Pa. state trooper to lose job over obstruction

CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania State Police trooper will lose his job for interfering in the investigation into a 2006 child molestation case.

State police spokesman Jack Lewis says 46-year-old Barry Tangert will be dismissed after he was sentenced Tuesday to a little more than a year of probation.

A Cumberland County jury returned a mixed verdict last month, convicting Tangert of obstruction but acquitting him of improperly influencing a public servant and retaliating against a prosecutor.

Prosecutors say Tangert wanted state police to investigate so he could interrogate the alleged victim himself. A former state police official testified that Tangert planned to arrest a county assistant district attorney in retaliation for not doing as he asked. The prosecutor was not arrested.

Tangert apologized at his sentencing.