Troyer resigns as sheriff's deputy

A Putnam County deputy charged with false informing has chosen to resign, Sheriff Scott Stockton said Friday.

Deputy Philip Troyer of Greencastle was charged last month in Putnam Superior Court with Class B false informing. The charge was related to a police report he filed regarding former Deputy T.J. Smith's assault of an already restrained man in September 2012.

Troyer testified in federal court last September that his report on the 2012 incident was inconsistent with what actually happened.

He subsequently gave the same account of the incident to Putnam County Prosecutor's Office Investigator David Meadows.

Based on Meadows' investigation, Parke County Prosecutor Steve Cvengros (serving as special prosecutor) chose to press charges against Troyer.

Shortly after testifying in the Smith case, Troyer was reassigned to a jailer position with the sheriff's department, although he maintained his status as a merit deputy.

On Friday, Stockton, the new sheriff, discussed the matter with Troyer.

"Today I met with Deputy Philip Troyer at the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and had a conversation concerning his future, moving forward, with the department," Stockton said. "At that time he chose to separate service from this agency."

Stockton said the sheriff's merit board had been notified and that he had reached out to the Putnam County Commissioners concerning the matter.

No hearing dates have been set in Troyer's case. A Class B misdemeanor is punishable by zero to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Based in part on Troyer's testimony, a federal jury found Smith guilty of two Class C felony counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law.

Smith is set to serve a 14-month sentence in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

With the departures of Troyer and Smith, there are 20 merit deputies serving Putnam County. The merit division consists of Sheriff Scott Stockton; Chief Deputy Phil Parker; Col. Tom Helmer; captains Danny Wallace and Steve Fenwick; lieutenants Donnie Pettit, Doug Nally and Dwight Simmons; Detective Sgt. Pat McFadden; sergeants Gregg Slover, Craig Sibbitt and Jon Chadd; and deputies Virgil Lanning, Josh Boller, Adam Hull, Mike Downing, Matt Biggs, Kyle Gibbons, Tyler Turner and Steve Smith.