Federal Jury Convicts Lumberton Officer Of Planting Evidence

The U.S. District Court jury in Wilmington returned its verdict against Lt. Leon Oxendine after deliberating 90 minutes.

Oxendine was accused of having an informant plant a computer disk in a suspect's house during a drug and counterfeiting investigation in 2001. He is to be sentenced in January.

Oxendine was charged with tampering with the investigation, making false statements to the FBI and five counts of lying before a federal grand jury.

According to testimony, Oxendine had a computer disk containing the image of a $100 bill planted inside a Lumberton home where police suspected that a man was selling crack cocaine and Ecstasy.