In a story that has Austinites buzzing, Jermaine Gaspard, a former Austin police officer, could be facing up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to giving false information to federal authorities. Gaspard has been released on bail and is currently awaiting sentencing for the charges.

According to reports, Gaspard’s offense came in April 2013 when he “performed an unauthorized database check on a subject” in connection to a credit card fraud investigation . After performing the unauthorized check, Gaspard went on to share his newfound information with the subject in question, “which included the fact that there was a pending indictment related to the subject’s fraudulent use of a credit card”.

To top it all off, when Gaspard was questioned about these actions by federal investigators, he “denied providing the information to the subject.” Austin Police Chief Art Acevado recently shared his thoughts on Gaspard’s actions with the Austin-American Statesman, expressing a tone of equal parts disappointment and relief: ”Obviously, this type of behavior is not acceptable to us and is not consistent with the values we expect of our people and I’m very happy that this matter is coming to a close and we were able to successfully investigate it,” Acevado said.

This is not the first time that Gaspard has found himself in hot water for less-than-professional tactics. According to KVUE, Gaspard was suspended from the force in January 2013 for “violating the Austin police department’s chase policy” when he wrongfully pursued a vehicle after a traffic stop—and broke numerous department policies in the process.

While it is never encouraging to see this kind of habitual disregard for police protocol, it is somewhat of a relief that Gaspard is going to be held responsible for his cavalier treatment of the law. At Freedom Bail Bonds, we have only the utmost respect for the legal system, and we expect those who uphold the law to have the same attitude. When they do not respect the legal process, though, they should always be held accountable, and while we do not wish to see anyone serve time in prison, it is nice to see that justice will be served in this particular case.