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This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #893)
Drug War Issues

A New Mexico cop gets hoisted by his own petard, a DC cop won't get to keep her drug-money Maserati, a border guard gets popped stealing pain pills from drivers, and more. Let's get to it:

In Roswell, New Mexico, a Roswell police officer was arrested last Wednesday after his claim that a fast food worker spit in his drink went bad. When investigators watched video from the restaurant, they saw no evidence of the misdeed, and Officer Christopher Ray Moreno then admitted that he made it up because he didn't like the worker, whom he had arrested for petty crimes in the past. Knowing he faced firing over the incident, he resigned and turned in his equipment. When police searched the trunk of his police car, they found meth, drug pipes, a BB gun, and a suspect's driver license. He is now charged with a variety of offenses, including make false reports, drug possession, and theft.

In Allentown, Pennsylvania, a Northampton County jail guard was arrested last Friday on charges he smuggled drugs and a cell phone into the jail. Brian Keith Jenkins, 30, faces one count of providing a controlled substance to a confined person and one count of providing a telecommunications device to a confined person.

In Brownsville, Texas, a former Starr County narcotics investigator pleaded guilty last Tuesday to trafficking cocaine. Formed investigator Noel Pena, 29, who had been assigned to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force, went down in a sting operation after he met an undercover agent and agreed to stage a fake bust where the trafficker could tell his employers the drugs had been seized, but he would really split them with Pena. Pena copped to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. He's looking at a 10-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence.

In Washington, DC, a former DC Metro Police detective was sentenced last Thursday to 15 months in prison after using money she got in a drug conspiracy to buy a motorcycle and several cars. Stephanie Ellison, 51, and her drug-dealing accomplice bought a Maserati, a BMW, and a Harley Davidson motorcycle in a bid to conceal their drug money. She pleaded guilty to a single count of money laundering in March.

In Burlington, Vermont, a former Customs and Border Patrol officer was sentenced Monday to two years' probation for stealing oxycodone pills while on the job at the Highgate border crossing with Canada. Christopher Van Zandt, 30, admitted stealing drugs while searching a vehicle entering the country.

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

LEAP_Speaker (not verified)

This guy not only violated drug laws, he violated the trust we place in our law enforcement. What about the patient who needed the pills for their pain? Imagine the poor patient trying to tell a doctor that US Customs stole your medications.

Thu, 07/16/2015 - 1:17pm Permalink

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