MENDENHALL, Miss.–Bruce Barlow was fired as police chief after he flipped off and cursed out a family. If prosecutors could add that to his list of charges they probably would, but what they’ve already got on him is apparently good enough that he’s expected to change his not guilty plea to guilty Friday.
Prosecutors said Barlow’s operation went like this: He or one of his officers would pull you over and find a reason to arrest you. If you wanted to get out of it, you’d have to give them money or property.
If you did give money, Barlow claimed it would go to the department’s “drug fund”. The federal indictment claims that after Barlow knew the jig was up, he tried to make the property seizures look legit.
That led to an investigation and ultimately led to a 17-count indictment.
He is also accused of trying to get witnesses to lie about it to the grand jury.
Barlow could get over 100 years in prison if he does plead guilty. He’s 50 years old.
