FBI Agent Testifies In Corruption Trial Against Three Tulsa Police Officers

Emily Baucum, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- The corruption trial against three Tulsa police officers continued Thursday, with  the undercover FBI agent who set up a sting operation to catch them taking the stand.

Nick DeBruin, Bruce Bonham, and Harold Wells claim they are innoncent.  The three are accused of stealing money and planting drugs.

6/1/2011 Related Story: Video In Tulsa Police Corruption Trial Shows Officers Pocketing Money

The FBI agent's testimony took most of the day. He was asked to go undercover after the FBI heard some Tulsa police officers were stealing money. He talked about how he met the accused officers and how he maintained a relationship with one of them.

In May 2009, Tulsa police busted a meth dealer at a Super 8 Motel. What they didn't know was the dealer was an undercover FBI agent.

He went by the name Jason Lujan but used the nickname "Joker." Joker said he sold meth and was an illegal immigrant from Mexico living in Dallas.

The FBI agent told the courtroom he met with a Tulsa police informant inside the motel room. That woman told officers about the meeting and that's when police made their move.

"Joker" was ready. He installed hidden cameras inside the room.

Those cameras caught DeBruin putting money in his pocket and handing some of it to Bonham, while Wells was in the room.

The officers never found drugs inside that room, but they did broker a deal with "Joker." Officers asked him to be an informant in exchange for $300 to catch a bus home. The FBI agent also exchanged phone numbers with the officers.

The accused officers say they pocketed the money to let the drug dog sniff it later.

An officer who was there that night testified all the money was turned in that night, after they got suspicious they were being set up.

Following the money trail, the police report showed officers turned all the money into evidence, except the $300they gave to "Joker." A drug dog was called in but did not respond to the scene.