Former Louisiana deputy admits to distributing drugs other items confiscated at traffic stops

Published 9:33 am Thursday, August 16, 2018

COVINGTON, La. (AP) — A former Louisiana law enforcement officer has admitted distributing marijuana and giving his girlfriend marijuana, alcohol and other items confiscated at traffic stops.

District Attorney Warren Montgomery says former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Kenneth Szalajeski must serve a year in prison, with more possible if he violates probation afterward.

His news release says Szalajeski pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts each of marijuana distribution and malfeasance in office.

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District Judge Raymond Childress gave him 10 years on each distribution charge and five on each malfeasance charge, suspending all but one year of each sentence. After he gets out, he’ll be on probation for three years.

Childress ordered him to report to prison Friday.

Montgomery says Szalajeski eroded confidence in criminal justice by doing things he arrested others for.