In an effort to protect his top aide from prosecution, former Sultan police chief Fred Walser may have committed his own crime.

Walser was charged Thursday in Snohomish County district court with giving a misleading statement to a public servant. The gross misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of 365 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

The criminal investigation into Walser started a year ago following an exclusive KIRO Team 7 Investigation into Walser's civilian office manager, Caroline Pepperell.

Pepperell’s neighbors told us they believed she had used "police-only" databases to run criminal background checks on them for personal reasons. After our investigation aired, the Washington State Patrol found that to be true, and Pepperell was fired for misconduct, dereliction of duty, improper use of police databases and the 911 call center, and willful failure to properly conduct herself.

We also discovered Pepperell had been fired from her previous job in Mount Lake Terrace for misusing police-only criminal databases hundreds of times to find "dates."

State Patrol investigators told KIRO Team 7 Investigators they also believed Walser had "misled" them during key portions of their investigation.

The City of Sultan, which is in Snohomish County, asked the Whatcom County Prosecutors office to review possible criminal charges against Walser to avoid any conflict of interest.

Walser, who is currently running for state senate, had no comment Thursday, but pleaded not guilty in court.