Nishimoto

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Based upon incorrect information provided by a Tulsa police officer in obtaining a search warrant, a Tulsa County judge on Tuesday dismissed a drug trafficking case that had resulted in a 15-year prison sentence.

With the agreement of the prosecution and the defense, District Judge Tom Gillert granted post-conviction relief and vacated the prison term that Parra Nishimoto incurred two years ago.

The ruling did not earn Nishimoto, 25, his freedom. He still faces an unresolved Cleveland County felony charge of possessing contraband - a cell phone - as an inmate.

Also, Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney Tony Evans said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have placed a “hold” on Nishimoto.

In a July 15 motion to vacate the sentence, First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond indicated that Officer John K. Gray provided “inaccurate and erroneous” information to get a search warrant.

Although Gray swore under oath that a confidential informant entered Nishimoto’s Tulsa apartment to make a controlled buy, Gray “recently told the U.S. Attorney’s Office that the drug transaction between the CI (confidential informant) and the defendant took place somewhere other than the defendant’s apartment,” Drummond’s filing says.

After the District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case, “it seems obvious that, but for the search warrant, police would not have been able to conduct a search of the defendant’s apartment,” according to Drummond.

“It seems equally as obvious” that the search warrant would not have been authorized by Special Judge Cliff Smith “absent the inaccurate and erroneous information” supplied by Gray, Drummond wrote in requesting that the sentence and two-count conviction be vacated.

In a procedural move, Assistant Public Defender Curt Allen on Monday filed an application for post-conviction relief on Nishimoto’s behalf that had information and language similar to that contained in Drummond’s filing.

In June, Gray pleaded guilty to a charge alleging that he stole $2,000 during a sting orchestrated by federal officials. That development was linked to the ongoing federal grand jury investigation into police conduct in Tulsa.

The Tulsa Police Department placed Gray on leave in April, and he retired in June. As part of a plea agreement and while he awaits sentencing, Gray has cooperated with the grand jury investigation.

In Nishimoto’s case, police executed a search warrant at an apartment in the 4100 block of South 130th East Avenue in December 2007.

Police reported seizing three large bags of methamphetamine from the apartment, records show.

Nishimoto, who in a court document listed his home address as in Mexico, was charged with aggravated trafficking in illegal drugs and possessing controlled drugs without a tax stamp.

He pleaded guilty on Aug. 1, 2008. As part of a plea agreement, Gillert sentenced Nishimoto to 15 years in prison on the trafficking count and imposed a concurrent five-year term for failing to have a tax stamp.

Nishimoto was transported last week from prison to the Tulsa Jail. He was assisted by a Spanish-English interpreter during a brief court proceeding Tuesday in Gillert’s court.