BOISE, Idaho — Former Caldwell police sergeant Ryan Bendawald, 41, will be heading to trial after he pleaded not guilty to eight federal charges in U.S. District Court in Boise on Thursday morning.
A grand jury indicted Bendawald on three counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and five counts of federal program bribery earlier in October. Prior to appearing in Idaho, he was arrested in Tennessee, where he has been living.
Bendawald is accused of sexually abusing women and trading sex and sexual favors for favorable police treatment while he was an officer with the Caldwell Police Department. The grand jury indictment alleges these crimes occurred between 2017 and 2021 and states Bendawald "abused his position as a law enforcement officer to engage in unlawful sexual conduct with at least seven members of the public through bribery and sexual assault."
7 Investigates first reported these allegations in March of 2022 as the FBI investigated Bendawald and other Caldwell officers. Bendawald resigned from Caldwell PD in November of 2021 amid the years-long FBI investigation into the department.
Two of the deprivation of rights charges involve aggravated sexual abuse and attempted aggravated sexual abuse. If convicted of those two charges alone, he faces up to life in prison, five years of supervised release and up to $250,000 in fines.
Bendawald's third deprivation of rights charge carries a punishment of up to a year in prison, a year of supervised release and up to $100,000 in fines. If convicted of the five federal program bribery charges, Bendawald faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine.
In court Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Raymond Edward Patricco Jr. informed Bendawald, who appeared alongside two appointed defense attorneys, that he is innocent until proven guilty. Patricco set his jury trial for Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. before Judge David C. Nye.
Judge Patricco set pretrial release conditions to assure his appearance and protect the community; those conditions include location monitoring and a curfew between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. His attorneys told the judge that Bendawald is the primary provider for his daughter and takes her to school and extracurriculars. He is also prohibited from contacting any alleged victims or potential witnesses.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney's Office filed an unopposed motion for protective order around discovery (evidence) in this case. They called the discovery in the case "voluminous", stating that it currently includes approximately 193,396 documents totaling more than 262,986 pages.
Another high-ranking Caldwell officer, Joey Hoadley, was convicted of three federal felonies last fall, including falsifying a record in a federal investigation, tampering with a witness by harassment, and tampering with documents. The former lieutenant was sentenced to three months in federal prison.
Hoadley served on the Street Crimes Unit with Bendawald and his case also stemmed from the FBI investigation into misconduct within the police department. Hoadley is currently appealing his conviction.
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