This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

A lying Houston narc gets decades in prison for a drug raid that left two innocent civilians dead, a Mississippi cop falls asleep in his squad car with a meth pipe in his hand, and more.

In Martinville, Louisiana, a St. Martin Parish corrections deputy was arrested last Friday for drug distribution and unlawfully releasing law enforcement information. Corrections Officer Caliyah Joseph, 22, went down after an internal investigation by the sheriff's office. She is charged with one count of malfeasance in office and one count of criminal conspiracy to distribute Schedule 1 and/or Schedule V drugs and is now a former correctional officer.

In Yazoo City, Mississippi, a Belzoni police officer was arrested on October 6 after he was found passed out in his patrol vehicle with a meth pipe in his hand. Officer James Jackson was arrested by members of the Yazoo City Police Department. Arresting officers also found marijuana in the patrol car glove box. Jackson refused a sobriety test after being woken up and was charged with possession of paraphernalia and DUI refusal. While Jackson has been released on bond, more charges could be filed at a later time.

In Sacramento, California, a former state prison guard pleaded guilty on October 8 to conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine. Fidel Andrade, 36, supplied cocaine to his co-defendant Neftali Castillo Montes. Montes then sold over 9 ounces of cocaine to an FBI confidential source. On March 3, 2021, officers discovered an additional ounce of cocaine during a search warrant executed at Andrade's house. He went down as part of an investigation by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, US Customs and Borders Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Tracy Police Department. He is set to be sentenced on January 28, 2025, and is looking at up to 20 years in federal prison.

In Detroit, a former Wayne County sheriff's deputy was sentenced on September 25 to more than six years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and a mail and wire fraud conspiracy. Former Deputy Michael Kenneth Cox helped two drug traffickers evade charges during his tenure with the force. In one case, seized drugs from a trafficker, but rather than arresting him, took the drugs and reimbursed the trafficker $2,000 for his lost dope. He also then gave him another $200 as a "confidential informant fee," claiming it had been a planned, controlled purchase.

Cox also arranged a cocaine transaction between two protected drug traffickers, the Justice Department said. A drug trafficker said Cox warned him about conducting a home invasion where authorities thought there was a large amount of drugs, and the invasion took place 10 days later. In another instance, one of Cox's protected traffickers shot and wounded a confidential informant, and Cox contacted investigators that same night to provide an alibi for his protected drug trafficker. Cox then assisted the drug trafficker with obtaining a defense attorney and lied about his contacts with the trafficker during the federal investigation.

In Providence, Rhode Island, a former Wyatt Detention Facility jail guard was sentenced on September 30 to time served plus two years of probation for trying to smuggle drugs into the jail. Kristopher White, 26, admitted in court that he met with an associate of an inmate, who gave him several pieces of paper soaked with drugs. White was arrested last December after leaving the jail during his shift and retrieving the drugs from his vehicle and then being searched as he reentered the facility. He pleaded guilty in May to attempting to provide contraband in a prison.

In Houston, a former Houston narcotics officer was sentenced last Wednesday to 60 years in prison in a case that began with a ginned-up no-knock raid on a pair of innocent homeowners in which the pair were both killed after opening fire on the people trying to break down their door. After a neighbor accused the couple of selling drugs to her daughter (she did not have a daughter, admitted she made the whole thing up and was convicted of a federal crime for her efforts), Gerald Goines. 60, headed a squad of narcotics officers who made up false information to submit a search warrant for the home. During his trial, his confidential informant testified that he had a pattern of asking her to make up nonexistent drug buys. He was convicted of two counts of murder in the deaths of homeowners Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas and must serve at least half of his sentence before being eligible for parole.