INVESTIGATION OF DRUG AGENT'S ACTIVITIES CONTINUES

But Lawyers Seeking Charges Drop Request

WEST BEND - An investigation concerning a drug agent accused of
improper behavior is continuing, although the attorneys who sought
criminal charges against him have withdrawn their request.Advertisement

Gary Freyberg, a special prosecutor, is investigating whether Mario
Altuzar violated any laws while working undercover for the Washington
County Sheriff's Department.

Meanwhile, Washington County Sheriff Brian Rahn said he wasn't
surprised that three West Bend attorneys who asked a judge to
criminally charge Altuzar had abandoned their case.

The attorneys, who represented clients arrested by Altuzar, were only
trying to make him look bad, Rahn said, adding that their allegations
"were bogus."

"They were basically using smear tactics against him," Rahn said.
"This isn't something new. When a drug investigator takes down their
clients, they say, 'That guy was using drugs,' or 'He was having sex
with them.' You see this all over the nation."

In February, Waring Fincke and two other attorneys - William Mayer and
Daniel Patrykus - filed a petition asking a judge to consider bringing
10 criminal charges against Altuzar.

State law allows this rarely used procedure only if a district
attorney refuses to charge someone. Washington County District
Attorney Todd Martens told the attorneys he needed better evidence
before considering a case against Altuzar - but they didn't provide
any, he said.

Freyberg, an assistant state attorney general, was appointed to the
case at Martens' request.

Freyberg said that deciding whether to clear Altuzar's name or file
charges against him will "take months rather than weeks." Untangling
the allegations requires conducting numerous interviews and reviewing
stacks of documents, he added.

"I was appointed to take a full and fair look at this," Freyberg said.
"I'm going to look at every piece of information I can find."

Patrykus and Mayer withdrew from the case after their clients pleaded
guilty to drug charges, Martens said. The third attorney, Fincke,
dropped out after his client switched attorneys, he added.

Fincke and Mayer did not return phone messages left by a reporter on
Wednesday. Patrykus refused to comment on the case.

The attorneys asserted in court documents that Altuzar had committed
"numerous criminal acts," including sexual assaults and contributing
to the delinquency of minors, while employed by the sheriff's department.

"My position is and always has been that the accusations made against
investigator Altuzar are baseless and wouldn't stand even the
slightest scrutiny" in court, Martens said.

Martens declined to launch his investigation after the attorneys
backed out of a promise to produce affidavits signed by the people
claiming Altuzar broke the law, Martens said.

"I don't believe any of the allegations against inspector Altuzar are
true," Martens said. "But I thought, and the sheriff agreed, that
having an outside investigation would be more credible."

Altuzar is no longer employed full-time by the sheriff's department,
although he gets paid when he appears to testify in court, the sheriff
said. It is typical for undercover agents to seek work elsewhere after
their identity becomes known to drug dealers, Rahn said.

"Once their cases bust open, they're no longer useful to us," he said.
"Everyone knows who they are."

Rahn said he does not know where Altuzar is currently employed.