4th New Orleans police officer pleads guilty in cover-up of Katrina bridge shootings
By APWednesday, April 28, 2010
4th officer pleads guilty in Katrina cover-up
NEW ORLEANS — A fourth former New Orleans police officer has pleaded guilty to helping cover up deadly police shootings of unarmed residents after Hurricane Katrina.
Robert Barrios faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Police shot and killed two people and wounded four others on the Danziger Bridge less than a week after the August 2005 storm. The 29-year-old Barrios was accused of conspiring with other officers to give false accounts of the shootings to detectives.
Three former officers already have pleaded guilty to a cover-up that included a planted gun and phony witnesses.
Marion David Ryder, a civilian, also pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying to the FBI about the shootings.
