Evidence found lacking in use of public funds by Congrove

A special prosecutor has decided there isn't enough evidence to file criminal charges against Jefferson County Commissioner Jim Congrove for hiring, with public money, a private investigator.

In a 71-page report released Thursday, Adams County District Attorney Don Quick did express concern about Congrove's conduct.

"Whether the conduct described herein is a 'best practice' or 'appropriate policy' for county officials support by county taxpayers is not the question before me," Quick wrote.

Quick noted that Congrove attempted to give county money donated by Kaiser-Hill Group to Rocky Mountain Aviation, a nonprofit agency managed by Daril Cinquanta, the private eye who is a longtime Congrove friend.

While Quick determined no crime had been committed, he raised the issue, noting the attempted donation occurred last summer while the investigation was underway.

Quick also said it also is "clearly troubling" that several county employees had access to a rolling file cabinet of sensitive information about county critic Mike Zinna.

Zinna has filed several lawsuits against the county. About 8,000 pages of documents on Zinna vanished in 2005. A sheriff's probe remains open.

When questioned by Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents, Congrove did not tell the agents the cabinet was in the office with them and was empty, Quick said.

"Given Commissioner Congrove's years as a police officer, the omission is inexplicable," Quick said.

Quick said that he could not prove the private-eye services did not benefit the county and that payment complied with county fiscal policies.

Nine of Cinquanta's 11 invoices totaling $7,462 were for surveillance of Zinna.

Congrove directed questions to his attorney, Patrick Tooley, who said the probe showed "no criminal conduct took place."

Cinquanta was hired by former County Attorney Frank Hutfless for information "related to legitimate matters" involving Zinna's litigation, Tooley said.

Zinna said the findings aren't surprising given the probe's narrow scope. "This is certainly not a glowing review," he said.

Chantell Taylor, the director of Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government, said, "This case really highlights a problem in our legal framework where unethical conduct falls through the cracks if it doesn't rise to the level of criminal conduct."

Taylor's group had asked Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey to investigate. Quick was named special prosecutor so Storey could avoid a conflict of interest.