Grand jury adds charges against Minneapolis officerBy JAMES WALSH, Star Tribune
December 10, 2008
A federal grand jury has added three counts of filing false tax returns to earlier corruption charges against longtime Minneapolis police officer Mike Roberts.
According to a superseding indictment filed Tuesday, Roberts allegedly failed to report at least $75,000 in income earned from off-duty security work on his tax returns for 2004 through 2007.
The tax charges are new, added to earlier corruption allegations that were part of a July grand jury indictment in which officials say Roberts twice provided confidential information to an undercover informant who claimed to be a gang member for a total of $200.
Roberts, 58, was relieved of duty in April after the earlier allegations came to light. He is a 29-year veteran of the department.
According to the original allegations against Roberts:
During an Aug. 9, 2007, meeting with "T.T." -- a man who Roberts understood was involved in criminal activity -- Roberts put through an inquiry to the National Crime Information Center and obtained information regarding a Minnesota license plate number. According to the indictment, T.T. gave Roberts $100 for the information.
On Aug. 14, 2007, Roberts met with T.T. in Roberts' squad car. During that meeting, T.T. told Roberts that he was a member of the Gangster Disciples street gang and wanted information about someone who was providing information to police about T.T.'s drug dealing. Roberts accessed the Minneapolis Police Department's computer records system and provided information from the non-public portion of the system. Again, T.T. gave Roberts $100.
At the time of the original indictment, Roberts' attorney, F. Clayton Tyler, called the FBI's case against his client a "typical case of entrapment." On Wednesday, Tyler said of the new indictment:
"I think sometimes when the U.S. Attorney feels uncomfortable with the strength of their original case, they look for other charges to go into. My client looks forward to defending himself on these charges as well."
James Walsh • 612-673-7428
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