Former New Orleans detective Jeffrey Lehrmann has been charged with taking part in a conspiracy to cover up a lethal police shooting of unarmed residents just after Hurricane Katrina. Lehrmann, who is now a special agent at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Phoenix, is expected to plead guilty, according to a person familiar with the Danziger Bridge case.

A federal court filing Tuesday charges former detective Jeffrey Lehrmann with misprision of a felony, which meant he had knowledge of a crime and didn't report it. It said he "knew of a conspiracy among police officers to obstruct justice," helped conceal the conspiracy, helped create false reports and provided false information to federal investigators.The shootings on the Danziger Bridge killed two people and wounded four others less than a week after the August 2005 storm's landfall and led to an investigation by the Justice Department. Lehrmann was one of the investigators who responded after the shootings, according to a 2005 police report.

Days later, Lehrmann and another investigator interviewed victims' relatives at a hospital. A police report's account of those interviews claims some of Holmes' friends started shooting on the bridge, but prosecutors say that story was fabricated. Lehrmann also interviewed one of the police officers who opened fire. Source: 2nd ex-New Orleans cop charged in Katrina coverup, AP

Cover-up allegations include charges that a gun was planted and witness statements fabricated. And if some conservatives wonder why the vast majority of black people bristle at the notion of "States Rights" and a major contraction of the federal government, take a look at this case.

Besides the two charged in federal court, seven officers faced state charges of murder or attempted murder. But a judge threw out all the state charges. Federal authorities then stepped in to investigate. Source: 2nd ex-New Orleans cop charged in Katrina coverup, AP

One of the victim's relatives hopes that "there are other officers with good morals and consciences [who] will come forward with evidence." I hope so too. I just wish these officers would have done the right thing before two lives were stolen.