Clarksburg Police Officials Resign, Avoid Federal Prosecution

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CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — The Chief of the Clarksburg Police Department and one of his Lieutenants have resigned in order to avoid being prosecuted for federal criminal charges.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced today that former Chief Marshall Goff and former Lieutenant Tim Smith have quit the Clarksburg Police Department and thus will avoid being charged with civil rights violations and for making false statements to federal agents. The actions of Goff and Smith occurred after officers from their department responded to a report of an alleged domestic battery in Clarksburg in April of 2013 involving a city councilman. Goff and Smith became involved in the response and the actions that they took led to a separate investigation into their handling of the case.

The resignations of Goff and Smith are effective immediately and both men are barred from ever seeking or accepting employment as police officers again. Both men have also agreed to be cooperative and truthful in the ongoing investigation into the handling of the response to the alleged domestic.

A charge has been filed in the underlying domestic battery case and that matter is being handled in state court by a special prosecuting attorney.

The case involving Goff and Smith was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the West Virginia State Police, BCI, both of which are members of the West Virginia Public Corruption Task Force. If the public has any information regarding this matter or other similar matters they may call the public corruption hotline at 1-855-WVA-FEDS (1-855-982-3337), or send an email to wvafeds@usdoj.gov.