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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Former Cop Faces up to 100 Years After Plea

OKLAHOMA CITY (CN) - A former Oklahoma City police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to training customers to lie and hide crimes during polygraph exams.

Douglas Williams, 69, of Norman, pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and three counts of obstruction of justice.

"Lying, deception and fraud cannot be allowed to influence the hiring of national security and law enforcement officials, particularly when it might affect the security of our borders," Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell said after the plea.

Williams owns Polygraph.com, which trains people appearing for polygraph exams before law enforcement agencies and under terms of their parole or probation.

He was in charge of the polygraph section of the Oklahoma City Police Department Internal Affairs unit and has "administered thousands of tests," according to Williams' website.

His website has been taken down, but a YouTube channel featuring 25 videos advertising his services was still online Friday morning.

According to the indictment , Williams offered to help clients get federal jobs for which they were not qualified. Prosecutors said he charged at least $1,000 for training in his Norman offices and at least $5,000 plus expenses for off-site training.

Williams admitted he trained an undercover federal agent to lie and hide involvement in criminal activity from an internal agency investigation, prosecutors said Thursday.

"Williams claimed to be the 'only person in the world' who could provide the necessary training," the indictment stated. "Williams told Undercover A that 'now every person who's convicted of any type of sexual offense in the United States has to take a polygraph test every six months to stay out of jail, so they're willing to you know, line up three deep to get trained to make sure they can pass the damn thing.'"

When the agent told Williams he intended to lie to investigators about his role in illegal smuggling, Williams chastised him, the indictment stated.

"Williams told Undercover A, 'I haven't lived this long and fucked the government this long, and done such a controversial thing that I do for this long, and got away with it without any trouble whatsoever, by being a dumbass,'" the indictment stated. "During the conversation, Williams told Undercover A that he was 'worried about whether I can trust you, number one, to be smart enough to keep your damn mouth shut after I've already told you to.'"

Prosecutors say Williams also admitted training a second person posing as a federal job applicant to lie and hide crimes on a pre-employment polygraph.

"During the training, Undercover B said to Williams, 'My big fear is them asking me about the drug question,' at which time Williams interrupted again, saying, 'Oh, God, please help me. Brian, shut the fuck up about worrying about stuff,'" the indictment stated.

"'Listen to me ... I was just getting to the solution to your fucking worries. ... I've already told you three times, quit bringing up negative shit, because I'm fixing it to put it all positive, okay?' Williams added, 'I don't give a damn if you're the biggest heroin dealer in the fucking United States.'" (Ellipses in indictment.)

When Williams was asked how to respond if his customer was asked about receiving polygraph training, he responded: "Look at them with an astounded look on your face. ... Reverse it on him."

Williams faces up to 20 years in prison on each count. His sentencing date has not been set. His attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.

Follow @davejourno
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