Group Accuses Councilmen of Tampering with Witness

PHOENIX - The Phoenix Police Department is dealing with an officer charged with murder, accused of killing an unarmed man. But the focus right now is not at that officer, but instead on City Hall.

Two city officials are accused of obstructing a criminal investigation and tampering with a witness. They allegedly contacted the witness in that police murder case -- Officer Sergio Virgillo, who blew the whistle on Officer Richard Chrisman's alleged conduct.

A national watchdog group is claiming the councilmen crossed the line, and maybe even broke the law.

Days after the shooting in south Phoenix, two Phoenix City Councilmen, Michael Johnson and Michael Nowakowski, called up Sergio Virgillo.

Nowakowski admits to contacting the officer, and says he meant no harm.

"We called Sergio and said that we feel very proud to have employees like yourself with integrity and you go with your heart," he says.

Nowakowski denies the accusation made in the 3-page letter from Judicial Watch. The letter claims the two councilmen called Virgillo on his personal cell and urged him not to second guess himself.

The group is suggesting they may have tampered with a witness. "Councilmen Nowakowski and Johnson called Officer Virgillo twice to encourage him to testify against a fellow officer and, possibly, to influence his testimony. This conduct was clearly improper, if not a felony," read the letter from Thomas J. Fitton of Judicial Watch.

Nowakowski says that's not accurate.

"I said well Sergio if there is anything I can do as a vice mayor, if you'd like me to come down to your house talk to your family members... if that is called tampering then I tampered," he says. "I know exactly what I said. I basically said he's doing the right thing and if there is anything we can do as a city we are there to support him."

"When they do the right thing and they have the integrity in service, the leadership of the city needs to tell them that they need to keep up the great work and that is what I did and Michael Johnson did."

Officer Virgillo told his supervisors about this. In an email exchange obtained by FOX 10, the supervisor says Virgillo asked not to be contacted by councilmen again, and he also told the supervisor that it felt awkward.