Former Metro Nashville Police Officer and Co-Defendant Sentenced in Federal Court

Former Police Officer Receives 10-Year Sentence on Fraud Charge and Co-Defendant Receives Five-Year Sentence on Money Laundering Charge

Richard Wilson, 32, of Lebanon, Tennessee, a former police officer with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department; and Michael Dwayne Wray, 32, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, were sentenced yesterday by United States District Court Judge Kevin H. Sharp, announced Jerry E. Martin, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Wilson was sentenced to 120 months in prison for federal program fraud, and Wray was sentenced to 60 months for money laundering.

Wilson and Wray were indicted on June 15, 2011and both pleaded guilty in January 2012.

According to the indictment, between April 5, 2011 and June 15, 2011, Wilson received cash payments totaling $24,500 for his assistance to individuals he believed to be drug traffickers. Wilson’s assistance included transporting what he believed to be cocaine and drug money to locations in and around Nashville. On three occasions, Wilson was on duty, in uniform, and in an official police vehicle while assisting individuals whom he believed to be drug traffickers. Wray assisted Wilson in transporting purported cocaine and drug money on two occasions.

Wray’s plea agreement detailed a June 7, 2011, FBI-controlled undercover operation, during which Wilson, while in uniform and on duty, met with Wray and an undercover FBI agent at a local truck stop to obtain a bag containing five kilograms of purported cocaine. Wilson and Wray believed the undercover agent to be a drug trafficker and after obtaining the five kilograms of purported cocaine, Wilson and Wray proceeded to a local restaurant where they met with another undercover FBI agent whom they also believed to be a drug trafficker. During the meeting, that undercover agent gave Wilson and Wray a locked bag containing $15,000 in cash in exchange for the bag containing five kilograms of purported cocaine.

After receiving the bag containing $15,000 in cash, Wilson proceeded to a hotel in Nashville, Tennessee and delivered the $15,000 to undercover agents and was paid $5,000 in cash for transporting the purported cocaine and money in his patrol car. Wray was not with Wilson during the meeting at the hotel, but he was paid part of the $5,000 for his assistance to Wilson.

This case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scarlett Singleton and Jimmie Lynn Ramsaur.