ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery is responding to criticism that he fired a deputy after telling him to roll dice to keep his job.  

Tony Kirchner, the deputy who made the claim, is a current candidate for First Ward Alderman and believes his firing was politically motivated. However, Montgomery said an internal investigation suggested Kirchner and others were working secondary jobs at the same time they were on the clock as deputies.

The ex-deputy, who served in the department for 12 years, was alongside his lawyers as he recalled the encounter.

"I came in to simply continue, put in my leave of absence to take care of family issues. And that's when he broke out and said, all the big dogs roll this. This is how I make my own decisions, my best decisions have always been made with these dice."

Lawyers released an audio recording of the incident between Kirchner and Montgomery. In it, Sheriff Montgomery says Kirchner was campaigning on the job and says he uses a photo as proof. Kirchner is heard saying he wasn’t registered as an aldermanic candidate at the time. 

In a social media statement, Montgomery said Kirchner was already subject to an internal investigation, related to his aldermanic campaign, at the time of the dice roll. Montgomery said Kirchner was his first experience terminating an employee, so he “deployed a creative de-escalation strategy to ease the tension and provide him with a sense of control.”

“I offered him a chance to avoid termination by rolling a pair of gold trick dice, where rolling a seven twice would grant him that opportunity,” Montgomery said in a statement. “While unconventional, this gesture aimed to empower him… it was a unique response to a unique situation, driven by my deep commitment to the safety of my team and the integrity of our department.”

But Kirchner's attorneys say he hasn’t been the only one let go. They believe there have been at least 18 terminations in the department. They also allege at least 12 white deputies have been “systematically” removed. 

“The reasons that were provided later by the sheriff's office for the termination of Sheriff Kirchner were pretextual. They were based on a lie and they were the result of political collusion between the sheriff and First Ward Alderman Annie Schweitzer,” said attorney Talmage Newton. 

Earlier this week, the FBI was asked to investigate the department after a now-form deputy is under police investigation for sexually assaulting a detainee at the criminal justice center. Tensions were raised when Montgomery put a city corrections commissioner in handcuffs last week as authorities tried to access the facility. Montgomery said he had probable cause to do so.