Trooper pleads guilty to falsifying race info, searches on traffic stop reports; sentenced to probation

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Montgomery County court for lying on traffic stop reports.

Master Sergeant Zach Czerniewski pleaded guilty 10 times to purposely violate other provisions Of Chapter 590 across Montgomery County.

Czerniewski is sentenced to two years of court-supervised probation.

The patrol said it began an investigation in December when an employee contacted the command staff of Troop F, which covers most of mid-Missouri.

A probable cause statement said that Czerniewski told this employee a supervisor once talked to him about stopping a disproportionate number of minorities compared to the demographics of the area he covered. Czerniewski allegedly told the employee "he does not always accurately record the required information" in that section following that meeting with his supervisor.

Patrol records show Czerniewski started working in Troop F in 2012, covering Cooper and Howard counties at the time.