This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

by Phillip Smith
StopTheDrugWar.org
Aug. 06, 2015

We have a Philadelphia twofer this week, an Indiana cop who killed himself after getting busted stealing pain pills, an Oklahoma K9 cop popped for stealing dope, another jail guard in trouble, and more.

In Michigan City, Indiana, a Michigan City police officer was arrested last Tuesday for possession of a "legend drug" without a prescription and two counts of official misconduct. Four days later, Officer Robert Grant committed suicide. He had served 12 years with the department.

In Checotah, Oklahoma, a Checotah K9 officer was arrested last Friday after drugs went missing. Officer Matthew Benton LeMasters, 35, went down after the police chief asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the missing drugs a month ago. He's charged with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.

In San Antonio, a Bexar County detention deputy was arrested last Friday after an undercover investigation showed he had provided drugs and other contraband to inmates at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center that morning. Deputy Termaine Elliot, 22, is now charged with bribery and possession of a controlled substance in a correctional facility. Both are felonies with sentences of to 20 years.

In Troy, New York, a former Watervliet police officer was arrested Tuesday as one of 20 alleged members of a Troy-based drug trafficking ring. Nicholas Pastore, 39, is accused of providing protection from the ring and regularly buying cocaine from one of its members, sometimes in uniform while on duty. Police seized more than a kilo of cocaine, more than 100 bags of heroin, and $100,000 in cash during the bust. It's not clear what the exact charges against Pastore are.

In Philadelphia, a former Philadelphia police narcotics officer was found guilty last Friday of stealing cash from a drug dealer's Lexus. Gerold Gibson, 45, went down in a sting. The Lexus didn't belong to a drug dealer and it had hidden cameras put there as part of a police "integrity test." The jury convicted him of theft by deception, receiving stolen property, theft by failing to make required disposition of funds, obstruction of the administration of law, and tampering with evidence.

In Philadelphia, a former Philadelphia police narcotics officer was sentenced last Thursday to 3 ½ years in federal prison for crimes he admitted participating in while a member of the Narcotics Field Unit. Jeffrey Walker testified against six of his former colleagues, but they were acquitted, so it looks like the one who came clean is the only one going to the slammer. Although they failed to win a conviction in the larger case, federal prosecutors still said Walker was a "credible witness" and the sentencing judge agreed. He granted a downward departure from sentencing guidelines that called for nine to 11 years.