SAN FRANCISCO, CA – 27 May – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Charles Jackson, a Special Agent with the United States Federal Protective Service, was convicted today by a federal jury for falsifying records in a federal investigation. The jury, after deliberating for one day, convicted Jackson after a week long trial before U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel. Jackson, 51, who currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona, was found guilty of writing a false report in an effort to cover up the misconduct of a fellow Federal Protective Service officer. Jackson also made false statements to officials in connection with the investigation. Jackson was the criminal investigator of a police shooting that occurred in San Francisco on February 15, 2003.
Two FPS patrol officers, Peter Taoy and John Haire, pleaded guilty on November 15, 2004, to federal criminal civil rights charges for violating the civil rights of a motorist, Mr. Jeffrey Petri, by lying about the incident and falsely accusing Mr. Petri of trying to run over Taoy with the vehicle as a means of justifying an improper shooting. The false charges led to Mr. Petri’s detention, and he was wrongfully held in custody from February 15, 2003 until the case was dismissed by federal prosecutors in San Francisco, and he was released, on February 21, 2003.
When the case began to unravel in the days following the incident, on February 20, 2003, Jackson wrote a false report and subsequently made false statements to others to cover up the involvement of Officer Haire. Instead of writing complete and accurate reports of his investigation of the shooting incident, Jackson attempted to pin the incident on Taoy and prevent Haire from being prosecuted or disciplined. Ultimately, Haire and Taoy were fired by the Federal Protective Service and await sentencing on the federal criminal civil rights charges.
The maximum penalty for falsifying records in a federal investigation is 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and five years of supervised release. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the Court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. 3553.
The case was investigated jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Jerrob Duffy from the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and David Vaughn from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, in Los Angeles. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California was recused from this case.
A copy of this press release and related court filings may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can. Related court documents and information may be found on the District Court website at www.cand.uscourts.gov or on .
All press inquiries should be directed to Public Affairs Specialist Eric Holland at (202) 514-2008, or the Public Affairs Officer for the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office, Thom Mrozek at (213) 894-6947.
