By Steve Neavling
Nearly three months after an on-duty DEA agent was charged with fatally striking a cyclist in Salem, Oregon, the case remains shrouded in secrecy.
Samuel T. Landis, 38, was on duty when he allegedly struck Marganne Allen, a cyclist and state official, on March 28.
Landis was charged on Sept. 6 with criminally negligent homicide.
But since then, prosecutors and police have been silent, according to the Salem Reporter.
Landis still hasn’t entered a plea, and court records don’t indicate when he will be arraigned.
Landis was released from jail on a $2,000 bond, and he was prohibited from leaving the state or having a gun.
But on Oct. 2, a judge gave him permission to travel out of state for unexplained reasons. During the same hearing, Landis’s attorney said there would be a second request to deviate from his bond conditions so that he could possess a gun.
It’s unclear whether Landis continues to work as an agent because the DEA has declined to respond to reporters.
Marion County Circuit Court Judge Tracy Prall initially set an Oct. 18 hearing but has since canceled it without explanation.
Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson also has declined to discuss the case and whether Landis is still employed with the DEA.
The case has been unusual since it began. The Salem Police Department, for example, didn’t immediately disclose that Landis was a DEA agent.
Since Landis worked on a drug task force with Salem police, the department asked Keizer police to take over.
