By Mike TeSelle, KCRA-TV

The Placer County Sheriff’s Department was served with a federal subpoena during the first week of August, according to a sheriff’s spokesperson.

However, the department declined to comment on exactly what the warrant is seeking.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento also declined comment and did not even confirm if an investigation involving the sheriff’s department existed.

“It is uncommon, very uncommon for a prosecutor to issue a subpoena on a law enforcement agency,” said Johnny Griffin, a former federal prosecutor.

Griffin, a current defense attorney, did not want to speculate, but he did offer general perspective of why a local law enforcement agency would be served with a federal subpoena.

“If you serve a subpoena on an entity, say a sheriff’s department, that doesn’t necessarily mean the sheriff’s department is under some type of investigation or target, but it does not exclude them,” said Griffin. “Perhaps a member or someone connected to the department may be under some type of investigation. It could be a vendor, an employee or an inmate.”

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