TOPEKA, Kan. – A former central Kansas police chief who led a raid last year on a weekly newspaper has been charged with felony obstruction of justice and is accused of persuading a potential witness for an investigation into his conduct of withholding information from authorities.

The charge against former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody alleges that he influenced a witness to withhold information on the day of the raid of the Marion County Record and the home of its publisher or sometime within the following six days. The charge was filed Monday in state district court in Marion County.

Last week, a report from two special prosecutors referenced text messages between Cody and the business owner after the raid. The business owner claimed that Cody asked her to delete text messages between them to avoid any misunderstanding about their relationship, which she insisted was purely professional and platonic.

The raid was justified by Cody based on suspicions of identity theft or other computer crimes involving the newspaper, Publisher Eric Meyer, and reporter Phyllis Zorn. However, prosecutors found no evidence of wrongdoing by Meyer, Zorn, or the newspaper, attributing Cody’s erroneous conclusions to a flawed investigation.

Police body-camera footage of the raid showed Publisher Eric Meyer’s 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, confronting officers and expressing distress. Unfortunately, she passed away the next day due to a heart attack. Despite this tragic event, prosecutors did not find grounds to charge Cody or other officers with her death.