photo by: Johnson County Sheriff, Douglas County Sheriff

Left to right: Jeffrey B. Holtzman; Mario Godinez; Sutagee Anglin

Updated at 1:07 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28

A former Lawrence Police Department officer who was convicted of criminal threat has lost his certification, according to the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training.

In addition, two other area law enforcement officers who became involved in criminal cases also had their certifications revoked over the summer.

Former Lawrence police officer Jeffrey Brian Holtzman, 53, had his certification revoked Oct. 16, according to an updated list of dispositions through KS-CPOST.

Further information about KS-CPOST’s reasoning for the summary order of revocation was not immediately available Saturday, but the Journal-World has reported on the Johnson County criminal case in which Holtzman was involved.

Holtzman was initially charged with aggravated assault for allegedly threatening another man with a deadly weapon on Oct. 18, 2018. The victim told police that he was driving on Interstate 435 near Interstate 35 when Holtzman pulled alongside him and pointed a handgun at him. What prompted the road rage was unclear.

On June 6, however, Holtzman pleaded guilty to a less severe level-9 felony, criminal threat. Holtzman was sentenced Aug. 15 to 12 months of probation. Should his probation be revoked, however, he faces five months in prison.

Holtzman resigned from LPD on Nov. 7, 2018, Sgt. Amy Rhoads previously told the Journal-World. He had been with the department for about nine years, she said.

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In July, another Lawrence police officer and a former Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputy also had their certifications revoked.

Former Lawrence police officer Sutagee Anglin, now 47, was charged Aug. 20, 2018 with domestic battery. The charge was later amended to criminal restraint. Anglin’s 14-year employment with the department came to an end Jan. 24, Rhoads said via email Monday.

Anglin was granted a diversion in that case, and if he completes it successfully, he can avoid prosecution for the charges.

Anglin admitted in his diversion agreement that the incident began when he and the victim got into an argument. Afraid that Anglin would “become more violent,” the victim tried to call someone to come pick up her and two children. Anglin grabbed the phone out of her hand and, when she tried to get her phone back, “held her down on the couch and would not let her leave the home.”

Previously, Anglin had been commended for his work, including in 2013 for helping to pull an unconscious man from a house fire, and in 2012, for his role in disarming a man threatening crowds of downtown pedestrians with a gun and a knife, the Journal-World has reported.

His certification was revoked July 16, according to KS-CPOST.

Mario Godinez, a former Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputy, was charged in September 2018 with unlawful sexual relations for engaging in “consensual” sexual activity with a female inmate at the Douglas County Jail.

Godinez, now 48, was in charge of the work-release program for inmates. An affidavit revealed that the woman met with Godinez in his office and was temporarily released from the jail under the guise of the program, even though she was never granted work-release privileges by a judge.

Godinez pleaded down to a lesser charge of aggravated battery, and he was sentenced to probation on May 24. He was required to register as a sex offender for 15 years, the Journal-World has reported. Should his probation be revoked, he would face a year in prison.

At his sentencing hearing, he apologized to authorities and the community for what his attorney described as “a lapse in judgement” and “a terrible mistake.”

“I feel like I failed them all, and failed myself, and I’m really deeply sorry,” Godinez said.

Godinez resigned from the sheriff’s office in April 2018, before the criminal charges were filed. His certification was revoked July 13, according to KS-CPOST.

Godinez is the only Douglas County Sheriff’s Office employee listed in the online KS-CPOST dispositions, which go back to 1998. In that time, nine Lawrence police officers have had their certifications revoked, the list shows.

Spokespersons for the Lawrence Police Department and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to the Journal-World’s emails seeking comment Saturday afternoon.

Those whose certifications have been revoked may petition to have it reinstated after five years, according to the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Act. The commission then will consider factors including consciousness of the wrongful conduct and disrepute it’s brought upon the law enforcement profession, the extent of rehabilitation, the nature of the original misconduct, and conduct after discipline.

Editor’s note: This story has been revised to clarify that Anglin is no longer with the police department.