O.C. deputy charged in false investigation reports
An Orange County sheriff’s deputy may face up to 18 years in prison for alleged crimes that could be the result of nothing more than laziness, authorities said Wednesday.
Jason Christopher Brant, 33, of Chino was charged with filing false police reports in 18 property crime cases in which he stated he had contacted victims by phone and they had declined to cooperate in an investigation.
Prosecutors said Brant never contacted those people.
The alleged misdemeanors stem from a project to determine the effectiveness of DNA evidence in solving property crimes.
Brant, a 10-year department veteran, was assigned to follow up on 39 of 500 south Orange County cases selected for study. The project was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Justice.
His job was to use DNA testing to reinvestigate the crimes, which occurred in 2005 to 2007, and to collect contact information from victims. He was also asked to determine the victims’ willingness to cooperate with prosecutors.
In January, Brant submitted his reports. Eighteen of them were false, prosecutors alleged.
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