DENVER – A former Colorado lawman who was once named the nation’s sheriff of the year was charged Friday with drug and prostitution offenses after authorities said he offered methamphetamine to a man in exchange for sex.

Patrick Sullivan Jr., 68, was being held on $500,000 bond in a cell isolated from the general inmate population — for his own safety — at a jail named in his honor in suburban Denver.

Prosecutors charged Sullivan with felony distribution, possession of meth as well as a misdemeanor charge of soliciting prostitution. Authorities say he offered methamphetamine in exchange for sex from a male acquaintance in a sting set up by officers with a drug task force.

Sullivan also is charged with attempting to influence a public servant following a Sept. 20 report of an “old man” inside a home that the caller said he wanted to leave.

An incident report notes a man at the house reported Sullivan was getting three recovering addicts back into drugs. Sullivan told investigators he was helping them out.


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