St. Louis (AP) -- A former St. Louis-area police officer was sentenced Friday to a year and two months in prison on federal charges that he took money to plant evidence in a bid to sway a child custody dispute.
James Cox, a 40-year-old former Florissant Police Department officer, pleaded guilty in July to one felony count of conspiracy against the rights of citizens.
Federal prosecutors alleged that in July 2003, Cox took $1,600 in exchange for arranging the arrest of a person on a false credit card charge. In January, Cox accepted another $1,000, agreeing to plant illegal drugs on the same person. The arrests were to be cited in a child custody dispute involving the person who paid the officer.
“The defendant’s criminal conduct undermines the entire criminal justice process.Not only has he victimized the citizen he attempted to set up, but he also victimized the reputation of every good and honest police officer,” said James Martin, the U.S. attorney for Missouri’s eastern district.