A former Columbus police officer who was accused of stealing cocaine from crime scenes and evidence rooms and then selling it for more than $100,000 has pled guilty, according to a Department of Justice announcement.
Joel M. Mefford, 35, of London, Ohio, pled guilty on Tuesday to two counts of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and one count of money laundering, according to the DOJ.
Mefford was assigned to investigate narcotics charges while working for the Columbus Police Department. He collaborated with a fellow cop to “steal and traffic cocaine” three times between February and April 2020, according to federal authorities.
In the first case, in February 2020, detectives were investigating a narcotics crime when they “unlawfully gained access to a detached garage” belonging to the person under investigation, officials said.
The DOJ reported that Mefford and the other officer entered the garage without a warrant and discovered two kilograms of cocaine in the rafters. They “unlawfully” seized one of the kilograms of cocaine and “left the other to be found during the execution of a search warrant the next morning,” according to the DOJ, adding that the other officer subsequently sold that kilogram of cocaine to someone else.
Something similar occurred a month later, according to the DOJ, when investigators were investigating drug-trafficking residences.
On March 7, 2020, officers detained a man at one of the houses, but not before seizing a suitcase containing “multiple kilograms of cocaine,” according to the DOJ. They then traveled to another property under investigation and stole an additional kilogram of the substance, according to investigators.
According to the DOJ, Mefford turned in only one kilogram of cocaine to evidence on the same day and stole the remainder to sell.
The next month, Mefford and a co-conspirator “stole between 10 and 20 kilograms of cocaine from the Columbus police property room and replaced it with fake cocaine,” according to the DOJ. Mefford then transported the stolen drugs in a police car and handed them over to another officer, who sold them to a third person.
The second cop received the revenues from the cocaine transactions and gave Mefford his cut, which was approximately $130,000, according to the DOJ. Mefford put more than $72,000 of that money into his own bank account.
Mefford may face at least ten years and up to life in jail for possessing five kilograms or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute it.
The remaining two offenses could result in a cumulative sentence of up to 50 years in prison. The sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.
