A veteran Mount Vernon police officer who oversaw drug investigations told an FBI informant that he began selling drugs last month to help his cousin, also a dealer, get out of debt, and also because he was tired of criminals making all the money.
Matthew Dailey, 44, of Howard, Ohio, was arrested by FBI agents on Thursday. He has been charged with extortion and conspiracy to possess drugs — Oxycodone — with the intent to distribute. City officials placed him on paid administrative leave two weeks ago during an investigation.
In a criminal complaint, unsealed on Friday, an unnamed informant said that Dailey told him he was tired of being out on the street and seeing "people make bank on this," referring to drug-deal proceeds.
The transactions occurred while Dailey was on and off duty. At least one of the drug deals took place at an elementary school. Text messages and phone calls from Dailey's police-issued cellphone corroborated the informant's accounts.
On Sept. 16, Dailey gave the informant, who he thought was a dealer, 1 gram of methamphetamine, 18 ecstasy pills and a quarter-pound of marijuana to sell. Two days later, before Dailey received payment, he was placed on administrative leave.
A second informant told federal agents that Dailey traveled frequently to Columbus over eight months and purchased a total of 6,000 oxycodone pills, at a cost of about $150,000.
"It's very disappointing," said David Glass, the city's safety-service director of 37 years. "I just think it startles us all. But our police are going to move forward to protect the citizens
of Mount Vernon."
"What we all share is agreement that is an egregious violation of public trust. It's alarming," said Mount Vernon City Councilman Sam Barone. "It was not lost on me on how difficult this must be in the sense of betrayal that the chief must have felt."
Dailey was one of four detectives in the department of 27 officers.
"If you had asked me three months ago, I'd have said he was one of the best officers we had," Glass said.
Police Chief Roger Monroe, who in his first year has tried to improve morale, declined to comment.
According to the complaint, Dailey used his knowledge of the community and his detectives to arrange safe deals.
He told the informant never to drive with drugs during third shift because "his boys" and the department's best narcotics officers worked then. He also advised that if stopped the informant should tell the officer that he knows Dailey and he would be let go.
There were no worries of being caught because "all active drug investigations were run through him," Dailey said, according to the complaint.
The informant told federal agents that he feared Dailey might kill him.
dnarciso@dispatch.com
@DeanNarciso
Source: Mount Vernon officer was tired of criminals making all the money, FBI says
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