(COOPERSTOWN, ND) — The former Sheriff in Griggs County is pleading guilty.
Michael Beaver pled guilty to tampering with public records as a public servant. According to court documents, Beaver, while the appointed sheriff of Griggs County, provided the Griggs County Commission with an altered email chain, which was a government record. In an interview with Special Agent Matthew Hiatt, Beaver stated ‘he was scared of the backlash that would come from the e-mail being out in the public.’
Court documents also state that Beaver admitted to altering the e-mail, changing the words ‘Cooperstown area’ to ‘Griggs County.’ He admitted to converting the e-mail to a PDF before changing it. Beaver entered an Alford Plea, and has been sentenced to 50 hours of community service, is not allowed to possess firearms, serve one year of unsupervised probation and is not allowed to work as a peace officer during his probation.
