A sheriff’s deputy in Millard County faces two felony counts over a family dispute that began with his father’s funeral and a missing saddle stand.
An arraignment hearing has been set for Clete Carter, 43, of Fillmore, on charges of tampering with a witness and retaliation against a witness, both third-degree felonies. The arraignment is expected to take place Aug. 13 at the 4th District Court in Nephi.
The case stems from a dispute among Carter, his siblings and their mother, Janet, after the 2017 death of the family patriarch, David. Janet Carter had accused Clete of taking his father’s saddle stand — which he removed from his parents’ house to display a saddle at David’s funeral. She says her son threatened her not to press charges.
Clete Carter, his mother testified in a June 19 preliminary hearing, said “that I needed to drop it … because he said it was going to tear our family apart and hurt his job.” The initial charges filed against Clete Carter in February cited that threat as tampering with a witness.
The retaliation charge arises from a related family argument. This one was between Janet’s youngest child, Cullen, and her then-14-year-old grandson. The dispute became so heated that the boy called 911, testified Lacey Frampton, the teen’s mom.
Deputies responded to the 911 call, Frampton said, but left to handle a bus accident. When Frampton and her husband, Corey, realized deputies would do nothing about Cullen, who is an officer with the Spanish Fork police, Corey called Cullen’s boss.
That, Lacey Frampton said at the preliminary hearing, was too much for Clete Carter. Lacey Frampton testified that her brother said, “I could tell that albino b---- to come down and he would kick the sh-- out of him.”
At the preliminary hearing, 4th District Judge Anthony Howell dismissed two misdemeanor counts, one of theft (involving the saddle stand) and one of making a threat of violence.
Clete Carter has been with the Millard County Sheriff’s Office for more than 20 years, Janet Carter said in court. A spokeswoman for the Millard County auditor said Monday that Carter remains on administrative leave.
To avoid a conflict of interest, the Millard County attorney has asked McKay King, the deputy Wasatch County attorney, to prosecute Carter’s case. The two felony charges carry possible prison sentences of up to five years and fines up to $5,000.
The Millard County Sheriff’s Office — which has 28 law officers, including Sheriff Richard Jacobson — was already facing scrutiny over an officer’s conduct. Sgt. Scott Corey, who reportedly left the department in October, had been accused of not taking any action when a Kanosh firefighter in 2018 reported to Corey, then the chief of Kanosh’s volunteer fire department, that Corey’s son, Austin, had raped her in the fire station.
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