Nathan Earnest Harper is a convicted felon and former

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

of the Pittsburgh Police, a position he held from October 31, 2006, to February 20, 2013. Prior to this appointment he was the long-time "Assistant Chief in Charge" of the Investigations Branch. He is Pittsburgh's third

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

Chief of Police.

Education and early career

Harper graduated from Schenley High School and was a resident of Stanton Heights, he joined the police bureau in 1977. He served as a patrol officer, K-9 officer and plainclothes investigator before being promoted to administrative positions, the narcotics unit and investigations. In the 1990s Harper spearheaded the formation of the city's Street Response Unit and was previously a Sergeant in the city's Traffic Division.

Later career and resignation

In November 2012 a city systems analyst (Christine Kebr) and Alpha Outfitters are investigated for rigging a $337,000 police contract by bribing a public official, conspiracy and fraud, the city analyst later pleads guilty. Chief Harper at the time is determined by the mayor's office not to be connected to the crimes. On February 12, 2013 and subsequent days, the FBI and IRS seized boxes of documents from police headquarters and the independent police credit union concerning thousands of deposits and withdrawals of tax payer money from unauthorized accounts, including internal misappropriations. At least one account dates back to 2004, prior to Chief Harper's tenure. Chief Harper was interviewed twice by federal agents concerning both the credit union accounts and contract awards case. Chief Harper was asked to resign due in part to the FBI and IRS investigations—and did so—on February 20, 2013.

Federal charges

On October 18, 2013 Harper pleaded guilty to five counts stemming from his leadership of the Police bureau at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh, one of conspiracy and four concerning tax reporting issues. On February 25, 2014 Harper was sentenced to 18 months in prison for conspiracy to commit theft from a federally funded program, and failure to file tax returns. U.S. District Judge

Cathy Bissoon Cathy Bissoon (born May 16, 1968) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Previously, she was a United States magistrate judge of the same court. She was appointed to her curr ...

ordered Harper to pay restitution of $31,987 and to serve one year of probation following his release from prison. Harper received a Federal Bureau of Prisons notification that he was assigned to a minimum security satellite camp at the medium security

Federal Correctional Institution, Pekin The Federal Correctional Institution, Pekin (FCI Pekin) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Illinois. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The fac ...

, south of Peoria, Illinois. He had been ordered to report to the federal penitentiary by April 1, 2014.

Education and early career

Later career and resignation

Federal charges

See also

References

Further reading