Jeff Cloutier's Statements



Cloutier, I believe had some potential although he was young for a captaincy. The pool of waiting lieutenants from within the jail contained very little seniority in rank, therefore limiting those to select from.

I bulleted some of the pages of his statement, however, in reality, he was questioned about things he had very limited knowledge or understanding of particularly the topics he responded to. Part of my job or purpose was to serve the people who came through the front doors of the jail. Cloutier and I differed in that regard, as his position was less than accommodating to the citizenry.

Now the statement:

Page two: Cloutier jumps from a question about the car to a bag of sneakers. The story about the car and how I came to acquire it is getting repetitious, but again it was a deal arranged before I was a sheriff’s office employee and it just so happened to come shortly after the real owner’s son was released from jail. It has been documented over and over that Nagel was not given any more privileges than anyone else. Cloutier would know some of it, but not all of it. And, again, I did not bring any sneakers into the jail. These were delivered by the inmate’s mother and I just happened to be in the lobby area when she arrived. Medical had apparently given clearance for the sneakers. (The medical provider was failing miserably and they were going through doctors nearly every week.) I understood that Nagel had hurt his foot and the doctor ordered the sneakers. Inmates wear rubber slides/flip-flops otherwise.

Pages four and five: Withey is on a hunting expedition. He wants something from Cloutier and Cloutier doesn’t know anything.

Page five: Cloutier has no idea what the story is about. The contract medical administrator apparently had conversations with Nagel’s mother and had made promises that she failed to keep. My phone rang off the hook by Nagel’s mother and I subsequently went to the medical administrator and she confirmed the promise and would get on it. Issues like this happened frequently with the medical provider and even the sheriff sent family/friend inquiries to me for follow-up. (As an aside, what is sad here; Nagel to this day still has a limp from our medical’s failure.)

Page 10 and 11: Cloutier speaks of something being insane and later mentions hokey. His verbiage is poor and he tosses a former captain, Wayne Mack into the fray. Interestingly, there is no mention of Wayne Mack being contacted or interviewed. You will see elsewhere in the ACSO Summary that Withey keyed in on hokey and insane in regard to Cloutier’s statement and tried to put teeth into something that just wasn’t there.

Page 12 and 13: Please as you read these pages; know that Cloutier doesn’t fully grasp what he is saying. One event did not beget the other. The sneakers had everything to do with the fact Nagel had received a medical clearance for them and nothing to do about the car. Nagel’s mother is who I bought the car from and at a much different time.

Pages 13 and 14: Pauly Jail is a jail hardware supplier. They wanted to have a demonstration of products in North Central Florida. I had asked former Sheriff Oelrich if we could extend invitations from us to our surrounding counties and he gave his blessing. The new sheriff also was apprised and agreed. There was no money spent and the vendor (s) knew any purchases would follow the purchasing policies. Cloutier wouldn’t have known anything of this plan. Additionally, I had no partnership with Pat Tigue, a counterpart from St. Lucie County, just a professional relationship wherein information was shared.

Page 16: Cloutier is lying. When he was moving, he asked if my daughter could babysit while they moved stuff and she did. Actually she loved his kids. He never paid her and never offered to pay her. When she read this passage, she was hurt because Cloutier didn’t tell the truth.

Page 17: The only bellyache I have is the one I had reading this statement. It certainly demonstrates Cloutier’s complete lack of professionalism. There were many discussions about different personnel at the jail and ways we could improve their work product.

Page 17: I am repulsed with Withey’s line of questioning suggesting I might have more than a neighbor type relationship with Nagel’s mother. My wife and Nagel’s mother are friends and so am I, nothing more. These were uncalled for questions and in poor taste.

Page 19: Cloutier’s answers are strange I hope his kids are proud. He calls our conversations bellyaching when in reality they were discussions relative to the improvement of staff and what we could do to instill more interest and enthusiasm. And in speaking about my position and the conversations with Cloutier and Charlie Lee about the future were nothing more than that. Cloutier had been very active on Darnell’s election campaign and toured and entertained her at the jail often without my knowledge .

The second Cloutier statement was nothing more than another hunting expedition by Withey.

Click here to read Jeff Cloutier's first statement. [1.1 Mb]
Click here to read Jeff Cloutier's second statement. [76 Kb]