A case that started with a deputy U.S. marshal refusing to disclose her vaccination status to the federal judge based in South Dakota has become a criminal case. Previous coverage available here and here. The judge said he has to know vaccination status because he is 83 years old and at higher risk, as is an employee with serious lung and heart problems.
Three supervisors with the U.S. Marshal Service appeared at the federal courthouse Monday on an order to show cause. With it, according to the original order, civil contempt charges were to be considered. But by the end of the hourlong hearing, John Kilgallon, chief of staff for the U.S. Marshals Service; Daniel Mosteller, U.S. marshal in South Dakota; and Stephen Houghtaling, chief deputy U.S. marshal for South Dakota; were charged criminally with conspiracy to obstruct justice and contempt of court.
The court will appoint a prosecutor if the U.S. attorney declines to prosecute.
The case is about more than just one deputy U.S. marshal not disclosing her vaccination status in federal court on May 10. The judge said it is about three members of the U.S. Marshals Service conspiring to remove defendants from the courthouse. That caused the in-custody defendants to miss their hearings.
Their job, the judge said, is to obey and execute orders of the U.S. District Court, and the actions they took resulted in three defendants not appearing at scheduled hearings. "This was such an outrageous thing to do," he said, adding that defendants were taken away from their attorneys who were in the courthouse and no notice was given to the prosecutor or the judge.