This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

A Massachusetts sheriff is arrested for extorting a legal marijuana business, a pair of Customs and Border Patrol agents cop to letting dope through their port of entry lanes, and more.

In Des Moines, a former Polk County sheriff's deputy was arrested July 28 on meth charges after earlier being arrested on petty theft charges. When sheriff's officers searched Justin Register's patrol car incident to that first arrest -- for stealing money during a traffic stop -- they found 27.7 grams of meth hidden beneath the vehicle. The drugs were not linked to any case Register worked on. He is charged with trafficking methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In Anniston, Alabama, a St. Clair Correctional Facility jail guard was arrested July 31 after narcotics agents raided his home and found more than eight pounds of meth, as well as various other substances, including 19 pounds of marijuana, 340 grams of synthetic cannabinoids, 100 grams of crack cocaine, and 16 grams of powder cocaine, not to mention 156 cell phones and two cellular hotspots. Lt. Calvin Bush is charged with trafficking methamphetamine and trafficking marijuana.

In New York City, a former security staffer at the US embassy in the Dominican Republic was arrested August 6 upon being extradited from the Dominican Republic. Jairo Elizer Arias Caceres is charged with conspiracy to import cocaine into the US. Arias went down amidst an investigation by the Border Enforcement Security Taskforce into what officials described as "a significant narcotics importation conspiracy." He is accused of coordinating couriers who smuggled cocaine into various airports in the New York City area in the packaging of items purchased from the Santo Domingo Airport Duty Free store. He's looking at a minimum of 10 years in federal prison.

In Valparaiso, Indiana, a former Porter County jail guard was arrested August 6 for allegedly smuggling drugs into the jail. Johnny Maynor III had been on the job for just over two years when he was investigated beginning in June and fired at the end of July. He is now charged with felony trafficking of a controlled substance, official misconduct, and misdemeanor trafficking with an inmate. Additional details about the case have not been released.

In Florida, a Massachusetts sheriff was arrested August 7 on charges he pressured a Boston-based marijuana company to sell him stock in the company. Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, 67, is set to appear in federal court in Boston later this week. He faces two federal counts of extortion. Tompkins allegedly pressured the company for stock as it considered an initial public offering in 2020. The company agreed, fearing Tompkins could imperil its operating license, and let Tompkins invest $50,000 in November 2020. The stock price initially rose after the public offering, but when it began to fall in 2021, he demanded his money back and received full refund despite the decline in the stock's value. If found guilty on the extortion charges, Tompkins could face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison on each count, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

In Los Angeles, two Customs and Border Patrol officers pleaded guilty July 28 to allowing vehicles filled with drugs to enter the US from Mexico. Officers Jesse Clark Garcia, 37, and Diego Bonillo, 30, each pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to import controlled substances such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. The pair would text a code to Mexican traffickers to let them know which lanes they were manning at the Otay Mesa and Tecate border crossings and then wave them through when they arrived. Bonillo admitted that he allowed at least 165 pounds of fentanyl to enter the country and both men admitted taking thousands of dollars for their efforts. Both face up to life in federal prison.

In Ocala, Florida, a former federal prison guard was sentenced July 30 to more than three years in federal prison for taking bribes to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County. Samuel Brandon Smith, 38, went down after investigators searched him as he arrived for work at the prison and found 668 grams of marijuana and other controlled substances hidden in his vest. Smith admitted to receiving nearly $44,000 dollars in payments for his dope smuggling.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, a former Wayne County jail guard was sentenced August 6 to five years in federal prison for plotting to smuggle 50 grams of meth behind bars. Dawan Dontra McKinzie, 31, went down after federal agents received a tip that he was bringing contraband into the prison. When confronted by investigators, McKinzie turned over a package he had received from the wife of an inmate. In it were 53 grams of meth, 30 grams of psylocibin mushrooms, 2 grams of cocaine, 7 pounds of tobacco, suboxone, a cellphone and nude photographs. McKinzie pleaded guilty to drug possession and conspiracy to distribute charges in May.