A former officer with the Cumming Police Department has been sentenced to federal prison for accepting bribes and unlawfully accessing a confidential law enforcement database.
Nathan VanBuren, 35, of Cumming was convicted on the charges on October 26, 2017, and his sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Orinda D. Evans in Atlanta this week. VanBuren will spend one-and-a-half years in prison and an additional two years on supervised release.
U.S. Attorney BJay Pak said in a press statement that VanBuren, in his official capacity as a police officer, responded to a 911 call at a home in Cumming in July 2015; during the call, a citizen was arrested. In the two months after the arrest, VanBuren and the citizen had additional communications, according to Pak. During those communications, VanBuren asked the citizen for a loan claiming that his wages were being garnished and he had incurred financial debt because of his son's medical expenses. Neither of those claims was true.
The citizen, whose identity was not made public, reported VanBuren’s actions and agreed to cooperate with law enforcement.
Pak said the citizen - while cooperating with investigators - met with and provided VanBuren with $5,000 in response to VanBuren’s repeated requests for money. During that meeting, the citizen asked VanBuren to search a sensitive police database to determine whether an individual was an undercover police officer. In exchange for $1,000, VanBuren unlawfully accessed the law enforcement database and provided the results of that search to the citizen.
“VanBuren violated his oath of office and broke the laws he swore to uphold and enforce,” said Pak. “His crimes undermine the hard work of his fellow officers, as well as the community’s trust and respect for police officers.”
VanBuren resigned before he was fired by the Cumming Police Department.
“VanBuren betrayed the public trust and the trust of the hard working men and women of this agency," said Cumming Police Chief Casey Tatum. “Anytime a law enforcement officer uses their position to victimize someone, justice demands they be held accountable.”
This case was jointly investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The Cumming Police Department and Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the investigation.
