Police Officers who Sold Cannabis from Evidence Lockers Get Off Scot-Free
Two former Bakersfield police officers avoided jail time after pleading guilty to stealing confiscated cannabis from an evidence locker and selling it on the street. On August 7, a judge dropped the punishment to community service and probation, allowing the officers to avoid time in jail.
Former deputies Logan August and Derrick Penney worked in the Kern County Sheriff’s Office and were caught devising a ploy to sell stolen cannabis back into the black market between June 2014 and October 2014, all while under sworn oath as peace officers. August and Penney stole a total over 30 pounds of cannabis from a police evidence lockers, manicured it, and sold it back on to the street for up to $20,000, according to a May press release. Both officers pleaded guilty to cannabis trafficking. But U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence O’Neill was “moved” by their remorse and let them off with a slap on the wrist.
The judge comforted the defendants’ wives during sentencing. “Being the wife of a law enforcement officer is not easy,” the judge told the defendant’s wives, Tiffany August and Callie Penney. “The two of you have been incredible not to have gotten into the U-Haul and taken off. The both of you should be proud.”
August will serve 1,500 hours of community service and Penney will serve 250. Penney only sold cannabis once and took home $1,200, while August sold 30 pounds of cannabis through ten transactions and took home almost $20,000 in profit. In August’s now-notorious video confession on YouTube, he said “I made that decision based on Satan playing games with me and making me feel like I was prideful and unable to go to family members for help.”
The conspiracy also involves former officers Patrick Mara Damacio Diaz who are serving five year sentences for trafficking drugs. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office has a lot of explaining to do before the people of Bakersfield can learn to trust them again.
