Former Florida deputy accused of falsifying drug arrests is being held on a $1 million bond

Authored by us.cnn.com and submitted by UnstatesmanlikeChi
image for Former Florida deputy accused of falsifying drug arrests is being held on a $1 million bond

(CNN) A former Florida deputy stands accused of falsifying at least 14 drug arrests.

Steven O'Leary was arrested Monday on charges of official misconduct, making false statements, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment, petit theft and battery. For those charges, a judge set his bond at $1 million Wednesday.

An attorney for O'Leary was not listed in court records, and it is unknown if he has representation.

CNN has reached out to the Florida Police Benevolent Association, but it is unknown if the agency represents O'Leary.

Over the 11 months he was working as a deputy in Martin County, O'Leary made 86 drug arrests, according to a 47-page investigative report. Some of those, the report said, were people being wrongly arrested and held in jail for several days.

FerdySpuffy on August 1st, 2019 at 11:31 UTC »

According to the report, investigators found a “broken figurine” that appeared to be a religious statue in the trunk of a sheriff’s office vehicle O’Leary had used. The figurine was made from a similar substance to that which O’Leary had identified as crack cocaine in two cases, according to the report.

That's some lazy evidence falsifying.

MindRipper on August 1st, 2019 at 10:27 UTC »

The video of this asshole is infuriating. I’m not sure the damage he caused can be calculated and preying on people who were already in the system is pretty diabolical.

EDIT: Sorry for the confusion. The video about this story is infuriating. There is video on the other Florida deputy accused of a similar and equally shitty crime.

misdirected_asshole on August 1st, 2019 at 10:27 UTC »

Thought I had seen this story b uh t then realized there was another Florida Sherriff's Deputy who was just arrested for planting drugs on people