OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The charges against four men in a public corruption investigation revealed Friday involve two former Omaha police officers, so does this have any impact on the investigations they did?
When two officers are charged with defrauding the public, it raises eyebrows.
One of the indictments says former Omaha Police detective Johnny Palermo interfered in a sexual assault investigation.
The case's lead suspect was Jack Olson, who's accused of several crimes in the same indictment.
The indictment alleges Johnny Palermo was influenced to interfere in the investigation with payments from Olson and former Omaha Police Captain Rich Gonzales, the third person named in the same indictment.
Omaha Police told 3 News Now that the work of the two officers is being reviewed.
It’s now known the same is true for the Douglas County Attorney's Office, in cases where Gonzales or Johnny Palermo contributed to the prosecution.
“Obviously when you hear that something of this nature happened with law enforcement officers, it's very concerning with regard to any cases they might have been involved in,” said Douglas County Attorney Don Klein.
Klein pointed out that the judge in Monday's hearing said Johnny Palermo wasn't trustworthy.
“It's very important for us to know that it doesn't jeopardize any future cases and didn't have an impact on any past cases, so we're looking into those,” Klein said. “You know 99.9% of the police work that's done is by great police officers that do a wonderful job. And it's sad to see that some people cross that line.”
Klein says he doesn't know yet how many cases will be looked into, but it includes ongoing and closed cases.
Gonzales, Vinny Palermo and Jack Olson are scheduled to be back in federal court on Wednesday.
Download our apps today for all of our latest coverage.
Get the latest news and weather delivered straight to your inbox.
