Former Los Angeles County Deputy Pleads Guilty To Drug Trafficking Charge
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap] former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy pleaded guilty to acting as security to a drug trafficking scheme.
Deputy Kenneth Collins was arrested in January for his role in escorting drug shipments, working with two other men to work as security and a diversion for drug deliveries.
According to Collins plea agreement, undercover federal authorities met with Collins last August with an agent posing as an investor wanting to finance the production, distribution and sale of controlled substances. After a test run of two pounds of cannabis sold to a second agent, Collins demanded $25,000 to escort a shipment of methamphetamine, cannabis and counterfeit cigarettes from Pasadena to Los Angeles. The shipment took two partners with Collins and one of his accomplices driving by the transport vehicle, planning to drive erratically to divert attention from the transport. After that, Collins and the agent negotiated a larger delivery that would have been a $250,00 pay day for the former deputy and his two partners. On Jan. 16, they showed up to provide security for the transport and were instead arrested by FBI agents.
Collins also told the undercover agents he could “fix” problems, claiming to have a team of fellow armed policemen and citing an incident where they set fire to a $85,000 Cadillac to intimidate someone for a client.
“We’re cops,” Collins was quoted in court documents. “We deal with a lot of, you know, kind of high-end clients, and $25,000, they’re like, you know, it’s like as long as you can make sure my shipment gets from here to there, that’s fine . . . They make profits in upwards of $5 million on certain, certain transports.”
The other officers Collins was referencing have not been identified. The Los Angeles Sheriff has stated they collaborated with the investigation and that this is an isolated case. Collins plead guilty earlier this month to one count of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and cannabis. Collins’ two partners David Easter and Grant Valencia, however, plead not guilty and will go to trial in October. Collins met Valencia through the Emerging Leaders Academy as an instructor to the life skills class that helps those with criminal pasts re-adapt into society.
“Law enforcement officers are sworn to uphold the law, which is why we hold them to a higher standard of conduct,” U.S. attorney Nick Hanna said in a statement. “Deputy Collins didn’t just break the law, he trampled his oath by agreeing to sell his badge to assist drug traffickers.”
