The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The FBI says a drug informant lied to agents investigating a Zanesville police officer whose charges of arranging cocaine deals were later dropped.
Twenty-six-year-old Amanda Novaria is accused of using a friend to pose as Officer Donald Peterson in recorded phone conversations about a drug deal.
Novaria also is accused of creating text messages that incriminated Peterson, who was arrested in December and fired a month later when he refused to resign. Prosecutors dropped charges in February against Peterson, his wife, and three others.
Novaria made an initial court appearance yesterday in Columbus on a charge of lying to federal agents, a felony that carries a maximum of five years in prison.
There was no immediate information on whether Novaria had a lawyer.