Court upholds ex-cop's federal conviction

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The conviction of an Albuquerque police officer accused of derailing a federal drug and stolen-property investigation has been upheld by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, which prosecuted the case against now ex-Officer Brad Ahrensfield, announced the court decision on Wednesday.

Ahrensfield, 47, was initially indicted on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI.  In December 2010 a federal court jury convicted him on the obstruction charge.

During an earlier trial a jury found Ahrensfield not guilty of making false statements but failed to reach a decision on the obstruction charge.

He was sentenced six months and one day in prison plus six months of house arrest with a GPS monitoring device and three years of supervised release.

The appeal was based in part on claims that evidence favorable to Ahrensfield was improperly withheld from the defense by federal prosecutors.

The indictment accused Ahrensfield of obstructing justice by tipping off a friend to the federal undercover investigation that targeted the friend's used-car business.  The friend was not charged in the case.

There was no immediate word from Ahrensfield's attorney whether an attempt to take the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court will be made.