Ex-Caldwell cop pleads not guilty to federal charges. Here’s what happened in court
Ex-Caldwell Police Lt. Joseph “Joey” Hoadley pleaded not guilty Thursday to multiple federal charges after he was indicted by the U.S. District Court in Idaho on two new felonies related to witness and document tampering.
As of Tuesday, Hoadley was indicted on four charges. He previously faced two federal charges.
The charges stem from an FBI investigation into at least two officers within the Caldwell Police Department. Federal officials have been investigating the officers since at least this spring. The other officer hasn’t been identified by the FBI or local authorities.
Hoadley, who appeared Thursday at the James A. McClure Federal Building in a navy blue suit, previously pleaded not guilty to the two initial charges on April 19. The new indictment filed this week replaces the initial indictment, U.S. Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco said in court Thursday.
Hoadley allegedly destroyed record in his case
In June 2021, authorities alleged Hoadley intentionally harassed a person, identified by the initials C.H., and attempted to “hinder, delay, and dissuade C.H. from reporting to a law enforcement officer a federal offense,” according to the Tuesday indictment.
The indictment also alleged Hoadley altered, destroyed, mutilated and concealed a record with the intent to impair its integrity and availability in his pending case.
The new charges were added to two prior federal charges against Hoadley. According to that indictment, Hoadley struck a man, listed as B.H., while arresting him on March 30, 2017. He was also charged with destruction, alteration or falsification of records in a federal investigation.
Newly hired Caldwell Police Chief Rex Ingram told reporters at a Wednesday news conference that the initial allegations that sparked the FBI investigation came from within the department. Hoadley was fired on May 12.
Patricco did not set a monetary bond in Hoadley’s case, and he is on unsupervised release. As a part of the terms of Hoadley’s release, he had to surrender his passport and submit an itemized list of his firearms and their respective serial numbers to officials, according to a court document obtained by the Idaho Statesman.
Hoadley’s trial date wasn’t rescheduled, and he is expected to appear in court at 9 a.m. Sept. 19 for his jury trial.
Reporter Rachel Spacek contributed.
