FARMINGTON -- A judge declined to lower the bail of a former Davis County Sheriff's deputy from $100,000 to $25,000.
Christopher Kenneth Sorensen, 35, of Centerville, pleaded not guilty Thursday in 2nd District Court to three counts of second-degree felony possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, three counts of second-degree felony distribution of a controlled substance, two counts of third-degree felony endangerment of a child and one count of class A misdemeanor tampering with evidence.
The defense attorney, Rudy J. Bautista, requested the bail be lowered so Sorensen could be released from Davis County Jail and get into an inpatient drug program.
Deputy Davis County Attorney Rick Westmoreland said Sorensen is a flight risk because he is looking at a possible prison sentence.
"We also see (Sorensen) as a risk to the public," Westmoreland said.
Also, the Davis County Attorney's Office is investigating another case, Westmoreland said during the hearing. After the hearing, Westmoreland declined to comment on the nature of the investigation.
Judge Thomas L. Kay declined to lower the bail, stating he had not heard anything different concerning Sorensen's circumstances since the first hearing last week.
Another hearing has been set for Aug. 26.
Sorensen was arrested July 20 by West Bountiful police following a monthlong investigation. Police received a tip that bad heroin was being sold in the city. Weber Metro Narcotics Strike Force helped with the investigation.
Officers followed Sorensen, who had his 3-year-old son with him, from Salt Lake City, where they said he bought heroin, to a North Salt Lake park. At the park, officers saw him fill up syringes. They arrested him before he could shoot up in front of the toddler.
Bautista said the Division of Child and Family Services is also investigating the case because the child was with Sorensen when he was arrested.
Sorensen had been with the sheriff's office for eight years until he was terminated following an arrest in 2007.
He pleaded guilty in 2nd District Court on Feb. 5, 2008, to second-degree felony illegal possession of a controlled substance, which was reduced to a class A misdemeanor after he completed drug court March 2 of this year.
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