A judge has moved the cases of the five men charged in the Daggett County Jail abuse scandal to Summit County. 4 deputies including the previous jail commander are alleged to have known about or used Tasers on inmates and in one case used inmates as test dummies during the training of K-9 dogs that resulted in injury. The Utah Attorney General’s Office charged the men in May in 8th District Court. 26-year-old Rodrigo Toledo and 46-year-old Logan Walker are charged with class B misdemeanor official misconduct. Former Sheriff’s Deputy 27-year-old Joshua Cox is facing the most charges including 2 counts of transporting a dangerous weapon into the jail and 7 counts of aggravated assault, which are all 3rd degree felonies. He also faces misdemeanor charges of theft and reckless endangerment. Former Jail Commander 31-year-old Benjamin Lail is facing a charge of 3rd degree felony aggravated assault. Finally, former Sheriff Jerry Jorgensen is charged with misdemeanor failure to keep inmates safe as the acting sheriff, obstruction of justice, and official misconduct. 80 state inmates were removed from the Daggett County Jail in February after Sheriff Jerry Jorgensen had notified the Utah Department of Corrections of a situation he had been made aware of and asked them to investigate. Jorgensen resigned Sunday, April 23rd, citing a desire to help the County move forward. KSL reports that the motion for a change of venue was based on the small population of Daggett County and that a jury would likely fall short of the standards of fairness and impartiality.
