MARK KIESLING: Methinks Kuyachich doth protest too much

News reports say former Lake County Sheriff's Department Police Chief Marco Kuyachich is contemplating suing the county for defamation of character.

If I were Kuyachich, I'd be more interested in having my lawyer negotiate with the feds than quibbling over whether my reputation has been besmirched by being placed on administrative leave.

Six officers were placed on administrative leave last year after a federal investigation began into allegations of gun-running out of the Sheriff's Department.

Three of those officers, including Kuyachich's right-hand man, former Deputy Chief Joe Kumstar, have been indicted and pleaded guilty.

One officer has been exonerated and is back on the street.

Only Kuyachich and former Staff Services Cmdr. Mike Reilly, who remain on leave, also remain in limbo — not indicted, but not back on the job.

Kuyachich, who was hand-picked by former Sheriff Roy Dominguez to succeed him in last year's Democratic primary, dropped out of the race, which eventually was won by former Sheriff John Buncich.

Buncich was served with three subpoenas Jan. 6, asking him for records and computers dealing with the commissary, the Lake County Jail's equivalent of a PX, a place where inmates go to buy incidentals.

The scope of the investigation also reportedly has expanded to the Lake County Drug Task Force, sources inside the Sheriff's Department say.

Kuyachich and anonymous posters to websites can pooh-pooh the seriousness of the allegations, but the subpoenas handed to Buncich allegedly were for records relating to Kuyachich, Kumstar and Dominguez.

Kumstar has pleaded guilty, as noted. Kuyachich is lawyered up, as any smart guy would be. Dominguez has declined comment on whether he has hired a lawyer, but sources say he's been seen inside the offices of a prominent Merrillville attorney.

Maybe they were just talking about the weather. Who knows?

But if I were Kuyachich and I knew a federal subpoena had been dropped with my name on it, I'd hold off on the defamation allegations.

Maybe he will end up being just a witness, as he claims. Maybe he will cut a deal with the government.

But as I've said before, the feds do not do this kind of stuff just for fun. They don't waste their time on posturing and posing. They pull the trigger.

Is Buncich defaming Kuyachich? Not if he's actually received a subpoena. And there's a reason Officer Scott Shelhart — who was one of the six suspended — was put back on the street with a clean bill of health while Kuyachich and Reilly continue to twist in the wind.

If Kuyachich is truly just a witness, reinstate him. Show the world like you did with Shelhart, Mr. Buncich.

But if there's trouble a-brewing, I'm not sure Kuyachich's $500,000 claim against the county is going anywhere but down the drain.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at mark.kiesling@nwi.com or (219) 933-4170.