Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Arrested for Violating Civil Rights by Kidnapping

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
March 27, 2009

WASHINGTON—Agents with the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Wyoming Department of Criminal Justice arrested Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Franklin Joseph Ryle late yesterday in Douglas, Wyo., on criminal civil rights charges.

A federal criminal complaint charges that on Jan. 8, 2009, Ryle, while acting under color of law, unlawfully arrested and kidnapped a person, thereby willfully depriving the person of his right, protected by the Constitution, to be free from unreasonable seizures. The complaint also charges that Ryle knowingly possessed and brandished a firearm during the crime.

The charges in the complaint are only allegations, and Ryle remains innocent of the charges until proven guilty.