Former OKC Police Officer Pleads Guilty In False Pretenses Case

A former Oklahoma City police officer pleaded guilty Monday to 13 counts of obtaining money by false pretenses.

Monday, April 2nd 2012, 12:57 pm

By: News 9


A former Oklahoma City police officer pleaded guilty Monday to 13 counts of obtaining money by false pretenses.

Christopher Gayhart, 42, was a police lieutenant with the force for more than 20 years. He is accused of not documenting his time off on his pay sheet when he came in late or left early for a one year period between July 2009 and July 2010. He says he was going through a bitter divorce and had to take care of some personal issues and told his captain about it.

Gayhart says he will pay back the more than $5,000 dollars he is said to have collected falsely. As part of the plea agreement, he has waived his right to a jury trial. He has agreed to a six-year deferred sentence, so he will see no jail time. But he did surrender his CLEET license and can no longer seek employment as a law enforcement officer.

Gayhart says the Oklahoma City Police Department and his supervising Captain could have handled the situation differently.

7/8/2011 Related Story: OKC Police Release New Details On Charges Against Officer

"He said he would take care of it," said Gayhart, shortly after accepting his plea deal. "I am not saying that what I did was right, but no one ever asked or let me explain why I did it. This situation has cost the tax payers a whole lot more money than it needed to."

Gayhart says he does not know what he will do now since he retired his position last week, and is having a hard time finding a new job. The single dad says his primary focus is his family and his son.

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