LOS ANGELES – In a stunning move, Cory Pierce, a 39-year-old detective with the San Luis Obispo Police Department, was arrested this morning and charged with bribery in a scheme that’s left the community reeling.
According to a complaint filed in United States District Court in Los Angeles, Pierce allegedly took cash and narcotics from two individuals, known as ‘CW1’ and ‘CW2,’ in exchange for providing them with narcotics for their own use, as well as fake drugs to sell to drug dealers.
Pierce, a six-year veteran of the San Luis Obispo Police Department, was most recently assigned to a narcotics task force with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office. The complaint describes how Pierce cultivated the two sources, who agreed to cooperate with the FBI’s investigation after CW2 was arrested for heroin possession in 2011.
However, soon after they agreed to work with Pierce, he made unusual requests for the informants to bring him narcotics. As the requests continued, Pierce allegedly provided placebo pain pills and real narcotics to CW1 and CW2, exchanging those pills and drugs for cash and various narcotics brought to him by the CWs, including oxycodone, heroin, and drugs that treat opiate addiction.
The complaint alleges that Pierce used his position as a police officer to influence CW2’s probation officer to perform little or no supervision of CW2 and informed CW2 that he could ‘work off’ his heroin possession charge by cooperating with Pierce. Pierce allegedly informed the CWs about ongoing police investigations, including where best to purchase narcotics and which drug houses to stay away from, so that they would not be caught purchasing drugs.
When the CWs advised Pierce that the drug dealers to whom they had sold the placebo pills realized they had received a deceptive product and wanted revenge, Pierce asked for their identities and indicated he would ‘take care of it.’ Last month, CW2 began cooperating with a federal investigation and recorded multiple conversations with Pierce, during which Pierce allegedly instructed CW2 to sell placebo pills to a drug dealer for $11,000, money that was to be split between Pierce and CW2.
Pierce will have an initial appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge later this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles. If convicted of the bribery charge alleged in the criminal complaint, Pierce would face a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.
Law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation include the FBI, the San Luis Obispo Police Department, and the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office. The investigation is ongoing, and further details are expected to emerge in the coming days.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Public Corruption|Drug Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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