Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — A Harris County sheriff’s deputy was arrested Wednesday on a charge he sold restricted criminal background information for cash.
Kurt Douglas Green, 42, of Hockley, was arrested by federal authorities on a sealed indictment accusing him of disclosing confidential law enforcement information from the National Crime Information Center database for profit.
The Sheriff’s Office has computer access to the database with criminal background information on individuals from law enforcement agencies all over the country. The database is restricted for law enforcement purposes only.
The indictment alleges that on Jan. 19, Green accessed the database “for disclosure to a non-law enforcement person for financial gain.”
Green was hired in 1996 by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s spokesman Alan Bernstein said Green’s employment is under review.
Green was assigned to the jail at 701 San Jacinto and was taken into custody without incident Wednesday morning.
He was released by U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson on a $75,000 personal recognizance bond Wednesday afternoon.
Neither U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno nor Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia would answer questions about the case Wednesday. They issued only a written statement.
Bernstein said once the sheriff learned of the federal investigation, “he chose not to learn any more details, for multiple reasons, while the case was pending.”
Bernstein said the sheriff would not say whether he knows the identity of the person who allegedly paid for the information or the reason the person wanted it.
In his written statement, Garcia said: " The stated core values of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office include meriting and maintaining the public’s trust.”
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle