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Hamilton County Clerk of Courts employee pleads guilty to tampering with evidence, bribery

Posted at 11:45 AM, Jul 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-16 12:50:35-04

CINCINNATI -- A veteran employee with the Hamilton County clerk of Courts admitted Monday to sharing confidential information in a drug investigation last year.

Yakyma Boyd pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence and bribery, according to Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Charles Kubicki's office. Both are felonies.

Boyd's sentencing is scheduled for July 31. Her case was not available through the Clerk of Courts website.

Anne Tully, spokeswoman for Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval, referred questions and a request for comment to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office.

The investigation into Boyd began in mid-October 2017, according to court documents. She was arrested and charged Nov. 9.

 

According to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, she took confidential documents and information and distributed it to targets of a wide-scale drug investigation. The investigation was a RENU -- Regional Narcotics Unit -- investigation involving multiple jurisdictions, according to court documents.

In court the day of Boyd's arrest, Detective Greg Morgan from RENU said the leaked information put the lives of police personnel in danger.

"Removing this case-sensitive information has jeopardized multiple covert operations," Morgan said.

Particularly, in the case of sealed search warrants, a suspect could arm his or herself before police arrive at their home, the prosecutor said.

In the past, Cincinnati has seen the dangerous situations that result from a suspect who is armed and waiting for officers to execute a warrant.

On Dec. 6, 1997, Officer Daniel Pope and Police Specialist Ronald Jeter were killed when they tried to arrest Alonzo Davenport at his apartment in CUF. Davenport knew police were looking for him and he armed himself with a .38 Special before answering his door and inviting them in.

Lt. Don Luck was the sergeant of the two officers who died. He said that was "easily the worst day of my life."

Luck said Davenport was warned that police were going to arrest him -- and that gave him the time to arm himself.

"He let them in and he killed them. Shot them both in the head," Luck said. "When people have time to prepare for them, that's what they do."

Luck said the accusations made against Boyd "hit home."

"Anything you do that purposefully adds risk to (police work) -- there are already certain risks," Luck said. "But something like this can take it from an 8 to a 10."

In Boyd's case, the prosecutor said Earnest Bryant was paying her for information in search and arrest warrants.

Bryant was charged with drug trafficking, drug possession and two counts of tampering with records and a weapons charge.

He is still set for a court appearance Aug. 2.