Texas Ex-Cop Allegedly Lied in Hearings

The undercover agent at the heart of a series of racially tinged drug arrests was indicted Thursday on three counts of aggravated perjury for allegedly lying during hearings last month.

The Swisher County Grand Jury handed up the indictments against Tom Coleman, 43. Prosecutors said too much time had passed to charge Coleman with lying in any of the actual drug cases.

“We’re limited by ethics about what we can say, but we look forward to presenting our case,” said Rod Hobson, a special prosecutor assigned to the case.

Coleman, who is no longer in law enforcement, could face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on each third-degree felony charge. Lawyer Jeff Blackburn, speaking on behalf of the team of defense attorneys involved in the hearings, said: “This was courageous and it was the right thing for them to do.” The case involves 1999 cocaine arrests in this predominantly white farm town of 5,000 people. Coleman claimed he bought drugs from the defendants during an 18-month investigation in which he worked alone.

No drugs were found during the arrests and little or no corroborating evidence was introduced at trials. Some suggested discrimination was behind the arrests.

Coleman is white.

A judge previously recommended throwing out the convictions against 38 mostly black defendants. The case has led to investigations by the U.S. Justice Department and Texas’ attorney general.

The charges stem from testimony Coleman gave March 21 during hearings ordered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for four of the defendants.

The charges accuse him of lying under oath about what he knew about a theft charge he faced in Cochran County, where he had worked as a sheriff’s deputy before arriving in Tulia.

Coleman was charged then with theft and abuse of power involving that job, but the charges were dropped after he paid nearly $7,000 in restitution.

Specifically, the indictment charges Coleman with lying about the date he first learned he faced the theft charge, about his not having contacted a state agency to tell them of his arrest on the theft charge and about other evidence.