Ex-DC Police officer sentenced to 2 years in prison for tipping off Proud Boys leader about arrest warrant

CNN

4 days ago

A former Washington, DC, police lieutenant was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for leaking confidential information to Enrique Tarrio about his force's investigation into the Proud Boys leader's burning of a Black Lives Matter flag and for misleading federal agents.
Retired DC Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond was convicted in December of one count of obstruction of justice and three charges of lying to investigators. Lamond had leaked confidential information to the former Proud Boys leader throughout his own department's investigation, culminating with him tipping off Tarrio that a warrant had been issued for his arrest for burning a DC church's Black Lives Matter banner at a rally in 2020.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who oversaw Lamond's bench trial last year, sentenced him to 18 months for the obstruction conviction and six months apiece for the three false statements convictions, to run concurrently.
Jackson was critical of Lamond's actions, emphasizing that he knowingly abused his position as a law enforcement officer to aid the subject of the investigation his department was conducting.
'He hurt the reputation of the Metropolitan Police Department,' the judge said, stressing that prison time was necessary to account for his crimes. 'He lied to federal agents when he was a sworn law enforcement officer himself.'
The sentence issued was much shorter than the four years sought by federal prosecutors – which Jackson described as 'excessive' – but longer than the sentence of probation sought by Lamond's attorneys.
Addressing the court on Friday, Lamond attempted to frame his relationship with Tarrio as an effort to develop a law enforcement source so he could help his department.
'I thought building rapport, sloppy as I was, was doing my job,' Lamond said.
Tarrio, who was in court Friday for Lamond's sentencing, eventually pleaded guilty to the flag burning incident in 2021 and was sentenced to five months in prison.
Tarrio was separately convicted of seditious conspiracy for his involvement in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol. He had been serving a 22-year prison sentence until earlier this year, when President Donald Trump commuted his sentence.
Lamond was also ordered to serve 18 months of probation following his prison term.