Pubdate: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH) Copyright: 2016 The Columbus Dispatch Contact: http://www.dispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/93 Author: Theodore Decker Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) DETECTIVE ACCUSED OF DEALING DRUGS A Reynoldsburg police detective who has worked for years with the county's drug task force was arrested on federal charges that he used his connections to deal drugs, including drugs that might have been taken from what was seized by his police division. The arrest, officials say, could affect nearly 50 cases that now must be reviewed. Tye L. Downard, 43, of Westerville, was taken into custody on Thursday on charges that accuse him of carrying out more than 20 drug deliveries to another person since October, involving heroin, cocaine, marijuana and Percocet pills. He is charged with possession with intent to distribute and distribution of controlled substances. He was in the Delaware County jail Thursday night. Possession with intent to distribute controlled substances is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Reynoldsburg Police Chief Jim O'Neill said he was stunned when the FBI contacted the city Thursday morning. He said he had no inkling that a public corruption probe was underway. "To say this is a shock would be really underplaying it," O'Neill said. "I was completely floored when I heard this." "You feel so betrayed," said Franklin County Chief Deputy Rick Minerd, who oversees the sheriff's Investigations Division, which includes the Franklin County Drug Task Force. "Here's a guy that we thought we could trust." O'Neill said it is too soon to know what impact Downard's arrest might have on pending and past cases, but he expects that both internal and external audits will assess the potential damage and look into what the division might have done differently. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said a search of cases shows Downard connected to 49 cases that will have to be reviewed. O'Neill said Downard has been a detective in Reynoldsburg for more than 10 years and for the past nine has been assigned to the county task force. He has been placed on paid leave. Two other Reynoldsburg officers also have been placed on temporary paid leave because they worked closely with Downard and the division felt that was a "prudent" move during the unfolding probe, O'Neill said. Neither of those officers has been charged. Federal documents state that Downard had mentioned that he was working with "others." According to court documents, the investigation began after the FBI Public Corruption Task Force heard from an informant that Downard was "using his official position to engage in illegal activity - namely drug trafficking." A federal complaint said the informant's information has been corroborated through surveillance, wiretaps and recorded conversations. Investigators said Downard met the informant during a drug investigation and suggested he could avoid charges by cooperating. He first encouraged the informant to provide information on other dealers but later proposed a way to "track" drugs by distributing them on the street, the complaint said. None of the methods that Downard employed to "track" the drugs was consistent with controlled law-enforcement drug deals, investigators said. According to the complaint, Downard seized blue-and-white Percocet pills during one search, then two days later provided blue-and-white Percocet pills to the informant to sell. He was involved in another search that yielded several green glass canning jars of marijuana buds, investigators said. The next day, Downard provided his contact with four green glass canning jars of marijuana buds, the complaint said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom