The former Coconino County official who misused thousands of dollars of public funds will be temporarily released from jail amidst continued COVID-19 concerns.
Jeffrey Preston Lee was sentenced to a minimum of nine months in jail in October after he pleaded guilty to using public money to cover more than $84,000 in personal expenses over six years. Lee worked as an emergency preparedness manager from 2012 to 2017 before moving to oversee the Navajo County health department.
Lee has been jailed at the Coconino County Detention Facility since then. His attorney, Ryan Stevens, however, claimed being held in jail was a serious danger to Lee’s health as officials acknowledge the jail is on the tail end of a COVID-19 outbreak.
At least 139 inmates tested positive for the virus during a three-week period in January. Officials temporarily stopped accepting any non-violent, non-serious misdemeanor arrests and self-surrender court commits as they attempt to gain control of the outbreak. All newcomers are quarantined for 10 days and those who test positive are also quarantined.
Stevens described the jail as a “confined superspreader event” in a Jan. 26 court filing, putting Lee’s health and safety at risk. He also alleged that Lee was placed in “close proximity” to a man who tested positive for COVID-19 and saw detention officers move around unmasked. Lee also suffers from a documented heart condition, putting him at increased risk.
Detention Commander Matthew Figueroa said he wasn't aware of the allegations until contacted by the Arizona Daily Sun. The court did not contact CCSO to confirm them, either.
While Figueroa could not comment specifically on Lee's case due to health privacy laws, he did say that Lee was housed in one of the units where several positives were identified that started the outbreak. Jail staff strategically moved entire dorms into quarantine during the outbreak. If one person in a two-person dorm tests positive, the pair is kept together for the remainder of the 10-day period until they both test negative.
Stevens argued that Lee should be released from jail and allowed to serve the rest of his term at home with a GPS monitor at his own expense. He would only be allowed to leave his home to go to work and all the income would be applied to the $84,000 restitution he was ordered to pay as part of his sentence.
However, Assistant Attorney General Mary Harriss said that didn’t cut it given the nature of Lee’s crime. Lee was in a government position when he stole money, she noted, and having him serve the rest of his sentence at home seemed inappropriate. She instead argued that he should be released on probation and then return to jail to finish his sentence once the outbreak wanes.
Coconino County Superior Court Judge Cathleen Brown Nichols ultimately agreed to release Lee until the conditions proposed by Harriss.
“What I don’t want to see is a sentence I imposed turning into a death sentence,” she said.
Lee was released shortly after Thursday's hearing. He’ll return to court in six months to determine whether it’s safe for him to go back into custody and continue his sentence.
Stevens told the Daily Sun that the decision was an important one for the at-risk population in the jail.
“I'm grateful for the court's vigilance for my client's safety,” he said. “All courts and legislatures need to take action to protect the safety of incarcerated people, which is our government's duty as Arizona's incarceration rates and COVID-19 infection rates continue to soar."
Reporter Bree Burkitt can be reached at 928-556-2250 or bburkitt@azdailysun.com.
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