LAKE CITY — A former Lake City police officer has pleaded guilty to his role in a purported conspiracy to falsify his and another former officer’s physical fitness records and paperwork to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

Anthony Snyder, 46, was arrested last September alongside Aaron Alspach, 47, and charged with one count of felonious misconduct in office and one count of perjury, both Class D felonies. Both men were formerly police officers in Lake City.

The former city administrator, Eric Wood, 58, was also arrested at that time and charged with felonious misconduct in office, obstructing prosecution, perjury and suborning perjury.

On Monday, Snyder filed a written plea in Calhoun County District Court, pleading guilty to one charge of non-felonious misconduct in office, a serious misdemeanor. According to the plea agreement cited in the filing, the charges of felonious misconduct in office and perjury will be dismissed after the appeal deadline expires or if Snyder receives a deferred judgment for the non-felonious misconduct charge.

The prosecution and defense also agreed to a contested sentencing hearing, during which Snyder will be asking for a deferred judgment.

A deferred judgment means that if Snyder successfully completes certain conditions of his probation during a set amount of time, the conviction will be removed from his criminal record.

In the plea filed on Monday, Snyder admitted that in September 2020, when he was hired as a full-time police officer in Lake City, he failed to take a physical fitness test as required prior to being hired and he also did not submit a legally-required form to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy within the 10 days required.

On Wednesday morning, Snyder’s plea was accepted by Chief District Court Judge Adria Kester. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 18 at the Calhoun County Courthouse.

Last fall, Alspach took a plea deal for a lesser charge of tampering with records in exchange for cooperating with the prosecution of Snyder and Wood’s cases. Wood’s trial is currently scheduled for Sept. 12 in Calhoun County.

The investigation into the three men’s activities dates back to at least November 2021, when Snyder and Alspach were interviewed by Sac County Deputy Katie Stange, according to a filing made in Snyder’s case last fall. A search warrant from Jan. 7, 2022, showed that Calhoun County Attorney Tina Meth Farrington asked the Sac County Sheriff’s Office to “assist in an investigation into allegations of falsifications of documents sent to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy” with the allegations focused on physical test scores of Alspach and Snyder.

According to former Acting Lake City City Administrator Lee Vogt, Snyder and Alspach both started with the Lake City Police Department in the fall of 2020. Alspach had previously worked as a reserve officer since 2008 and Snyder worked for the city’s Public Works Department from April 2019 until he started with the LCPD.

Snyder left the police department in April 2021 and Alspach left in October 2021. Vogt said she did not know the circumstances of their departures from the department.

The minutes of the Oct. 5, 2020, Lake City City Council meeting show that Meth Farrington was there “to discuss with the council her concerns over the police department.”

Meth Farrington told The Messenger last fall that she was at that meeting to inform the City Council that she was not happy with the process of hiring Alspach and Snyder. She said at that time, she did not know of the situation that led to the current charges.

“My concern was that they were hired too quickly and that shortcuts may have been taken,” Meth Farrington said. “I advised the council that I would now be required to review every charge to see if the officer that issued the citation was at that particular time qualified to write the citation.”

She said that Alspach had been a reserve officer and was making the move to be a regular officer, and that Snyder did not have that previous law enforcement background. She would have to disclose that information to the defense attorneys in a case because it could have potentially been exculpatory.

“Not a situation that I wanted to be put into,” Meth Farrington said.