NYS Police Officer Fired Following Guilty Plea In False Statement Case

New York State Police have fired an officer who admitted he lied to federal investigators about tipping off a drug dealer who was the target of a covert narcotics probe.

Michael O'Flaherty, 43, of Poughkeepsie, pled guilty to one count of making false statements, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced Wednesday.

State police terminated O’Flaherty on Thursday.

O'Flaherty, who was assigned to Troop K, was suspended in the fall of 2022, after an investigation was launched into potential wrongdoing. He was arrested in late 2024.

Prosecutors said O’Flaherty was working as a narcotics investigator for the state police when he disclosed a covert investigation to his former confidential informant.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said O’Flaherty told the informant, a “prolific dealer of deadly fentanyl pills,” that another law enforcement agency was actively and covertly investigating them.

According to Clayton, this tip jeopardized the safety of fellow law enforcement officers.

“He did the unthinkable,” Clayton said. “He tipped off a drug trafficker—responsible for distributing tens of thousands of fentanyl pills—to a covert narcotics investigation.”

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, when O’Flaherty was questioned about it later, he “lied repeatedly to cover his tracks.”

Prosecutors said a state law enforcement agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2022 were conducting an investigation of fentanyl pill distribution linked to multiple overdose deaths in Dutchess County. During it, investigators identified the narcotics trafficker as a prolific source of fentanyl pills in the county. That person had previously been a confidential informant for the state police.

According to prosecutors, O’Flaherty had maintained an ongoing personal relationship with the informant/trafficker, and told the person about the new fentanyl investigation. Prosecutors said O’Flaherty also “tried to dig for sensitive details about the investigation, including the identity of the investigation’s confidential source within (the confidential informant/trafficker’s) network.”

State Police Superintendent Steven G. James called O’Flaherty’s actions a “betrayal of the public trust.”

"We will not tolerate conduct that violates the law, our policies or ethical standards,” James said, in an announcement about O’Flaherty’s termination Thursday. “The vast majority of our members carry out their duties with integrity, courage, and professionalism. When one individual fails to meet those standards, we act decisively, and we hold them accountable.”

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