Witness Says Cop Asked Him To Hijack Police Van

Witness says officer asked him to hijack police van 
The Tulsa World by Jarrel Wade  -  May 26, 2012

A man claiming to be a former informant for Tulsa police officers convicted of corruption testified Friday that he delivered drugs for officers and was asked by one officer to hijack a police evidence van and shoot anyone inside who resisted. Edward Farner said he worked for Officers John K. "J.J." Gray, Jeff Henderson, Harold R. Wells and former federal agent Brandon McFadden from 1995 to 1999, informing on drug dealers and then delivering drugs officers recovered from raids to an unknown third party. Farner's testimony came during a federal court hearing in the U.S. Northern District before District Judge James H. Payne regarding several motions related to Jeffrey Dan Williams' 1997 conviction on drug charges, which resulted in a sentence of more than 30 years. Williams pleaded guilty to the charges but immediately after and several times since has tried to withdraw his plea, records show. Farner said any one of the four officers would call him and ask him to pick up either methamphetamine, cocaine or marijuana and deliver it to an address. Gray was Farner's main contact, he testified. Farner said Gray asked him in 1999 to steal a Tulsa Police Department van carrying seized money, drugs and guns to an Oklahoma City depository. "I was to hijack the van and shoot the officers in it if they resisted," Farner said. After hearing Gray's plan to shoot officers, Farner said he "packed up and disappeared in the night out of Tulsa." "I thought they would set me up and bury me where they claimed to have buried others," Farner said as Assistant U.S. Attorney Leena Alam objected. Sometime before he left town, Farner said Gray, Henderson, McFadden and Wells picked him up in a vehicle and threatened his life. "We drove to a remote area in Sand Springs, (and they) asked what I saw," Farner said as Alam objected again. Farner said he was told "that if I talked about their drug actions that I would be killed." A federal investigation of Tulsa police officers and a federal agent began as early as 2008 and resulted in charges against six current or former Tulsa police officers and the federal agent, as well as accusations of criminal behavior against five unindicted officers. Additionally, at least 44 people have been freed from prison or had their cases modified because of civil rights violations or potential problems with their cases. Gray, a 20-year Tulsa Police veteran and former burglary detective, was released May 1 from a federal prison in Pollock, La., after serving more than four months. Gray pleaded guilty June 14 in a federal police corruption case and was sentenced Dec. 6 to four months in prison and four years of probation. Gray, 45, admitted stealing money during an FBI sting in May 2009 and pleaded guilty in U.S. Northern District Court in Tulsa after cooperating with special prosecutors investigating police corruption within the Tulsa Police Department. Williams' defense attorney, William Widell, is trying to establish that Gray, among other officers of the court, was essential to the 1997 case against Williams and, therefore, defrauded the court, Widell said. Prosecutors argue the court was not defrauded prior to a judge sentencing Williams, Alam said. Farner testified that Gray asked him to bring Williams in to work for the officers because Williams made "a good product." Williams refused so Farner was told to start informing on him, Farner said. "I was required to keep an eye on Jeff (Williams) and report back when he was cooking ... so they could raid him," Farner said. Under cross examination, Farner, who has prior drug convictions, said he didn't come forward earlier with information about the officers "for fear of my life." Farner was the final witness for the defense. "At the time, I was doing what I was told to do," Farner testified. "At the time, I didn't know who to trust, who was real or not." The government's main witness Friday was Leon Francis, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, who led the investigation against Williams in 1997. Due to Williams' guilty plea, Francis was the only witness who testified at that time, records show. Alam said the government will show that evidence presented by Francis before Williams' sentencing was authentic. Francis testified about interviews with 75 to 100 witnesses who corroborated Williams' manufacturing of methamphetamine and conspiracy charges. One of those witnesses was Gregg Elliot Fillmore, who helped investigators establish how much meth Williams manufactured, according to testimony. The quantity largely influenced the length of the sentence. In 1997, Fillmore, 49, told Francis he saw Williams manufacture meth at various locations. On the first day of the trial earlier this month, Fillmore testified he lied, saying he never saw Williams manufacture meth. He claims he was coerced by people claiming to be law enforcement officers. Francis said Friday he had no reason to doubt Fillmore's claim then or now, and fully believed it in 1997.

Recap of federal investigation of Tulsa Police The federal investigation of Tulsa police officers and a federal agent began as early as 2008 and resulted in charges against six current or former Tulsa police officers and the federal agent, as well as accusations of criminal behavior against five unindicted officers. Additionally, at least 44 people have been freed from prison or had their cases modified because of civil rights violations or potential problems with their cases. Several lawsuits have stemmed from the two-year federal investigation. Lawsuits began being filed as early as April 2010, and to date, there appear to be nine lawsuits, the World has reported. The first Tulsa police trial was May 31 to June 10, 2011. The second trial was Aug. 1 to Aug. 24, 2011. Jeff Henderson, a Tulsa police officer hired by TPD in 1995, was convicted on two counts of civil rights violations and six counts of perjury. He was acquitted on 45 counts of perjury, civil rights violations, drug conspiracy and witness tampering. Henderson was sentenced to 42 months in prison, which he is currently serving in South Dakota. Brandon McFadden, hired as an agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2002, was sentenced to 21 months in a Texas prison after pleading guilty to drug conspiracy. McFadden cooperated with prosecutors. John K. "J.J." Gray, a former Tulsa police officer hired in 1990, pleaded guilty to stealing money and was sentenced to four months in a Louisiana prison. He was released May 1. Gray cooperated with prosecutors. Harold R. Wells, hired as a Tulsa police officer in 1975, was convicted on five counts, but a federal judge later dismissed one count. Wells was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, which he is currently serving in Minnesota. Three police officers - Nick DeBruin, Bruce Bonham and Bill Yelton - were acquitted on civil rights violations in two separate cases. Bonham was charged with five counts and DeBruin was charged with six counts related to theft of U.S. funds, civil rights violations, drug possession and possession of firearms. TPD fired DeBruin and Bonham on Jan. 20 for "conduct unbecoming an officer" and "duty to be truthful and obedient." Yelton was charged with seven counts related to civil-rights violations, witness-tampering and perjury. Yelton has since retired. Jarrel Wade 918-581-8367 jarrel.wade@tulsaworld.com