This letter is addressed to the El Dorado County supervisors and submitted by the author for sharing here.
Dear El Dorado County Supervisors, I am writing regarding the premature 10/20/26 BOS Agenda Item #24 – Appointment of Undersheriff Eric Palmberg as interim Sheriff/Coroner. It is also my understanding that Brian Veerkamp will not be present to vote on this important appointment. The agenda item appears to be inappropriately rushed without the public having the benefit of all the relevant information pertaining to John D’Agostini’s obtuse allegations of misconduct against Sheriff Leikauf and his staff. This is no time or place for dirty politics. Even Sheriff Leikauf is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
I implore you to do the right thing and postpone this agenda item until a more appropriate time later in the year and closer to Sheriff Leikauf’s retirement when all supervisors will be present and, most importantly, the public will have sufficient time to examine all the pertinent facts on this controversial matter. Until that time, there are a few things that the BOS and the public have a right to know about our former Sheriff/Coroner.
John D’Agostini is NOT the Constitutional Sheriff he professes to be. In fact, he is largely responsible for the corrupt EDSO mess that Jeff Leikauf inherited when he became Sheriff.
I first met with John D’Agostini in 2011 when we began scheduling quarterly meetings. Three years later, I quoted him during a BOS meeting, “You need a new Board [of Supervisors]. All of them. Hold their feet to the fire. Mine too; I work for you.” Little did I realize that the Sheriff was in the room and approaching the podium to ask for a budget increase. If looks could kill, I’d be dead…
The following short list of facts are all supported by valid evidence and law in the affidavits previously submitted into the public record. They totally contradict John D’Agostini’s claim of building “a Sheriff’s Office rooted in integrity, mutual respect, and unwavering dedication to the Constitution.”
- You refused to meet with me or to allow me to accompany other citizens into meetings for the purpose of redress of grievances. The ability to petition the government for a redress of grievances is a Constitutionally-secured right which you denied, thereby perjuring your oath to the Constitution.
- You also approved my CCW permit and then maliciously rescinded that permit without just cause, which is a violation of my 2nd Amendment rights.
- You also denied me due process for filing multiple Citizen Complaints of Officer Misconduct, another Constitutional violation.
- In collusion with the CAO and other county staff, you retaliated by unlawfully censoring me for whistleblowing, another Constitutional violation and federal offense under Title 18, Sections 241 and 242.
- You refused to conduct an investigation of crimes committed against me.
- You never took the mandatory Public Service Ethics training required under AB1234.
- You failed to provide public services or respond to requests for assistance.
- You discriminated against me, a senior evangelical woman, and maligned my good name and reputation in retaliation for whistleblowing.
- You ordered me out of “your” building, a taxpayer-funded, multi-million-dollar “Taj Majahl.”
- My requests for public information were met with repeated refusals to answer my direct questions by your staff, and then, when you appeared, you threatened me with a restraining order for requesting public information.
Below are some specific examples of John D’Agostini’s unconstitutional actions, including supportive documents and specific quotes (used with permission) from other constituents:
- The first example involved an EDSO incident under Sheriff Jeff Neves just prior to his sudden retirement, resulting in a woman being violently assaulted by Sgt. Jeff Dreher, who had her tasered and thrown into jail where she woke up naked and covered in feces, simply because she sought a meeting with Sheriff Neves about her incarcerated daughter. Although Judge Wagoner promptly dismissed the jury and awarded the woman a meager $127,000 settlement, she should have received ten times that amount.
- Later, during a Taxpayers Association meeting, I asked Sheriff D’Agostini why he promoted Sgt. Jeff Dreher to Lieutenant, and then Dreher was promoted once again to Chief Investigator for the District Attorney’s office. I remarked that Dreher should have been disciplined and fired, but instead he was exalted in a 2018 press release: “El Dorado County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Jeff Dreher, One of the Most Respected Regional Leaders in Law Enforcement, Joins the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office.” When I produced the two incriminating news articles, D’Agostini angrily responded, “I’m not going to answer your questions Melody. You always twist things.”
The truth be told, I simply stated the facts and made a public inquiry of a public official, which is perfectly within my First Amendment rights. When any public official, such as Sheriff D’Agostini, has knowledge of wrongdoing but fails to remediate the situation, that public official aids, abets, and commits misprision of crime, thus is personally liable.
Law enforcement officers who have been dishonest, such as Dreher and D’Agostini, are sometimes referred to as “Brady cops.” Because of the Brady ruling, a statutory scheme was developed, in part, because law enforcement departments had developed a practice of purging their files concerning misconduct claims made against their officers. Law enforcement disciplinary actions have a unique risk-exposure profile.
This is because disciplinary actions based on defective internal affairs investigations can have the ripple effects of:
- Damaging public confidence
- Damaging agency morale
- Facilitating improper prosecutions of officers
- Victimizing innocent officers or allowing culpable officers to remain employed
- Creating significant financial losses in the forms of legal fees, arbitration fees, and large back-pay awards
- Increasing settlements and jury awards in civil suits
- Embarrassing the chief executive (Sheriff D’Agostini).
Another typical example of EDSO misconduct was when I made a trip to EDSO for the purpose of filing yet another formal Citizen’s Complaint of Officer Misconduct involving detectives Gallagher and Densmore. They were assigned to investigate the third complaint of officer misconduct by Deputy Terry Cissna, her refusal to assist me in making a Citizen’s Arrest, and falsification of her case file reports. The armed detectives showed up at my home unannounced, crawled through the gate, and demanded that I immediately produce the audio CD of the Deputy Terry Cissna incident. It is an invasion of privacy (trespassing) and in violation of my 4th Amendment Rights for EDSO to enter PRIVATE PROPERTY without probable cause, a signed warrant, or prior notification.
The pictured individuals were indeed trespassing, and if I can identify them, then it is my right to press charges for unlawful entry, especially when they did not immediately leave after being requested to do so. Meanwhile the detectives insulted a guest who was present, necessitating that I ask the detectives to leave my property. Prior to exiting, I informed the detectives they could obtain the audio CD from District Attorney Vern Pierson. The DA’s office later informed me that the detectives never picked up the CD and apparently had no intention of doing so.
While waiting 80 minutes in the EDSO lobby for a Sergeant to accept my Citizen Complaint against the 2 detectives, a cameraman for “The Sheriffs of El Dorado County” sat next to me. The cameraman was given VIP treatment by EDSO staff, but what happened next was most disturbing when the Sergeant assigned to take my complaint discriminated against me like a “second-class citizen”.
Sergeant Culver met me in the lobby to take my complaint. With a rudely overbearing attitude, Sergeant Culver ushered me into a room adjacent to the lobby and arrogantly refused to accept the factual documentation containing photographs identifying the trespassers as EDSO detectives Gallagher and Densmore. The three-minute dialog with Sergeant Culver was abruptly terminated when I stood up, walked out of the room and handed the lobby clerk the complaint materials addressed to Sheriff D’Agostini.
In yet another example, a friend and retired Sheriff’s Deputy accompanied me to a meeting with District Attorney Vern Pierson and Chief Investigator Bob Cosley for the purpose of requesting the DA to investigate EDSO corruption. Our meeting was audio recorded. Pierson agreed to do an investigation, provided we supply him with “something he can sink his teeth into.” I hand-delivered the same four inch binder of evidence to the DA that the Grand Jury received. In fact, Bob Cosley commended me on the “comprehensive and well-prepared evidence.” However, Vern Pierson then reneged on his audio-recorded agreement, claiming he “didn’t have the budget to investigate EDSO.” In so doing, the DA colluded with county staff to deprive me of due process and my First Amendment rights.
When public officers take oaths, yet are ignorant of the constitutional positions and mandates to which they are bound by those oaths, then fail to abide by those positions and mandates in the performance of their official duties, this suggests that the public officers may have had no intention of ever honoring their oaths, and their signatures upon the oath documents constitute fraud. Fraud vitiates any action. Any deceptive, obstructive enterprise undertaken by any public official that tends to weaken public confidence and undermines the sense of security for individual rights, is against public policy and against the Supreme Law of the land and any other laws which comply with the national Constitution. Fraud, in its elementary common-law sense of deceit, is the simplest and clearest definition of that word in the statute [483 U.S. 372].
In yet another example, a close associate, Rick Aiello, corresponded with Sheriff D’Agostini regarding his unconstitutional actions against me. This is his partial quote:
“I have also seen the transcript of Melody’s audio recording of when she went to your office to request public information. Not private, but public information. Her request was met with repeated refusals to answer her direct questions by your staff and then, when you appeared, you threatened her with a restraining order. For her requesting public information! Yet you are a public officer, elected by the public to serve the public under oath to the supreme law of the United States of America, circa 1787, as amended with the Bill of Rights in 1791. Where is your Constitutional authority to refuse to provide public information and seek a restraining order?
These are matters of truth, Sheriff. A legal maxim is that an unrebutted affidavit serves as the truth in law and before the court. But beyond that, the Supreme Judge over all of us knows the truth as well, and He knows that when you tell me that you are “standing up for our Constitution”, you are not being truthful.”
Mr. Aiello’s reply to you spoke volumes about your lack of ethics and malicious attack upon my character and reputation as a highly respected conservative and evangelical leader. It is evident that you are not the Oathkeeper or Constitutional Sheriff that you professed to be. This was further confirmed in writing by Sheriff Richard Mack of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA).
Another specific incident involved Sheriff D’Agostini’s unethical conduct during a Board of Supervisors appeal hearing concerning the Peermans’ appeal to the construction of a cell phone tower directly across the street from their home. I watched you march with your IT team up to the podium and demand that the BOS deny the Peermans’ appeal, stating, “I need this cell tower for MY department.” When the BOS denied the appeal, this was Brandi Peerman’s response:
“The stunt DAgostini pulled made me more angry than anything else because it was so unjust. It’s not even the tower that’s the most upsetting; it’s the corruption that’s the most disturbing. Before this happened, I just didn’t know any better. Now I will never look at things the same. But I’m not one to want to be in denial even if it’s uncomfortable to know the truth.”
Constitutional law and jurisdiction were the primary topic of several area meetings and conference calls hosted by Kirk MacKenzie from Defend Rural America. In May of 2013 Sheriff D’Agostini attended the Auburn DRA conference where the Sheriff personally led a standing ovation for Ron Gibson who was one of Kirk’s featured speakers.
The following day I hosted an all-day private symposium in my home on the topics of Constitutional Law, Jurisdiction, RICO Act, and Land Patents. Initially, both Kirk MacKenzie and Ron Gibson were slated as my guest speakers. However, when Kirk MacKenzie indicated that he wanted to bring Sheriff D’Agostini and Supervisor Brian Veerkamp into my home, it became necessary to tactfully ‘un-invite’ Kirk as a speaker because we just couldn’t take the risk of exposing the identity of my guests, many of whom had legal issues with Sheriff D’Agostini.
Several of my guests didn’t leave until after midnight so that they could discuss their situation with Mr. Gibson. One of my guests was Joe Hardesty, owner of the Big Cut Gold Mine. Not long ago, after years of litigation, Mr. Hardesty was finally awarded a settlement in excess of $120M from one of his lawsuits, which made national news. You may recall another scandal involving Joe Hardesty when Sheriff D’Agostini ordered a nighttime SWAT raid at the Big Cut property, only to find that Rick Churches was occupying the house on the premises. In front of his children, the SWAT team ordered Rick to come out of the house. Rick emerged “buck naked” to be greeted by the gun-wielding SWAT team looking for Mr. Hardesty, who resides in Sacramento County.
My other guests included a nationally known author, a Christian radio host, and former candidates for public office whom I knew while working at the Capitol. Without exception, when asked to state their names and reason for attending this private symposium, all guests unanimously responded with “Government corruption!” Two days later, Ron Gibson accompanied me to the BOS meeting and addressed the supervisors on some of the relevant topics discussed at the symposium.
In closing, if John D’Agostini believes that his unconstitutional and treasonous positions are valid and enforceable upon the people of El Dorado County, then pursuant to his oath and the Constitutional mandates imposed upon him by Article VI, Clauses 2 and 3, I challenge him to cite the specific articles and amendments in the Constitution which authorized his unconstitutional and treasonous positions.
John D’Agostini cannot do this because he had no lawful authority to do so, demonstrating that he condones, aids, and abets treason as a routine government practice by county government.
Sincerely,
Melody Lane
Founder – Compass2Truth
“Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual…Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.” ~ John Hancock
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