This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

More prison guards break bad, an Ohio trooper’s pill habit got the best of him, an ongoing Paterson, NJ, police corruption scandal snares another cop, and more. Let’s get to it:

[image:1 align:left]In Hazard, Kentucky, a Perry County sheriff’s deputy was arrested January 1 during a traffic stop and charged with trying to smuggle drugs into the jail. Deputy Shannon Adams, 42, went down after jail staff monitoring inmate phone calls heard incriminating information and contacted the local drug task force. Local reporting did not make clear precisely which criminal charges he faces.

In Mansfield, Ohio, a former Highway Patrol trooper was arrested January 7 for stealing pain pills. Preston Brooks, 33, went down after an internal investigation found he had mishandled “seized prescription drugs” and lied about it. He is charged with theft of drugs and tampering with evidence.

In Paterson, New Jersey, a Paterson police officer was arrested last Tuesday in an ongoing corruption probe that has already scooped up seven other Paterson police officers. Sgt. Michael Cheff participated in stealing money and drugs from suspects along with the other officers, and was charged in a case where police illegally searched a vehicle and arrested a man, then went to his home and lied to his mother to gain consent for a search. He found a safe with $2,700 and took it, divvying some of it up to other officers involved. He is charged with conspiring to violate the civil rights of an individual and with falsifying a corresponding police report.

In Moberly, Missouri, a state prison guard was arrested Saturday for sneaking synthetic cannabinoids and tobacco into the prison where he worked. Guard Timothy Davis, 23, went down after investigators searched his car in the parking lot of the Moberly Correctional Center found 174 grams of synthetic cannabinoids and several unopened bags of tobacco. He is charged with delivery of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

In New York City, six Rikers Island prison guards were arrested Monday for allegedly smuggling drugs into the jail. They were among 21 people indicted in a scheme to import and distribute marijuana, synthetic marijuana (K2) and the narcotic suboxone into jail facilities on the island since early 2019. The indicted guards were Queens residents Darrington James, 30, Patrick Legerme, 29, and Aldrin Livingston, 31; Brooklyn’s Michael Murray, 28, and Christopher Walker, 28; and Bellport, NY resident Angel Rodriguez, 23. According to the charges, each of them allegedly accepted thousands of dollars in bribes to get the contraband items past security checkpoints.