On the website that lists the 14 Boise police officers awarded the medal of honor over the department's 110-year history, only one doesn't have a picture with it.

Boise officials say that is not because Rob Berrier lost his job in 2011 for having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a confidential informant. They say it is because he was an undercover narcotics officer at the end of his career.

But the omission sums up Berrier's relationship with the department.

At the time of his resignation, Berrier was one of the highest-paid Boise officers, working for the BANDIT drug task force and participating in long-term local and federal drug investigations.

He was a contributing officer in dozens of high-profile cases, including federal drug sweeps such as Operation Night Rider, a multiagency investigation into methamphetamine trafficking in the Treasure Valley in 2010-11 that led to multiple arrests.

So far, Berrier's misconduct has not resulted in any cases being dropped or convictions overturned - and a judge recently denied a motion from a federal prisoner to have his sentence vacated because Berrier was involved in his case.

But Berrier might face bigger problems soon. Several sources have told the Idaho Statesman that he is under federal investigation in connection with his work as a Boise police officer.

Sources familiar with the investigation spoke to the Statesman on the condition that they not be named.

OFFICIALS TIGHT-LIPPED

FBI officials have denied repeated requests from the Statesman to talk about Berrier or why he is being investigated.

Boise police officials say only that Barrier resigned from the department and won't say why, citing personnel rules.

Chief Mike Masterson said his department couldn't "confirm investigations that may or may not be ongoing, either in this agency or others, so as not to jeopardize the integrity of any investigation."

Wendy Olson, the U.S. attorney for Idaho, relayed the same message.

Berrier did not respond to Statesman requests for comment.

The Idaho Peace Officers Standards and Training Council (POST) is the body that certifies Idaho police officers. Berrier was decertified last spring. His file outlines out how Masterson determined that Berrier had violated department standards and procedures, and prepared a notice of termination on July 29, 2011.

Before Berrier could be fired that day, he resigned.

Masterson told the Statesman that his department is not covering up anything.

He said the department is not allowed to comment because Idaho code and union requirements require confidentiality regarding resignations or terminations as a result of disciplinary actions.

Masterson did point out that Berrier's March 2012 POST decertification is public record.

To obtain that record, the Statesman had to know what to ask for and had to file a request.

BRADY LETTERS,ENDANGERED CASES

As an undercover detective for the BANDIT task force, Berrier was involved in dozens of drug cases at the time he quit.

When prosecutions are potentially threatened by reported police misconduct, federal and state attorneys have to send what are known as "Brady letters" to people either accused or convicted of crimes in the cases the officer worked.

The letters are a reference to Brady vs. Maryland, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires prosecutors to inform criminal defendants of any evidence that they might use to defend themselves.

In Berrier's case, it's not known how many letters prosecutors sent.

When Masterson was asked how many cases were affected, he referred the Statesman to the Ada County prosecutor and U.S. attorney. Those two offices denied public records requests seeking copies of the Brady letters and declined to tell the Statesman how many were issued.

Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Roger Bourne declined to say whether any cases Berrier worked on were affected by his admissions of misconduct.

Olson, the U.S. attorney, declined to discuss specifics but said that no convictions in her office over the past three years were overturned in connection with any officer misconduct.

A search of court records showed that one federal defendant arrested by Berrier asked to have his sentence overturned because of the misconduct - a motion denied by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill last week.

Jason Thomas Marr was one of 14 people arrested in 2010 as part of a BANDIT/DEA investigation into a Treasure Valley meth-trafficking ring. Federal prosecutors say the group sold more than 100 pounds of meth in Southwest Idaho, with cash from those sales going to Utah, Nevada and California.

All 14 people eventually entered guilty pleas - including Marr, who was sentenced to 130 months in federal prison in April 2011 on a conviction of conspiracy to distribute meth.

Marr pleaded guilty and was sentenced before Boise police found out about Berrier's misconduct. He found out after his attorney got a Brady letter, according to court records.

In June 2012, Marr filed a motion to vacate his sentence, saying he should have been told about Berrier's misconduct prior to sentencing. Winmill found that testimony from Berrier and his informant was not the only evidence linking Marr to the crime - there was testimony from eyewitnesses and other officers and recordings of Marr meeting other drug dealers nine times in 19 days.

Berrier's impeached evidence "does not negate the core facts about Marr's drug trafficking," Winmill said in denying Marr's motion.

BIG CASE, BIG PAY - AND SEVERANCE

Berrier was one of Boise's best-paid regular officers at the end of his career, earning a lot of overtime on high- profile drug investigations.

In 2010, for instance, Berrier made $116,425, according to city records. His base salary was $63,552. Berrier was the 13th-highest-paid employee in the city of Boise that year.

Berrier got a $26,000 severance package. The final paycheck after he resigned was for more than $21,000, according to documents obtained by the Statesman; a chunk was taken out for taxes.

When asked whether officers about to be fired for misconduct are given a severance if they quit first, Masterson said officers have a right to "grieve their termination."

Challenging their firing through the union can be a time-consuming, expensive process for the city - and can require that the employee remain on the city payroll until it's worked out.

"It generally serves the city to have the employee separated without delay," Masterson said.

In general, such separation agreements also mean that employees agree not to sue the city, Masterson said.

ADMITTING MISCONDUCT

According to the POST documents, Berrier admitted to several sexual liaisons with a female confidential informant he first arrested in February 2010 for trafficking methamphetamine. Documents don't say whether she - or the man Berrier arrested with her - was ever charged in connection with that case. The records do say that both agreed to become confidential informants for the Boise Police Department.

Berrier admitted that he began having sex with the woman in May 2010 and moved out of his house a short time later. Berrier said his relationship with the woman became "very social," but he did not tell his supervisors about it. Berrier swapped numerous text messages with her on his department-issued cellphone, later deleting them for what he called "security concerns."

Boise's Internal Affairs officers got a tip and began investigating Barrier in May 2011. The next month, Berrier admitted to the relationship with the informant - a violation of Boise police policy, but not necessarily a crime. Berrier was suspended with pay in June and resigned July 29, 2011.

Berrier admitted to Boise police investigators that he was still working a case when they began having sex: "I mean I was knee-deep with (the informant) working undercover and we were ... well into the federal side of it."

"I knew I was walking a slippery slope here ... I didn't really know what my status was (with) her being an informant. ... I'm still married ... it was my bad ... I've got the scarlet letter for the rest of my life on that one," Berrier told a police investigator, according to POST records.

Berrier admitted that having an affair with an informant made things messy: "I actually looked up policy at the time. ... I wasn't sure ... so I was hesitant about things."

Berrier also told investigators that he decided on his own not to charge the woman with any crimes, even after listing her as an arrested suspect on several police reports.

He admitted that it was his common practice not to seek prosecutorial review on some of his cases with criminal informants. And he said he didn't always charge criminal informants "who were working off delivery or trafficking charges if they did what he required," according to POST documents.

Boise police concluded that Berrier tried to protect his informants "from prosecution by burying reports," Judge Winmill said.

PROSECUTORS REACT

During his initial interview with Internal Affairs, Berrier did not express "any concerns about being able to testify in future court cases or that his actions would affect the working relationship between Boise police and other agencies," according to POST reports.

That wasn't the perspective of Ada County or federal prosecutors.

Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Heather Reilly, who handles a lot of drug cases, told a Boise police investigator in July 2011 that she was concerned about the damage Berrier could do to future cases "if he testified he did nothing wrong," that the woman was not really an informant, or that all detectives make decisions about charging drug felonies without consulting a prosecutor, according to the POST documents.

"Reilly felt if Berrier testified in this manner, she would be constantly trying to (defend not just) BPD narcotics detectives, but all narcotics detectives who bring cases to state court," the POST report said.

Olson told Boise investigators that Berrier was not welcome to testify in federal court if he was having a sexual relationship with an informant: "In other words, he was a persona non-grata."

Masterson said Boise police policy requires detectives to work with their supervisor and prosecutors on decisions about whether to file charges. "An officer who fails to do so faces disciplinary action," Masterson said.

Masterson said Boise officers got additional training last year on dealing with confidential informants, including more review by supervisors on the "value and integrity" of those CIs.

Department morale has not been affected by Berrier's resignation, Masterson said.

"Members of the Boise Police Department recognize maintaining the highest levels of professionalism and integrity are essential to maintaining public confidence and public and officer safety," he said. "As chief, I can say definitively that there is no tolerance within this department for members found to have violated the trust of their office and badge."

Patrick Orr: 377-6219, Twitter: @IDS_Orr