A former El Paso County sheriff’s deputy accused of faking a cancer diagnosis to defraud several people, including co-workers, of thousands of dollars pleaded guilty to two charges Monday.

Kevin Sypher, 57, agreed to plead guilty to theft, a Class 4 felony, and first-degree official misconduct, a Class 1 misdemeanor. Judge Jill Brady sentenced Sypher to a two-year deferred sentence on the theft charge, and two years’ supervised probation on the misconduct charge.

Both sentences will run concurrently, and if Sypher adheres to all conditions of the deferred sentence, his guilty plea will be withdrawn and the theft charge dismissed, Brady said.

Sypher will be responsible for paying a $50 monthly supervision fee and will be required to complete 48 hours of “useful community service,” among other provisions, Brady said. If he violates any of the conditions, Sypher could go to prison.

Sypher, who served with the Sheriff’s Office for 11 years, disappeared twice in 2023, according to previous reporting by The Gazette. He vanished the second time on April 30, 2023, and did not resurface until nearly a year later, on April 2 of this year, when he was arrested.

During the investigation into his disappearance, officials learned that Sypher had scammed at least seven people, including co-workers and a local Fraternal Order of Police chapter, by telling them he had cancer and needed money for treatment. Sypher also married another woman while he was still married to his first wife.

On Monday, prosecutor Tony Gioia characterized Sypher’s case as strange and tragic.

“The tragedy of this case is that if you talked to anybody about Kevin Sypher prior to these charges being filed, you would have heard that he is the nicest guy you ever met,” Gioia said.

“Every interaction I’ve had with him was pleasant. I think what this case shows is that those perceptions can be deceiving. Mr. Sypher went to great lengths to deceive a number of people in feigning an illness as serious as cancer to solicit money from these individuals.”

Gioia said that the District Attorney’s office currently has four victim impact statements, with each victim requesting thousands of dollars in restitution. The office is waiting to hear from the remaining three victims.

Michael Stuzynski, one of Sypher’s defense attorneys, said some of the former deputy’s bizarre behavior may have stemmed from a diagnosis of frontal lobe dementia. Stuzynski also stressed that Sypher has “always wanted to pay that money back” to his victims.

“We hope this (outcome) gives the victims closure,” Stuzynski said. “Mr. Sypher will pay them back.”

Gazette reporter Zachary Dupont contributed to this story.