A suspended Tulsa Police officer faces new federal charges

The federal case against Tulsa Police officer Rico Yarbrough now includes witness tampering. <br/><br/>Officer Rico Yarbrough has been suspended with pay. He was last working in the gangs unit for the

Thursday, April 6th 2006, 6:13 am

By: News On 6

The federal case against Tulsa Police officer Rico Yarbrough now includes witness tampering.

Officer Rico Yarbrough has been suspended with pay. He was last working in the gangs unit for the Tulsa Police Department. Officer Yarbrough is accused of telling a suspected drug dealer that the FBI was investigating him. He's also accused of telling the dealer about a search warrant agents were about to serve at his house.

In addition, Yarbrough faces criminal conspiracy and two obstruction of justice charges. Prosecutors are hoping the new witness tampering charge will land the 11-year police veteran in jail until his trial starts. We don't know when that will be, since the federal indictments just came down last month.

Several of Yarbroughâ€™s fellow officers testified about his character, saying he was a good cop and person. But the officers admitted they had not read the details of the latest criminal charges.