GT Deputies Fired

<p><em><a href="mailto:payettepc@interlochen.org">By Peter Payette</a></em></p> <p>Two Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Deputies already facing jail time are now out of work. Mark Noffke and Robert Siller were fired yesterday, after a disciplinary hearing. The two have admitted they should have done more to determine whether Joseph Soffredine was drunk when he crashed his car at three in the morning in February.</p> <p>Soffredine is a Traverse City Police officer, and Noffke and Sillers did not give him a breathalyzer. Undersheriff Nathan Alger says their conduct was unacceptable for Grand Traverse County law enforcement, so they were fired.</p> <p>Alger says no new information was presented at the hearing yesterday.</p> <p>The two had pleaded guilty in court on Monday to a misdemeanor crime. They could go to jail for ninety days.</p> <p>Soffredine has been charged with drunk driving based on the testimony of witnesses who saw him before the crash. </p>