A former Boston police officer who was assigned to the gang unit has been charged with lying to the FBI about passing confidential information to a gang associate.Mel Steele, a former member of the Youth Violence Strike Force, was charged in federal court Thursday with lying to the FBI during the course of a federal investigation.A Boston police spokesman tells The Boston Globe the 36-year-old Steele recently resigned.According to court records, Steele was a longtime friend of an associate of a Roxbury gang. Steele is accused of providing internal police information to the associate while Boston police and the FBI were investigating the gang. Steele is accused of making false statements when FBI agents confronted him in May 2011.Steele's lawyer did not return a call.

A former Boston police officer who was assigned to the gang unit has been charged with lying to the FBI about passing confidential information to a gang associate.





Mel Steele, a former member of the Youth Violence Strike Force, was charged in federal court Thursday with lying to the FBI during the course of a federal investigation.



A Boston police spokesman tells The Boston Globe the 36-year-old Steele recently resigned.



According to court records, Steele was a longtime friend of an associate of a Roxbury gang. Steele is accused of providing internal police information to the associate while Boston police and the FBI were investigating the gang. Steele is accused of making false statements when FBI agents confronted him in May 2011.



Steele's lawyer did not return a call.