LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "NYPD Blue" alum Esai Morales is moving to "Jericho."

The actor has joined the resurrected CBS series in a recurring role, appearing in six of the seven episodes of the show ordered for midseason.

Morales will play Col. Hoffman, a career military officer and Iraq War veteran who has not heard from his wife since the day of the series' fictional attacks.

The post-apocalyptic drama, which chronicles the events following a series of nuclear explosions across the U.S., was canceled in May but picked up for a seven-episode second season in June after a massive campaign by the show's fans.

Morales recently co-starred on Fox's series "Vanished," the network's drama pilot "The Cure" and in the feature "Fast Food Nation."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

I never watched NYPD Blue but I loved Esai Morales in La Bamba and The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. Here's a rather disturbing article I read just today about him on imdb:

Morales Fights Sexual Assault Charge

Actor Esai Morales has reassured fans sexual assault charges filed against him by an ex-girlfriend are "without merit" in a post on his MySpace profile. The former NYPD Blue star explains he has been advised not to comment on charges he gave a former live-in girlfriend herpes after assaulting her, but he admits he felt he owed fans an explanation. In a posting addressed, "To My Fans", Morales writes, "I need to assure you personally that the charges that have been leveled against me are absolutely false and without merit and I am prepared to vigorously defend myself and my reputation. You know me. You've known me for nearly three decades. And you know in your hearts that these claims are baseless. This is not the way I live my life and I am incapable of committing these kinds of acts... I will not let a personal attack deter me from the bigger picture." In court papers filed last week, the actor's ex, Elizabeth Mazzocchi, claims Morales knew he had herpes but never told her about it, leaving her with "an incurable disease that will have associated medical expenses, pain and discomfort for the rest of her life."