WACO -- A deputy jailer with the McLennan County Sheriff's Office is accused of providing classified information to a suspect in the Twin Peaks shooting investigation.
Lt. Jennifer Guftason Howell, 40, is charged with misuse of official information. According to Sheriff Parnell McNamara, Howell was texting with one of the bikers charged in the case.
According to the arrest affidavit, Howell admitted to being romantically involved with the biker in question. She allegedly texted him the license plate number of a vehicle that had allegedly run a member of the biker's gang off of the road. She also texted the biker the name and address of the driver of the vehicle.
Sheriff McNamara said he was "shocked and stunned" by the news and that she was no longer with the sheriff's office.
"I want to commend the work of investigators on the Twin Peaks case. Any allegations of criminal conduct on the part of a peace officer is something that is not taken lightly,” McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna said in a statement. “We will continue to work with Sheriff McNamara to uncover the full extent of this relationship and the impact it may have had on any investigation and any resulting criminal conduct. This investigation will continue and justice will be done.”
Howell was released from jail Thursday afternoon on $10,000 bond.
