Feds Rest Their Case In Tulsa Police Corruption Trial

Tara Vreeland, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Prosecutors wrapped up their case Tuesday in the corruption trial for three former Tulsa police officers.

Nick DeBruin, Bruce Bonham, and Corporal Harold Wells are accused of stealing money and planting drugs.

On Tuesday, prosecutors playing wiretapped conversations between two TPD officers, Corporal Wells and JJ Gray.

Gray was the prosecution's final witness.

The government taped conversations detailed the arrangement Wells and Gray had with a drug dealer called Joker.

The deal was that if Joker came to town and the cops didn't know, they would arrest him. But if they did know, they would arrest his customers.

Joker was actually an undercover agent working for the FBI.

Last June, Gray pleaded guilty to stealing money during an FBI hotel sting in May 2009.

The prosecution rested after Gray's testimony.

The defense called witnesses to the stand who could vouch for Corporal Harold Wells' integrity.

One current officer that testified, Corporal Kurt Gardner, said that he had never heard of substituting drugs and hadn't heard the phrase "keep the guilty guilty."

He says he had heard the term "spread the love" and "take care of me." But Gardner took it to mean to give officers field experience or overtime. He says it did not mean "give them some money."

Corporal Wells' defense concluded by calling its final witness, Guadalupe Bernal, who was Corporal Wells' informant for five years.

She testified that Wells never asked her to do anything inappropriate like plant drugs. She said Wells had an awesome reputation and nothing negative to say about him.

On Wednesday, attorneys for the other two defendants will continue calling witnesses.

6/7/2011 Related Story: Former Officers Take The Stand In Tulsa Police Corruption Trial