Ex-Long Beach Detective Pleads Not Guilty To Leaking Murder Investigation Details To Gang

LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A former Long Beach police officer accused of leaking information about a murder investigation to a gang pleaded not guilty Friday to obstruction of justice.

Yvonne Robinson, 42, is free on bail and is scheduled to make her next court appearance on Feb. 27.

Also charged was Robinson's brother, 25-year-old Prentice Jones, who pleaded not guilty.

Robinson and Jones were arrested Dec. 5 in connection with the June 2012 arrests of 16 gang members on suspicion of a variety of charges. Two of the gang members arrested were suspected in November 2009 killing of 19-year-old Frank Castro.

Robinson, who worked as a detective in the Youth Services Section of the department's Investigations Bureau, was identified in May 2012 as the alleged mole who leaked details of the murder investigation to her brother's gang, the Baby Insane Crips.

She was subsequently placed under surveillance and over the course of several months, investigators determined Robinson was leaking case information to her brother, who passed it along to leaders of the gang, police said.

Robinson was placed on administrative leave in July 2012 and stripped of her police powers pending the conclusion of a department administrative investigation. She was fired in March 2013.

"Police department employees are held accountable to the highest standards, and the department takes immediate action to address employee misconduct," Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell said. "It is extremely disappointing when the behavior of one individual undermines the public trust that this department works so hard to uphold.

"We will not tolerate actions that dishonor the badge that we wear so proudly. The men and women of our department work diligently every day to do the right thing and to provide excellent service to our community. The acts of the one shouldn't outweigh the acts of the many," the police chief said after Robinson's arrest.

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