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This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #762)
Drug War Issues

Greed strikes down a pair of cops, including a Bay Area drug task force commander, and two more go down because of dope habits they picked up along the way. Let's get to it:

In Leola, South Dakota, the former Leola police chief pleaded guilty last Wednesday to violating probation by stealing $37,000 from the town's fire department. Copping to two counts of grand theft means former chief John Grabowska has also violated the terms of the probation he was serving for stealing $3,200 from a man he busted for growing marijuana. Instead of reporting the money as evidence, Grabowska kept it.

In Oakland, California, the former commander of the Central Contra Costa County Narcotics Enforcement Team pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing drugs from evidence lockers and trying to sell them on the street, as well as operating a brothel and using phony sting operations to rob prostitutes. Norman Weilsch, 51, copped to five charges and is looking at up to 17 year in prison. The elite unit he commanded was charged with conducting drug and prostitution investigations. Wielsch and a private investigator were both indicted; the private investigator has already pleaded guilty.

In New York City, a former NYPD officer was sentenced last Wednesday to 15 ½ years in prison for stealing guns from police lockers and selling them to drug dealers. Nicholas Mina admitted selling four NYPD-issued guns to a drug ring. As part of his plea agreement, he admitted that he was strung out on oxycodone and stole the guns to pay for his pill habit. He was a five-year veteran.

In Hatboro, Pennsylvania, a former Hatboro police officer was sentenced last Friday to 15 days in jail, two years of house arrest, and seven years of probation for coercing his informants to buy drugs for him and for stealing drugs and money from the department evidence room. John Becker, 43, a 17-year veteran of the department, had pleaded guilty to 18 charges, including 10 firearms counts, and was looking at up to 100 years behind bars. He had served on the Montgomery County Drug Task and the Bucks County Drug Task Force and went into drug treatment after being arrested in spring 2011.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

sicntired (not verified)

I've done a lot of drugs and sold more than my share.I was a mid level heroin trafficker for 35 years and spent 12 of those in jail.I knew I was going to jail and grudgingly accepted it.What I could never accept was rats and dirty cops.Rats that ducked a night in jail and got me years.Dirty cops that dealt,took cash,stole drugs to pay informants and beat the snot out of you every time they caught you in an alley.Cops who protected their "sources"while eliminating their competition.I only hope these dirty cops are put into population and sold out by some guard for a few bucks or to pay off one of their informants.Oh yes,they have informants in the joints too.When one gets caught,you see what real justice looks like.They make it the dirty business it is.They deserve all the credit.

Fri, 12/07/2012 - 5:57am Permalink
erik jay (not verified)

I didn't do 12 years, but what I did was enough. You bet I went for California's N-number (in 1980) -- I would have done three times as long otherwise. I was in the same joints as the A, B, and C numbers -- hey, I hear they're up to double-V now. What a racket. Just wanted to thank "sicntired" above for running it down to the uninitiated. Drug laws were a big mistake when first rolled out. The head of a police chief association told the truth -- it will corrupt us, he said. It did. And WE pay for that mistake.

Fri, 12/14/2012 - 12:28am Permalink

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