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The Republic
A former White Mountain Apache police officer was sentenced in connection with a November 2023 case in which he admitted to hiding evidence during a death investigation he led. Although he was also suspected of running over a woman involved in the case, he was not charged with this crime due to no evidence linking him to it.
Joshua Ben Anderson, 49, was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison Wednesday for the felony offense of corruptly altering and concealing evidence while serving as a law enforcement officer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. His sentence includes credit for time served and three years of supervised release. Anderson had pleaded guilty to the offense in May, as detailed in court documents.
On November 23, Anderson felt a “bump” while driving his Ford F-150 patrol vehicle south on State Route 73. He continued driving through White Mountain Apache tribal lands afterward, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Shortly thereafter, he was dispatched for a welfare check on a body discovered on State Route 73.
Anderson interviewed paramedics and witnesses about the deceased woman, 30-year-old Iris Billy from Whiteriver, Arizona, completed her autopsy report, and notified her family, according to authorities. He did not disclose that he had felt a bump while driving in the area where Billy’s body was found.
U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Zach Stoebe informed The Arizona Republic on Friday that Anderson was not charged with hit-and-run because there is no federal equivalent of the offense, and there was no evidence linking Anderson to Billy’s death.
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Concealing damaged car parts
Court documents indicate that Anderson informed another officer that a witness had seen someone driving north in a red Chevrolet Malibu with front-end damage, and another witness had observed a black SUV traveling south. Anderson collected a black plastic bumper from the scene as evidence and took it home. He then removed and concealed the damaged parts from the front bumper of his patrol truck, according to the documents.
A department sergeant was alerted by a highway officer who had observed front-end damage on Anderson’s vehicle. The officer also reviewed security footage from a nearby casino, which showed Billy walking south on State Route 73 with no other vehicles in sight until Anderson’s truck appeared, according to court records.
At his home, Anderson was asked by the highway officer, the sergeant and a lieutenant about the damage to his patrol truck and whether he ran over anything, court documents detail. The lieutenant looked under the truck and found what he thought to be blood and black hair, according to court records. Anderson said the damage was old and that he had run over skunks in the past, court documents mention.
Court documents reveal that Anderson was detained after law enforcement discovered the black bumper piece in the bed of his patrol truck, which was parked at his home. After being taken into custody, Anderson wrote a brief resignation letter. He told the FBI that the removed portion of his patrol truck’s front bumper was in his personal Ford truck and agreed to let them seize it, according to the documents.
“The conviction and sentence in this case cannot cure the tragedy of a vehicle fatality in rural Arizona. Nor does any evidence suggest that defendant was criminally responsible for that fatality,” read a statement from U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino.
Restaino’s statement explained Anderson’s sentencing is within the “advisory sentencing range” as determined by the United States Sentencing Commission.
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Publish date : 2024-09-13 13:22:00
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