SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A San Jose attorney is facing charges that he tipped off a target of a major drug investigation through a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang.
The San Jose Mercury News reports that defense attorney Michael Edward Hingle pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of obstructing justice and lying to federal agents.
Authorities say Hingle in 2011 revealed the secret grand jury drug investigation to Hells Angels officer Steve Tausan in order to alert a client who was a target of the investigation. The client has not been identified.
Tausan then allegedly alerted friends of the client. The drug probe involved at least 100 search and arrest warrants across Santa Clara County.
Tausan was later gunned down at the funeral for slain Hells Angels leader Jeffrey Pettigrew.
