Federal obstruction charges brought against former Franklin police officer

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A former Franklin police officer was charged Wednesday by federal information with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

Vickie M. Kristiansen, who worked for the Franklin Police Department and was assigned to the South Central Kentucky Drug Force at the time of the allegations from 2013 to 2015, is accused obstructing the investigation into a doctor identified in federal court records as Dr. John Doe.

She is accused of advising the doctor on how to avoid criminal charges and notifying him of a federal investigation that she learned about through her work on the task force, according to court records.

She is further accused of telling the doctor to stop taking new patients because they could be law enforcement, to shred documents and to avoid putting out his trash until trash day to prevent law enforcement from going through his trash, according to court records.

The FBI notified the Franklin Police Department about the investigation in September 2018. She was suspended and retired within that month, Franklin Police Chief Roger Solomon said.

A plea agreement hearing is scheduled for June 4, federal court records show.