Ex-Dallas cop sentenced in theft

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DALLAS, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A former Dallas police officer who pleaded guilty to stealing money from a police cash-for-tips program was sentenced Monday to nearly four years in prison.

Theodora Ross, 51, a 26-year veteran of the police force, will serve three years and 10 months, U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey ruled, for taking at least $175,000 from the "Dallas Crimestoppers" fund.

Ross' method involved giving bogus tip information to an accomplice, Malva Delley, who collected cash rewards at a bank involved in the program, which pays citizens up to $5,000 for information leading to the prosecution of suspects. The pair would then split the money, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Delley pleaded guilty in May 2011 to one count of conspiracy to make a false statement to a financial institution. Ross pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of willfully attempting to evade assessment of income taxes, court records showed.

Ross admitted to filing income tax forms from 2006 to 2009 in which she omitted the funds she derived from the scheme, the newspaper said.