Detroit police car (File photo)
DETROIT (WJBK) - A veteran Detroit Police Officer is accused of conspiracy to deal drugs and lying to the FBI after being accused in a criminal enterprise that stretched from Detroit to Phoenix.
Christopher Staton, 51, has spent the past 19 years on the Detroit Police force but he could spending the rest of life in prison, despite his stellar reputation.
According to the federal indictment, Staton and ten other defendants are part of a drug trafficking organization that obtained large amount of heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl for distribution.
The organization trafficked the drugs from 2012 to 2017, the indictment claims.
The five years overlapped with the almost 19 that Staton served with Detroit Police, Chief James Craig said.
"This is someone who had a great reputation," he said. "He would have had 19 years on Sunday. He was approaching his 19th anniversary. Didn't have any discipline on his history. Worked in one of our elite units."
Investigators said he used his position as a police officer to assist the drug trafficking operation that stretched from Detroit to Phoenix. Additionally, the indictment says he provided members of the conspiracy with law enforcement information, including about a co-conspirator's arrest and about vehicles' registrations.
"We talk a lot about criminals we're gonna find you If a police officer decides to engage in criminal behavior we will find out. And when we do, you will be held accountable," Craig said.
Staton faces life in prison plus a fine of $10 million for the drug conspiracy count alone. He could also get another 5 years and $250,000 fine for lying to the feds.