Former trooper gets 5 years in prison for sex crimes

COLUMBUS – A former Ohio Highway Patrol trooper was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday for trading sexual favors for dropping criminal charges against women he stopped.

Bryan Lee was given the sentence in federal court. He will serve the sentence in federal prison.

Lee entered guilty pleas in October to four counts of violating the civil rights of four victims and one count of cyberstalking.

Lee had persuaded the women to engage in sexual acts in exchange for not receiving tickets or having criminal charges filed against them.

The incidents occurred between January 2006 and October 2013 while Lee was stationed at the Granville and Lancaster posts of the highway patrol.

Lee photographed some of the victims, and some were handcuffed at the time the incidents occurred.

Lee is a Lancaster resident. He was transferred to the Lancaster post in July 2013 and resigned in November 2013 after a criminal investigation was launched against him.

Lee's conduct was discovered during a routine check of his cruiser's camera video. A supervisor noticed Lee's microphone was turned off at times it should not have been, which led to an investigation.

One of the victims had filed a complaint against Lee several years ago, but the investigation into that claim was dropped. Court documents show that Lee denied the allegation and that the victim was referred for prosecution; however, Lee declined to press charges.

"Lee's misrepresentations to investigators caused OSP to discredit Victim No. 1 and refer her for possible criminal prosecution, enabled Lee to remain in his law enforcement position for another two and a half years and provided him with the opportunity to use his official authority to violate the constitutional rights of other victims," U.S. Attorney Carter Stewart wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

Information from the highway patrol regarding the complaints filed against Lee and the investigation are not being released at this time, patrol Lt. Craig Cvetan said Thursday. The documents will be released after the appeals process is concluded.

Lee faced a maximum of five years in prison.

Court documents show that at least one of the victims received threatening messages from Lee over social media. That victim had been pulled over by Lee twice in a monthlong period.

Prosecutors had asked for a 71-month prison sentence, whereas Lee's defense attorney, Jonathan Tyack, had requested probation or a one-day prison sentence followed by probation.

Lee's family members wrote multiple letters in his support to Judge Michael Watson. In his letter, Lee's father, himself a 26-year veteran of the patrol, said he could not understand why his son behaved the way he did.

"What would possess a good person, dedicated father and overall good husband who loves his family to forsake everything, regardless of the consequences, to behave in such an unprofessional manner," he wrote. "It is totally out of character for Bryan."

Lee's attorney said Lee's behavior was "a result of extremely poor judgment and a complete failure on the part of (Lee) to appreciate the perspective of the victims in this case."

Lee's wife wrote a letter asking Watson to be lenient as he was the sole breadwinner for their family.

"Although I obviously do not condone nor appreciate the turmoil that he has caused us, I have chosen to be a main source of support," she wrote.

The couple have three young sons and "not having their daddy to look up to and be a role model is devastatingly painful," she wrote.