Sheriff Admits Levy Didn’t Interfere in Rape Case
The all-out war between former Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy and Sheriff Don Smith came to an end with Smith admitting statements he made about Levy’s involvement in a 2013 rape case were “untrue” and he “should not have made them.”
The defamation lawsuit Levy brought against Smith was settled Tuesday as the trial was just getting underway.
Smith, in a letter to Levy posted on the Sheriff’s Office website, retracted statements he made about Levy in connection with the Alexandru Hossu rape case in 2013. Hossu, the former personal trainer of Levy, was arrested in March 2013, but later found innocent of all charges.
Following Hossu’s arrest, Smith approved press releases sent out by his office that stated Hossu was living in Levy’s Southeast home and that he interfered with the rape investigation and was knowingly harboring an illegal immigrant. On Tuesday, Smith admitted all those statements were false.
“I retract these releases unequivocally and apologize for the statements contained therein,” Smith wrote in the letter to Levy. “These statements were untrue and I should not have made them.”
On top of the public apology, the county must pay Levy $125,000 and Smith must personally pay him $25,000. The original lawsuit was for $5 million.
Smith dropped a counter lawsuit for defamation against Levy last month.
Read more about this story in next week’s edition of The Putnam Examiner.
