[[Rod Cusic]] was a deputy in the Mariposa Sheriff's Department and a friend of [[Ron Van Meter]]. He was part of the search party for Van Meter after his alleged boating accident on Lake McClure. Cusic was one of the deputies who believed Van Meter was murdered after uncovering drug trafficking within the sheriff's department.[^1] Cusic, a seventeen-year veteran, was ultimately forced out of the department and retired on stress leave. He later became involved with [[D.I.G. (Decency in Government)]], an organization formed by deputies and grand jurors to expose corruption in Mariposa County.[^1] He was present at the scene of the "[[Queen's accident]]" on March 5, 1983, when a Mariposa County Sheriff's vehicle collided head-on with a Secret Service car. Cusic was privy to [[Roderick Sinclair]]'s drugged condition on the day of the accident. In January 1988, Cusic stated that he was "told by [[Roderick Sinclair]] to lie to a Grand Jury" about Sinclair's drug addiction and the resulting Queen's accident. He officially disclosed this to the Fresno [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] on April 26, 1984, and again on October 9, 1987. In 1987, Cusic also witnessed a booby-trapped incendiary device explode at [[Roderick Sinclair]]'s home.[^1] --- ### Footnotes [^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.