Former prisoner sues the City of Tulsa

A man recently freed from prison has filed a lawsuit against the city of Tulsa alleging that the city failed to properly supervise officers who deprived citizens of their rights.

The complaint was filed Tuesday and is 17 pages long.

Tony Becknell filed the suit in Tulsa County District Court.

Becknell is one of the dozens of former prisoners who had his sentence reduced due to a federal corruption probe of police practices that began in 2009.

Becknell was released last year from a 16-year term on drug charges.

He is seeking a trial and over $15 million in damages and attorney fees.

In addition to the city, former Tulsa officer Jeff Henderson is named as a defendant, along with 40 other city employees, policymakers and supervisors on the force.

Henderson has been in prison since he was sentenced in December 2011 after a jury found him guilty of lying six times during a federal court case and violating the civil rights of citizens during an illegal search.

He was among 11 officers to be charged or named as unindicted co-conspirators in the federal investigation of the department. It represented one of the worst police corruption scandals in at least a generation.