Investigator pleads guilty in former Mo. governor case

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Investigator pleads guilty in former Mo. governor case

FILE – Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens gestures while speaking to reporters in Jefferson City on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022. Jury selection starts Thursday, March 24, 2022, in the perjury and evidence tampering case against William Tisaby. He was hired by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner in 2018 to investigate then-Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, resulting in an invasion of privacy indictment. The case didn't go to trial, but Greitens resigned in June 2018. Prosecutors say Tisaby lied under oath during the Greitens investigation. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb File)

OAN Newsroom

UPDATED 10:47 AM PT – Friday, March 25, 2022

A trial for a former FBI agent came to a screeching halt before it began. Jury selection was set to begin Thursday, but 69-year-old William Tisaby decided to plead guilty at the last minute.

Tisaby admitted in his plea Wednesday to misdemeanor evidence tampering related to the 2018 case on then-Missouri Governor Eric Greitens who had been accused of sexual assault and blackmail, which led him to resign from office.

Prior to the trial, Tisaby faced six -counts of perjury and one-count of evidence tampering for his conduct in the investigation.

Tisaby was said to have falsely testified in a deposition regarding certain documents involved in the case, however, his attorney said he wasn't trying to mislead anyone.

"I think it was just more of an issue of just negligence in this matter," said Jermaine Wooten, Tisaby's attorney. "It was a slew of documents that he had and he just went into that deposition really just not prepared. And that's what it was, there was no malice in this man's heart."

His attorney also stated health concerns as the reason for the now-guilty plea.

"We met with Mr. Tisaby along with his wife and they just felt because of his health decline and along with her health situation, it was in their best interest to enter a plea of guilty," Wooten explained.

However, special prosecutor for the case, Robert Russell, said Tisaby was trying to hide information.

"The statements that were going on in the deposition were to try to conceal and suppress those particular documents that he didn't want to talk about," he explained. "And we had him plead guilty to that information, he did so by testifying that they didn't exist when in fact they did."

Meanwhile, instead of facing prison time, Tisaby will now serve one year of probation and must pay court costs. The trouble for Greitens doesn't seem to be over though as his ex-wife has accused him of physical abuse.

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