A former southern Kansas police officer accused of sending nude pictures of himself to a woman he arrested pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal wire fraud for defrauding the city of his honest services.
Calvin Schaffer, formerly with the Goddard Police Department, faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced Nov. 16, though he is likely to get far less under federal sentencing guidelines. The government has recommended a sentence at the low end of the guidelines, with additional reductions for his acceptance of responsibility.
Prosecutors say Schaffer, 44, offered to seek the dismissal of drunken driving charges against a Wichita woman he arrested on Feb. 27 in exchange for a sexual relationship.
In his plea agreement, Schaffer admitted using a police department computer while on duty to send e-mails and naked photos of himself to the woman. Under the deal, he would not be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea even if the judge rejects the prosecution’s sentencing recommendations.
Schaffer and defense attorney Roger Falk declined to speak to reporters as they left the courtroom following the brief hearing.
Schaffer worked as a Goddard police officer from Nov. 19, 2007, until March 26, the day after the FBI interviewed him about his relationship with Angelique Mason.
According to an FBI affidavit, Mason went to the FBI in March to file a complaint. She gave the FBI secret recordings that she and two private investigators had made of a telephone call and a meeting between her and the officer.
Mason told the FBI she initially “played along” with the officer’s sexual innuendo while en route to jail after her arrest in hopes of getting help with her criminal case, court records show.
According to the affidavit, Schaffer told FBI agents during an interview that Mason had e-mailed him nude photos of herself before he ever sent her photos of himself. He showed the photos of her to the agents, who then seized his BlackBerry.
After hearing the audio recording of one of his conversations with the woman recorded at the hair salon where she worked, Schaffer admitted that he hoped to have a sexual relationship with her, the affidavit said. He reportedly said he wanted to give Mason the impression that he could help her with her drunken driving case.
Although he acknowledged telling Mason he intentionally made mistakes while investigating her case, Schaffer told the FBI that his mistakes were actually unintentional. The mistakes included failing to report that she had prior arrests for drunken driving, the affidavit said.
It alleges that Schaffer had asked Goddard city prosecutors twice to dismiss the case against Mason, telling them mistakes he made during his investigation would embarrass him should the case be brought to trial.
In support of the federal wire fraud charge, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch told the court that the e-mails and photos Schaffer sent while on duty affected interstate commerce because they traveled through servers in California and Virginia.
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http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/09/cop-cops-plea-for-e-mailing-nude-pics-to-woman-he-arrested.ars
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