A former Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office employee suspected of leaking information to criminals in a high profile case was indicted Thursday.
Christopher Strang, 27, and suspected accomplice Paul Nichta, 32, face charges of hindering prosectution and computer tampering. Officials believe that the men leaked inside information in a major undercover gambling probe known as “Operation High Stakes,” said County Attorney Andrew Thomas.
The operation began in March 2005 when MCSO received a tip about a possible criminal gambling operation in Chandler. The investigation intensified when authorities learned that four illegal gambling Web sites had roots in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, and Costa Rica. The Web sites exhorted money often and loan sharks would resort to threats when people were unable to pay debts because of interest as high as 50 percent.
According to authorities, 36 people were indicted on charges related to the criminal gambling group which collected almost $250 million. The two-year undercover investigation that involved wiretapping and ultimately raids of stash holds, was almost blown when a list of suspect names and raid locations was leaked to the illegal operation. Additionally the names ands numbers of several deputies participating in the raids were released; investigators suspected an inside leak, when five raid locations turned up empty.
According to authorities, Nichta tipped off the suspected gambling syndicate in April 2007. Nichta allegedly read that person a list of several names of individuals who were under investigation at the time. MCSO officials believe the list was leaked by Strang, who was at the time an MCSO dispatcher.
“This is the largest gambling investigation undertaken by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the State of Arizona. It is unfortunate that one of our own employees was implicated, however when the information surfaced we acted immediately and arrested Strang,” said Arpaio.
way to go joe