Ex-court employee who warned drug dealers about police raids pleads guilty

Kevin Grasha | Cincinnati Enquirer

A former Hamilton County courts employee who was bribed to give out information that would warn drug dealers about police raids pleaded guilty Monday to felony charges.

Prosecutors said Yakyma Boyd's actions impacted an unknown number of cases. She was an employee of the Clerk of Courts office for more than two decades.

In announcing charges against her last year, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said there were numerous times when law enforcement believed drugs would be found at a location and then weren't.

Deters said Boyd, 45, was paid approximately $1,000 per search warrant. According to police, she was providing the information to another person who would deliver warnings to the targets of the warrants.

The evidence against Boyd was overwhelming, according to her attorney Clyde Bennett II.

She pleaded guilty Monday to bribery and tampering with evidence.

More: Joe Deters: Court clerk employee was paid roughly $1,000 per search warrant she provided

Officials have said Boyd faced a possible sentence of 21 years in prison. As part of an agreement reached with prosecutors, she is expected to be sentenced to six months in jail. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Charles Kubicki will sentence her on July 31.

"I wanted to make sure my client was treated fairly – and she was treated more than fairly," Bennett said.

A second person charged in the case, 50-year-old Ernest Bryant, who is a convicted drug dealer, also is expected to plead guilty. Prosecutors have described Bryant as an acquaintance of Boyd.

Prosecutors said he helped disseminate the confidential information in the search warrants.

Bryant was also indicted on a gun charge and possession and trafficking of cocaine.

Boyd worked at the cost desk. She filed documents, accepted payments, answered questions and provided customer service, officials said.

More: Hamilton County Sheriff: Clerk of courts employee passed warrant info to targets of the warrants

Her arrest in November 2017 led Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval to institute several reforms. Among them: All search warrants are now kept in a secure, locked location and are only accessible by a supervisor. Only law enforcement and the judge know the details of a search warrant until it is executed.

Also, all employees are now screened every four years. New hires also now go through a screening process.