Police lieutenant stole cocaine and fentanyl from evidence room, New Jersey attorney general says
Charges have been filed against a New Jersey police lieutenant with a prosecutor's office who state officials say allegedly stole illicit drugs from an evidence room.
State attorney general Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability announced the charges against Kevin T. Matthew, 47, in a news release Tuesday. Matthew is a lieutenant with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and has been on leave since Nov. 3.
Matthew has been charged with two counts of official misconduct, a count of tampering with public records or information, a count of structuring financial transactions, two counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, and a count of possession of drug paraphernalia after an investigation by the OPIA's Corruption Bureau, which probes alleged misconduct by law enforcement and other public officials.
While a member of the Special Victims Unit, Matthew allegedly searched police databases for drug cases and removed narcotics evidence that contained fentanyl and cocaine from the department's main evidence vault without authorization before later returning the drugs "in conditions substantially different than when he signed the evidence out," according to the news release. These alleged occurrences took place between Oct. 2022 and Nov. 2023, and Matthew was seen coming and going from the department's offices carrying "bags of a size sufficient to contain the narcotics he had signed out," the state's attorney general said.
Matthew's alleged conduct could have "impaired the evidentiary chain of custody and the items' reliability as evidence in criminal prosecutions," the attorney general said.
"As alleged, the defendant's conduct constitutes a shocking and brazen disregard of the law by a high-ranking officer who was sworn to uphold the law," Platkin said. "Serving in law enforcement is a position of public trust. If officers illegally break that trust, we will hold them accountable."
Matthew also allegedly "kept razor blades with cocaine residue in his office," and structured cash deposits at banks in such a way that he could avoid transaction reporting requirements. The cash deposits were allegedly made at "various financial institutions" on various dates so that he could avoid a federal requirement to report daily cash transactions of more than $10,000.
An investigation into Matthew's conduct is ongoing.
CBS News has reached out to Charles Sciarra, Matthew's defense counsel, for comment on the charges, but did not immediately hear back.
The charges of official misconduct each carry a sentence of five to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000, according to the news release. The charges of tampering with public records or information, structuring financial transactions and possession of a controlled dangerous substance each carry a sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. The final charge, of possession of drug paraphernalia, is a "disorderly persons offense" which typically carries a sentence of up to six months and a potential $1,000 fine.