Former Benton Harbor Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Felony Drug Offense
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 27, 2009 |
GRAND RAPIDS, MI—Defendant Andrew Thomas Collins, age 26, of Benton Harbor, Michigan, pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 5 grams of crack cocaine, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. Collins faces a minimum penalty of 5 years’ imprisonment and a maximum penalty of 40 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $2,000,000.
The charge stemmed from the seizure of crack cocaine and other controlled substances from Collins on February 18, 2008. At the time of the seizure, Collins was employed as a sworn police officer of the Benton Harbor Police Department (BHPD), serving in the capacity of Narcotics Officer.
As part of his plea, Collins admitted that he abused his position of trust as a police officer, in that on more than one occasion he failed to report and submit to the BHPD all narcotics he seized in the course of his duties and instead retained possession of narcotics for his own use, gain or purpose. Collins reported false and fictitious controlled purchases to the BHPD for the purpose of improperly securing search warrants and to embezzle funds of the BHPD.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and its law enforcement partners consider allegations of public corruption to be of the highest importance and priority. The respect and confidence the citizens place in their governmental institutions is dependant upon the honest and faithful services of the governmental employee. The U.S. Attorney’s Office aggressively pursues and prosecutes governmental employees who violate their solemn oath and duties. In this case, the Office also is working diligently with its law enforcement partners to seek out and remedy any wrongful convictions resulting from Collins’ conduct.
The investigation of this matter was conducted by the St. Joseph Office of the FBI with the cooperation of the Michigan State Police, the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office and the BHPD. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian K. Delaney is prosecuting the case.