HOUSTON – A former Houston Police Department employee has been sentenced in a bribery scheme that alerted illegal game room owners to undercover investigations.
Edward Mason, 43, was sentenced to four years in the Texas Department of Corrections.
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A tip prompted HPD officers to conduct a sting operation that resulted in the charges. On three separate occasions, Mason met with undercover officers to provide confidential information in exchange for hundreds of dollars in bribe money, detectives said.
"The defendant provided confidential information about undercover vice officers to people engaging in illegal activities. This information could have endangered the lives of those officers," Harris County Assistant District Attorney Maritza Antu said.
"Mr. Mason worked in HPD's property room and was trusted with handling evidence from criminal cases. He not only abused that trust, he shattered it by informing criminals of upcoming raids and police deployments," District Attorney Pat Lykos said.
The jury rejected the defense's request for probation and sent him to prison.