MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A former prosecutor was indicted along with former police department employees, an attorney and others in a scheme to profit from confidential police report information, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Friday.
Former Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Glenda Adams, 48, was charged with bribery of a public servant, official misconduct and violation of a computer act, the TBI said. She was fired in the fall after District Attorney Amy Weirich asked the TBI to look into allegations of misconduct.
Also accused of the same charges were former Memphis Police Department employees Egypt Berry, 36, and Martin Nolan, 34. Former police department employee Latausha Blair, 50, was charged with violation of a computer act. All three have been fired, the department said.
Memphis attorney Aaron Neglia, 38, was charged with bribery of a public servant and violation of a computer act. Neglia did not immediately return a call to his office seeking comment.
Weirich recused herself from the case. Bryant Dunaway, a Middle Tennessee district attorney handling the investigation, said the charges involve paying government employees for information about traffic crashes before it became public, The Commercial Appeal reported.
“It seems to be there’s big business in personal injury attorneys and others to acquire information on crash victims, early, before it’s available to the public. It’s kind of a race to get there,” Dunaway told the newspaper.
Dunaway did not immediately respond to calls and an email from The Associated Press seeking information on the case.
In a statement, Weirich said she recused herself after she learned that a prosecutor “might be engaged in conduct that was potentially criminal.”
Weirich said she was “grateful to those who brought this issue to the attention of law enforcement,” without providing details about who provided the information.
The others charged were Renatta Dillard, 54, with violation of a computer act; Roderick Harvey, 39, with bribery of a public servant and violation of a computer act; Marcus Lewis, 41, with bribery of a public servant; and Mustafa Sajid, 41, bribery of a public servant.
Berry and Dillard were taken into custody Friday, and Harvey remained at large. The others were scheduled to turn themselves in, the TBI said.
The case is still under investigation, and more indictments are expected, the state police agency said.
The AP could not immediately determine whether those indicted had lawyers to speak on their behalf.