Special prosecutor Barry Wilkerson has charged former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody with interference with judicial process for allegedly inducing a witness to withhold information following Cody’s raid on a newspaper office, a publisher’s home, and a city councilwoman’s home, as reported by the Kansas Reflector. The charge, a low-level felony, could result in probation if Cody is convicted.

Wilkerson and special prosecutor Marc Bennett determined that although the raid was illegal and unconstitutional, Cody and other officials, including Sheriff Jeff Soyez and Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents, did not break the law in their planning and execution of the raid. They also found no legal fault in accusing journalists and a political figure of identity theft based on publicly available documents. The August 11, 2023, raids, led by Cody, targeted the Marion County Record’s newsroom and the homes of publisher Eric Meyer and Councilwoman Ruth Herbel, and resulted in a stressful confrontation that contributed to the death of Meyer’s 98-year-old mother. The prosecutors’ report stated that Cody’s directive to delete text messages from a witness would be the basis for criminal charges. The complaint filed on Tuesday includes 37 witnesses, including law enforcement officials, city leaders, journalists, and the involved witness.