Former Ohio police officer pleads guilty to cocaine theft and trafficking

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A former Columbus police officer accused of stealing and selling cocaine while investigating drug cases has pleaded guilty to several counts in federal court.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio, Joel Mefford, 35, of London, Ohio, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to resell, one count of possession of 5 kilograms or more of cocaine with the intent to resell and one count of money laundering.

Mefford faces a minimum prison sentence of 10 years and could even be sentenced to life imprisonment, prosecutors say.

Mefford was arrested in January after being accused of illegally gaining entry to a suspect's garage during a drug investigation in February 2020. Mefford searched the garage without a search warrant and found 2 kilograms of cocaine in the garage's rafters, prosecutors said.

He is accused of taking one kilogram of cocaine and leaving the other behind to be found during a search the next morning. Mefford passed the stolen cocaine on to another person to sell, prosecutors say.

On March 7, 2020, Mefford reportedly stole a bag containing several kilograms of cocaine from a home on Ambleside Drive in Columbus and subsequently arrested the suspect. He is accused of going to another home and taking a kilogram of cocaine. Mefford submitted a kilogram of cocaine as evidence and kept the other drugs to sell, prosecutors say.

In April 2020, Mefford reportedly stole 20 kilograms of cocaine from the Columbus Police Department's evidence room and replaced it with counterfeit cocaine. Mefford transported the stolen cocaine in a patrol car and another officer later gave the drugs to another person to sell. The proceeds from the drug sale were then given to the other officer, who gave Mefford his share.

Mefford personally received a total of about $130,000 from cocaine sales and deposited more than $72,000 of the money from the cocaine sales into his personal bank account, prosecutors said.

Former Columbus police officer John Castillo of Grove City pleaded guilty in June to possession of 5 kilograms or more of cocaine with the intent to resell. Castillo also faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, with a possible life sentence.