CINCINNATI – A Cincinnati police officer accused of exposing an undercover colleague to a nightclub owner under investigation and concealing $81,000 in off-duty income is expected to return to federal court Friday.
Quiana Campbell, 39, was arrested last month on charges of lying to federal agents and filing false income tax returns. She was released on her own recognizance following her initial court appearance in February.
She was indicted Thursday, federal records show, according to Fox 19.
If convicted, Campbell has an exposure of up to eight years in federal prison.
Campbell came to the attention of federal officials as part of a money laundering and narcotic trafficking investigation into local nightclubs who may have been “tipped off” about raids and possibly protected by “members of the Cincinnati Police Department,” according to recently unsealed court records.
Investigators said they found text messages from January 2015 in which a nightclub owner texted Campbell to ask about a specific person who had visited the club.
“She’s an officer….” Campbell wrote back, federal court records revealed. Furthermore, she discussed possible reasons police would be investigating the club, writing: “They work on random nights and go into different bars. If they come back again next weekend I would say yes.”
Federal agents confronting Campbell with the allegations said she lied to them, claiming she would never expose an undercover operative, understanding it would put the person’s life in danger. However, her text messages revealed a different story.
The name of the nightclub owner has not been disclosed.
Moreover, Campbell is also accused of failing to report off-duty income on her federal tax returns.
According to police records, Campbell earned more than $81,000 total working off-duty details in 2015, 2016 and 2017. She did not report an accurate income when filing her taxes, Fox 19 reported.
She has been with the Cincinnati Police Department for 11 years.
Campbell has been on desk duty since November 2018, when she was stripped of her gun badge and police powers, according to her personnel file.
She filed for bankruptcy last year, according to federal bankruptcy records.
