Police Cadet Who Stole Drugs, Cash from Evidence Room Going to Jail

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The cadet who stole drugs from the Baltimore County Police Department’s evidence room will serve four years in jail, the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office reported Wednesday.

Nicholas Michael Ishmael, 21, a cadet assigned to the evidence management unit between August 2013 and June 2014, previously pleaded guilty to felony theft and possession with the intent to distribute.

The state’s attorney reported that Ishmael smuggled more than 3,000 Oxycodone pills out of the evidence room at police headquarters in Towson until his arrest in June 2014.

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Officials began investigating last spring after a homicide detective noticed drug evidence for a court case was missing, police said.

Authorities reported that a hidden surveillance camera and a bar code tracking system led them to Ishmael.

When Ishmael was arrested at police headquarters last June, he was carrying a bag containing $40,100 in cash he had stolen that day, according to the state’s attorney’s office. In addition, he had drugs in his vehicle, the state’s attorney reported.

Investigators determined that Ishmael had committed at least 15 separate acts of theft from the department, which amounted to 3,000 pills of Oxycodone valued at $30,000 to $125,000, the state’s attorney’s office reported.

Police said Ishmael was terminated from his position with the police department last June.

Judge Robert E. Cahill sentenced Ishmael to 20 years and suspended all but four of them, according to the state’s attorney’s office.

Once released from jail, Ishmael will be on supervised probation.

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