne said he had made it clear to Escoto that he was authorizing only a search of the phone. The judge said he told the lieutenant specifically that the warrant did not allow him to obtain phone records from Alltel Inc.

However, according to court documents, Escoto used the warrant to get the Alltel records.

During a Sept. 30 court hearing, Escoto said he misunderstood Payne's decision to limit the scope of the search warrant. He offered to resign immediately from the police force as a demonstration of his remorse. Payne rejected Escoto's offer, saying that wasn't what he wanted.

Naples Police Chief Mark Watkins has told the Deseret News he would wait until Escoto's case was concluded before launching a formal internal investigation. Watkins did not immediately respond to a phone call Monday seeking comment on the outcome of the case.

— Geoff Liesik