Officers To Help Feds Rout Corruption

The two officers who struck plea deals with prosecutors will now help them root out other cops on the Atlanta police force who may be guilty of similar cover-ups and crimes.

The FBI said it will go wherever the case takes them -- to police, civilians, city officials -- anyone who had a hand in corrupting justice. They promise the penalty will be high for anyone who lies.

It was a fatal irony -- cops committing crimes to solve crimes. And no one would have been the wiser, until 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston died in a hail of bullets last November.

"The death of Mrs. Johnston was a horrible, horrible occurrence. She was, without question, an innocent civilian who was caught in the worst circumstance imaginable. When we learned of her death, all of us imagined our own grandmother or mother in her place and the thought made us shudder," said Fulton County DA Paul Howard.

More than that -- it made the community suspicious. The police said the elderly grandmother shot three of their best cops, when in fact, she didn't shoot anyone. Worse yet -- they planted drugs in her home -- in effect, spitting on her grave by turning her into a posthumous criminal.

"And that's the question I've been pondering with over the last five months," said Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington. "What would make police officers make up a story -- lie on a senior citizen -- plant drugs on a senior citizen?"

The feds wanted to know the same thing. But more importantly, they now want to know just how deep the rabbit hole of corruption goes.

"The FBI will continue to pursue additional allegations of corruption and violations of civil rights," said Greg Jones of the Atlanta FBI office. "As we have learned through this investigation, that other Atlanta police officers may have engaged in similar conduct."

Prosecutors said without the cooperation of officers Gregg Junnier and Jason Smith, the case would not be where it is now.

"Former officers Junnier and Smith will also help us continue our very active investigation into just how wide the culture of misconduct that led to this tragedy extends into the Atlanta Police Department," said US Attorney David Nahmias.

But the police have already made sweeping changes to make it harder for renegade cops. Remarkably, two years ago, the penalty for a police officer caught lying on a report was a verbal reprimand.

"I changed that two years ago," said Pennington. "Any officer caught lying before any criminal procedure any governing body falsely on a written report or verbally will now be terminated."

The case against Arthur Tesler, the officer who did not plea bargain, will move forward in court. He was not indicted on the more serious charge of manslaughter.

The city of Atlanta will be notified formally in the next day or so that Kathryn Johnston's family plans to sue.