Betty Lorene Wolfe: Her lawsuit alleges that the city allowed its police officers to develop and use confidential informants without the necessary oversight.
A woman whose drug conviction was vacated in 2011 filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Tulsa on Thursday alleging that "an atmosphere of lawlessness" existed within the Tulsa Police Department.
Betty Lorene Wolfe, 62, was sentenced May 8, 2008, to 12 years in prison for possession of drugs with intent to distribute, records show.
A Tulsa County district judge vacated that conviction in May 2011.
The case involved a search warrant served by Brandon McFadden, a former agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and former Tulsa Police Officer John K. "J.J." Gray.
Both men are named as defendants in Wolfe's civil rights lawsuit, along with the city.
She alleged that McFadden's and Gray's "unlawful actions" led to her conviction.
McFadden was sentenced in December 2011 to a 21-month prison sentence for a drug-conspiracy conviction.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons reports that he is assigned to a facility in Seagoville, Texas, and is scheduled to be released July 20.
Gray pleaded guilty in June 2010 to a theft of public money charge and was sentenced to four months in prison, a punishment he has served. He retired from the Tulsa Police Department in May 2010.
The criminal charges against McFadden and Gray were the result of a grand jury investigation into corruption within the Tulsa Police Department.
Wolfe's lawsuit alleges that the city allowed its police officers to develop and use confidential informants without the necessary oversight and supervision, which amounted to "gross negligence and deliberate indifference" to residents.
The complaint alleges that there was a "complete absence of any system developed by the city of Tulsa police department to monitor and/or supervise the use of confidential informants."
At least 16 lawsuits against the city of Tulsa have made similar claims of wrongdoing within the Tulsa Police Department.
The city has been dismissed as a defendant from several of them.
David Harper 918-581-8359
david.harper@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Woman whose conviction was vacated sues the city
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