This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

It's judges gone wild! Plus sticky-fingered narcs, lying narcs, crooked deputies, and more! Let's get to it:

In Pittsburgh, a former Washington County judge was arrested May 24 on charges he stole cocaine from evidence in cases over which he presided. Paul Pozonsky abruptly resigned from the bench in 2012 and moved to Alaska after police checked evidence envelopes and found the cocaine had gone missing. Court officers said that Pozonsky had begun asking them to bring confiscated drugs into the courtroom, where they would be entered as evidence and kept by either the judge himself of members of his staff.

In Des Moines, an Iowa state narcotics agent was arrested May 26 on charges he forged the signature of a Polk County judge in a bid to shortcut an after-the-fact approval of a drug-related search warrant. Jonathan Borg, 39, allegedly forged the judge's signature as he returned with the warrant after conducting a search in a drug investigation where the charges have now been dropped because of his actions. He is charged with one count of felonious misconduct in office and is looking at up to five years in prison if convicted.

In Belleville, Illinois, a St. Clair county judge was arrested last Friday in relation to the cocaine overdose death of another St. Clair county judge while the pair partied together at a hunting lodge in March. Judge Michael Cook, 43, who presided over the county's drug court, was charged by federal prosecutors with possession of heroin and possession of a firearm while illegally using controlled substances. His colleague, Judge Joe Christ died of a cocaine overdose. A St. Clair County probation officer, James Fogarty, has been charged with selling cocaine to both judges. Judge Cook had handled more than 500 criminal cases since 2010; now, those found guilty can come back and seek new trials.

In Baltimore, a Baltimore police officer was arrested last Friday on multiple charges, including trying to sell heroin. Officer Ashley Roane, 25, went down in a sting operation, accepting cash payments and providing protection for a man she thought was a drug dealer, but who was actually an informant for Baltimore police and the FBI. She agreed to access law enforcement databases listing informants and other sensitive information for the drug dealer, and provided Social Security numbers to him as part of a scheme to obtain false tax refunds, prosecutors said. She's looking at a mandatory minimum 17 years in federal prison if convicted on all counts.

In New York City, an NYPD officer was convicted last Wednesday for faking paperwork to cover up his involvement in the unlawful search and arrest of two men. Isaias Alicea had stopped and arrested two men in Harlem last year and later falsely told his supervisors he saw them in a drug transaction. But surveillance images showed no transaction occurred and the charges against the men were dropped. He was convicted of official misconduct, a felony, and will be fired based on that felony conviction. Sentencing is set for next month.

In San Antonio, five Hidalgo County narcotics officers pleaded guilty last Wednesday to federal charges in a wide-ranging drug conspiracy. The five, all members of now-defunct drug task force called the Panama Unit, including the son of the county sheriff, acknowledged roles in a scheme to steal drug loads from street-level dealers and sell them to a man alleged to be a local trafficker. Jonathan Trevino a 29-year-old former Mission police officer and the son of Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino, pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy. Three other members of the unit, including ex-Hidalgo County Sheriff's deputies Salvador Joel Aguello, Claudio Alberto Mata, and Eric Michael Alacantar, also entered guilty pleas. The fifth man, Gerardo Mendoza Duran, is a former Hidalgo County Sheriff's deputy but was not assigned to the Panama Unit. He admitted last Wednesday that he had aided and abetted the group's plans to escort the drug loads. They're all looking at 10 years to life in federal prison.

In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the former commander of the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force agreed to plead guilty last Friday to stealing at least $125,000 from drug proceeds seized by the unit. Jeff Snyder, 55, embezzled money that the task force seized between June 2010 and June 2012, according to a release from U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance’s office. Snyder admitted to pocketing seized cash during drug raids and failing to log it into task force ledger books and deposit it in task force bank accounts. In his plea agreement, Snyder and prosecutors agreed to an 18 month federal prison sentence. That agreement has yet to be approved by a judge.