Tony Avelar/AP

Apple's chief security officer on Monday was indicted on bribery charges after he was accused of offering an estimated $70,000 worth of iPads to a sheriff's office in exchange for concealed-carry weapons permits.

Thomas Moyer, the executive, was indicted, along with Rick Sung, the second-in-command at the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, and Sheriff's Capt. James Jensen. The Mercury News first reported the indictment. Jensen had previously been charged on separate counts of felony bribery and conspiracy in connection with a plan to reelect Sheriff Laurie Smith in 2018.

Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, which is policed by the sheriff's office in question. Smith has not been charged.

The investigation into the licenses had been underway for more than a year. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a Monday press conference that the plan to donate the 200 iPads was abandoned once the district attorney launched an investigation in August 2019 and obtained a search warrant to examine all records of concealed-carry weapons licenses in.

Rosen said the "quid pro quo" arrangement is "illegal" and that it "erodes public confidence in the criminal-justice system."

"When high-ranking members of a law-enforcement agency are at the heart of a bribery scheme, it tarnishes the badge, the honor, and the reputations, and tragically the effectiveness of all law-enforcement agencies," Rosen said Monday.

The defendants have an arraignment scheduled for January 11, and they could be sentence to prison time if convicted, CBS San Francisco reported.

In a statement to the Mercury News, Moyer's lawyer said Moyer was innocent of the charges against him and that they "look forward to making Tom's innocence clear in court."

The Mercury News called the case the biggest political scandal in recent history for Santa Clara County, where other tech giants are headquartered in addition to Apple.

Two ex-managers of a Silicon Valley security firm pleaded guilty in October to charges in connection with the scandal, CBS San Francisco reported.

Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. 

NOW WATCH: Warren Buffett lives in a modest house that's worth .001% of his total wealth

See Also:

• Apple's move to cut App Store commissions in half for small developers is a start, but it mostly misses the real point
• How to track your Apple AirPods when you've lost them
• Google is circumventing Apple's ban on video game streaming apps with a web-based version of Stadia

SEE ALSO: Apple killed a security project after the FBI pushed back, sources say