A former Douglas County Sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to jail time for buying a gun for her boyfriend, who was a felon.
Bianca Roberts
Bianca Roberts, 36, was indicted in October 2017 for allegations she purchased a 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol so her boyfriend, Joshua Tisch, could protect himself as he was selling marijuana.
Roberts met Tisch when he was an inmate and she was a deputy assigned to the jail.
“No one is above the law. We grant significant discretion to our law enforcers. We encourage — mandate — that the public trust them and heed their directives. We must — and we will — continue to hold the exceedingly few bad actors accountable, as we would any other member of our community. Purchasing a firearm for a convicted felon is outrageous,” said District Attorney George Brauchler. “Purchasing a firearm for a felon to protect himself from the dangers of illegal drug dealing is inexplicable and unjustifiable. The good men and women who serve in uniform don’t want these bad apples amongst them, and citizens deserve better from those tasked with protecting them.”
Tisch pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a weapon, a Class 6 felony, and was sentenced to 12 months in the Department of Corrections.
Roberts pleaded guilty to straw purchase of a firearm, a Class 4 felony. She also pleaded guilty to violating terms of her bond during the case after authorities discovered over 300 phone calls between Roberts and Tisch after the indictment was unsealed when a court ordered them to have no contact. Douglas County District Court Judge Shay Whitaker sentenced her Dec. 17 to 60 days in jail and two years of probation.
“We expect law enforcement members to uphold the law, not to break it. Roberts threw away her career, repeatedly choosing this felon over her oath to uphold the law,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Dawson, who prosecuted the case. “This is truly a case of ‘just desserts’: Now she is a two-time felon, serving a sentence as a prisoner in the very jail in which she was employed as a deputy.”