Former Police Officer Sentenced For Role In Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

Monday, December 9, 2024, 1:00 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

COLUMBUS, OH.- Last Tuesday, a 36-year-old former Columbus Police Officer learned he would be spending the next five years in federal prison after a U.S. District Court sentenced him for his role in a large-scale drug trafficking conspiracy with a fellow Police Officer to distribute more than eight kilograms of fentanyl in an ultimate betrayal of the oath he swore to uphold.

     On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, John J. Kotchkoski, 36, of Marengo, Ohio, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. to 65 months in federal prison for his previously entered guilty plea to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute 400 Grams or More of Fentanyl; Conspiracy to Distribute 400 Grams or More of Fentanyl.

     “Failing to uphold his oath to serve the residents of this great community, Kotchkoski forever stained his badge, not the badge of all the incredible men and women of the Columbus Division of Police. He should be held accountable for his misdeeds. This sentence of more than five years in prison for conspiring to distribute this poison in our community should send a message to every member of law enforcement that any such failure to uphold our oaths to the community will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker.

According To Documents Filed With The Court

     According to documents filed with the court, beginning in June 2021 and lasting through the beginning of September 2021, while assigned to investigate drug crimes, Kotchkoski conspired with a fellow Columbus Police Officer and, together with a confidential informant, to illegally traffic illicit narcotics.

     Kotchkoski provided the confidential informant with approximately 40 grams of cocaine to be sold and then kept most of the proceeds.

     Kotchkoski conspired with the other Police Officer to receive a portion of the proceeds made from selling kilogram quantities of fentanyl. On at least three occasions, the co-conspirator distributed fentanyl to another individual and accepted $32,500 for around one of the kilograms of fentanyl. Kotchkoski received a portion of these drug proceeds.

     In late August 2021, Kotchkoski expected to receive an additional portion of the drug proceeds for more than eight kilograms of fentanyl being provided by his co-conspirator but was taken into custody before he was able to receive the money.

     As part of the conviction, Kotchkoski will forfeit a Cadillac Escalade, a Chevrolet Corvette, more than twenty firearms, and a $500,000 judgment.