sheriff of hunterdon county. he was hired as an undersheriff and tasked with a job of making sure all the other officers followed the sheriff's rules. the new sheriff who hired him was a republican named deborah trout. when she became the new sheriff of hunterdon county when elected, she made seemingly unusual hiring decisions. in addition to hiring mr. russo fresh off his time at the paramilitary spca, she also hired somebody named greg izikian as an investigator in the sheriffs office. he had been dismissed from two past jobs at other police departments and according to the local hunterdon newspaper he was fighting a drunk driving conviction at the time he was hired. sheriff trout then hired another investigator named john flat who according to the hunterdon county democrat newspaper had never had any position in any law enforcement agency ever before but he had given money to deborah trout's campaign for sheriff. the one thing the hires had in common is along with the new