By KENDRICK MARSHALL
Charges were filed against a
Tulsa police officer who was recently jailed following his alleged involvement
in drug trafficking.
Tyrone Jenkins, 40, is charged
with two counts of receiving a bribe, a single count of attempt to deliver
cocaine and two computer crime counts, according to Tulsa County District Court
filings.
Jenkins, who works as a patrol
officer in the Riverside Division, was arrested March 17 following a sting
operation by the Tulsa Police Department that found revealed he took $3,100 in
bribes.
He was booked into the Tulsa
Jail on complaints of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony,
conspiring to traffic cocaine and violating the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act,
jail records show.
"The circumstances of
charging a law enforcement officer who is sworn to uphold the law is
disappointing on many levels," said Tulsa County District Attorney Doug
Drummond. "But at the same time, whether a person is a law enforcement
officer or not, he must be held accountable under the law."
Investigators accused Jenkins
of receiving payments of $2,300 on March 4 and $800 on March 17 in exchange for
confidential information he agreed to provide to an undercover officer,
Drummond said.
Jenkins is also accused of
using his city-owned computer to access the confidential information.
Each bribery charge carries up
to 10 years in prison. Each violation of the computer crimes act also has a
10-year prison sentence. Drug charges could carry a maximum of 22 years in
prison.
TPD records indicate that
Jenkins was hired in January 1996.
John Geer