In May 2012, before he was appointed director of the Idaho Department of Correction, Josh Tewalt bought "lethal injection drugs" with a suitcase full of cash in a Walmart parking lot, new court documents allege. The drugs were later used in the execution of an Idaho prison inmate.
At the time, Tewalt was the deputy chief of the department's Bureau of Prisons, the Idaho Press reports. He made the purchase of the drugs for more than $10,000 after taking a chartered plane to Tacoma, Washington, along with Kevin Kempf, then-chief of the department's Division of Operations, according to a 64-page civil complaint. The complaint alleges Tewalt and Kempf "likely acted inconsistently with federal statutes...in their handling of the pentobarbital" used in the execution. The drug is a scheduled 2 controlled substance under federal law.
That complaint was filed Thursday by the Federal Defender Services of Idaho on behalf of two Idaho death row inmates. The trip to Tacoma and the purchase were both directed by then-Director of the Idaho Department of Correction Brent Reinke, and then-Gov. Butch Otter authorized Reinke to make that call, according to the document. The attorneys further claim the drug "may not have been properly stored" prior to being used during the June 2012 execution of Richard Leavitt.
