AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Prosecutors say a fired Central Texas police officer faces up to five years in prison for lying about texting to tip off someone in a criminal investigation.
Former Temple police Officer Erick French II of Copperas Cove remains free on bond pending sentencing next year by a federal judge in Austin.
French was convicted Wednesday of one count of making a false statement to investigators, in a case including Drug Enforcement Administration agents. The officer was questioned twice in March and arrested in September. He was acquitted on a second count of making a false statement.
The 24-year-old French, who’d been a Temple police officer since 2014, was fired in July amid the investigation.
Authorities didn’t immediately provide additional information about the criminal investigation also involving other Temple police officers.
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