A former longtime detective for the St Joseph Police Department has been granted probation for withholding information about a man in possession of a firearm used in a gang-related shooting.

Scott Thomas Coates, 42, pleaded guilty in June to a felony charge of misprision of a felony. As part of his plea bargain, Coates was forced to resign from the department.  In its narrowest definition, misprision is the concealment of a crime.

In federal court in Kansas City Monday, US District Judge Dean Whipple ordered Coates to serve one year on probation.

 

In his plea, Coates admitted that between Oct. 24, 2007, and Sept. 7, 2010, he had knowledge that Corey Andrew Barr was in illegal possession of a firearm, but failed to inform his superior officers of that offense when they asked him about Barr’s conduct. Under federal law, Barr was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to his domestic violence conviction.

Coates admitted that on multiple, separate occasions over a period of time, he failed to disclose to his superior officers that Barr illegally possessed the firearm. Coates’s superior officers directly questioned him about Barr’s conduct during a gang-related shooting on Oct. 18, 2007, near 22nd and Messanie in St. Joseph. Barr brandished a Smith and Wesson .40-caliber handgun and repeatedly fired at other persons during the shootout.

The handgun was returned to Barr on Sept. 1, 2010. Barr was arrested on Sept. 7, 2010, during the police response to a disturbance call involving people with firearms, including assault rifles. Barr was indicted by a federal grand jury for illegally possessing a firearm. After pleading guilty, Barr was sentenced to 47 months in federal prison.  Find more here.