Post by WaTcHeR on May 16, 2006 10:17:33 GMT -5
05/16/2006 - TOPEKA - A police officer who was originally charged with 144 criminal offenses and accused of stealing thousands of dollars intended for undercover drug buys had the last of his charges dropped today, officials said.
However, Shawnee Country District Attorney Robert Hecht said charges against former Topeka narcotics officer Bruce Voigt will likely be refiled.
Voigt had been charged with perjury, falsifying evidence, official misconduct, theft and promoting obscenity. But the number of charges against the 18-year veteran had dwindled to 20 after a series of hearings, before being dropped completely.
Voigt was placed on paid administrative leave last July, when the accusations first surfaced, but has since retired from the department.
Hecht said the case against Voigt isn't related to the case against his former partner, Thomas Pfortmiller, who pleaded no contest to 50 counts of misconduct, perjury, forgery and theft last year.
Pfortmiller was sentenced in September to 16 months in prison, after officials accused him of stealing $20,000 and using the money to fund his gambling habit.
The arrests of Voigt and Pfortmiller were the result of an 18-month investigation of the narcotics unit that Hecht's office conducted with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
In a 125-page report, which was released two days after Police Chief Ed Klump announced his retirement, Hecht said top Topeka police officials knew about problems in the narcotics unit by 2003, yet no officers were disciplined.
The report also said Hecht's office was forced to dismiss 25 criminal cases filed since 1999 because of questions about officers' conduct.
However, Shawnee Country District Attorney Robert Hecht said charges against former Topeka narcotics officer Bruce Voigt will likely be refiled.
Voigt had been charged with perjury, falsifying evidence, official misconduct, theft and promoting obscenity. But the number of charges against the 18-year veteran had dwindled to 20 after a series of hearings, before being dropped completely.
Voigt was placed on paid administrative leave last July, when the accusations first surfaced, but has since retired from the department.
Hecht said the case against Voigt isn't related to the case against his former partner, Thomas Pfortmiller, who pleaded no contest to 50 counts of misconduct, perjury, forgery and theft last year.
Pfortmiller was sentenced in September to 16 months in prison, after officials accused him of stealing $20,000 and using the money to fund his gambling habit.
The arrests of Voigt and Pfortmiller were the result of an 18-month investigation of the narcotics unit that Hecht's office conducted with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
In a 125-page report, which was released two days after Police Chief Ed Klump announced his retirement, Hecht said top Topeka police officials knew about problems in the narcotics unit by 2003, yet no officers were disciplined.
The report also said Hecht's office was forced to dismiss 25 criminal cases filed since 1999 because of questions about officers' conduct.