Former Dodge County Attorney Pleads Guilty to Civil Rights Violation

Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Oliver J. Glass, 47, of Fremont, Nebraska, pleaded guilty to a Criminal Information charging him with Conspiracy to Commit Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law. Glass faces a maximum possible punishment of 1 year imprisonment, $100,000 fine, or both. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. ordered a Pre-Sentence Investigation and set sentencing for February 17, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.

As admitted to in the plea agreement:

Oliver J. Glass was appointed as the Dodge County Attorney in 2011 and was subsequently elected in 2014 and in 2018.  In 2020, Glass’s wife filed for divorce. On March 6, 2020, Glass learned that his wife had been dating an individual identified in the Information as Victim 1.

Between March 6, 2020, through on or about December 22, 2020, Glass conspired with other individuals who are unnamed in the Information to deprive Victim 1 of his rights protected by the Constitution, specifically, his right against unreasonable search and seizure protected by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution by conspiring to unlawfully stop or arrest Victim 1. Glass and others utilized their restricted access to the Nebraska Criminal Justice Information System (NCJIS) to obtain information about Victim 1. A supervisor in the Fremont Police Department advised other officers that Victim 1 was dating Glass’s wife and to be on the lookout for Victim 1 and provided other officers with Victim 1’s information, vehicle description, and license plate number. An officer within the Dodge County law enforcement community, while acting as a private investigator, used his law enforcement credentials to obtain access about Victim 1’s criminal history that was not publicly available. Members of law enforcement in Dodge County would drive by Victim 1’s apartment looking for Victim 1 without a legal justification or criminal predicate.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.