Ex-deputy faces drug theft counts

Officials say the ex-Hillsborough deputy stole drugs from the evidence room since 1997.

By DAVID KARP and KEVIN GRAHAM

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 1, 2001

TAMPA -- For nearly four years, Hillsborough sheriff's Deputy Christopher Madiedo would come and go from the department's evidence room, asking for drugs confiscated during arrests and checking them out.

But prosecutors say Madiedo was not taking the evidence to prepare for court. Instead, authorities say, he was using the evidence room as his personal stash for cocaine and marijuana.

On Tuesday, State Attorney Mark Ober charged Madiedo with 23 counts of tampering with evidence, trafficking in cocaine, cocaine possession, and possession of marijuana.

"These are very serious charges," Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi said.

The criminal case filed Tuesday accuses Madiedo, 26, of unlawfully taking narcotics from the Sheriff's Office since November 1997, about a year after being hired.

His tampering continued for a year, between November 1997 and March 1998, and then began again in December 1999, when he was named officer of the month, according to the charges. In 2000, he took drugs in April, May, June and then in September and October, arrest reports said. He is accused of stealing on numerous occasions in April, May and June of this year.

How could a deputy walk into the evidence room so often and take drugs?

The Sheriff's Office wouldn't explain Tuesday.

"We didn't release any information; the State Attorney's Office did," sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rod Reder said. "We'll be prepared to answer questions tomorrow."

Bondi, a spokeswoman for the state attorney, declined to discuss the case.

Criminal defense attorneys said the charges will cast doubt on every case Madiedo made, and then some.

"Everyone knows that every case he's on is dead in the water," said criminal defense attorney Rick Escobar. "I think a lot of deals are going to be cut by prosecutors trying to get rid of those cases."

Sheriff's officials discovered Madiedo was taking drugs from the evidence room on June 30, the day after he resigned. Madiedo wrote in a resignation letter that he was leaving to pursue other opportunities. He didn't indicate what they were.

While a deputy, he ran into disciplinary trouble repeatedly. He was suspended for 15 days in October 1998 after he shot an unarmed motorist twice in the back. Last December, Madiedo was suspended for three days after getting into a fight at the Tiny Tap Tavern while off duty.

A few hours after his resignation in June, Madiedo went back to the Sheriff's Office wearing a department jumpsuit and asked for envelopes of narcotics from pending cases. It was a Friday evening.

On Saturday, as Madiedo's resignation was still making its way through the system, he returned again. The guard became suspicious and called a supervisor.

That night, Madiedo was asked to return the evidence. He handed over what turned out to be leaves and twigs instead of marijuana, candle wax instead of crack cocaine and soap flakes instead of powdered cocaine, authorities said.

He was arrested that night on six counts of tampering with evidence, two counts of impersonating a law enforcement officer, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine, possession of a firearm in commission of a felony, and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was released from the Hillsborough County Jail after posting $30,000 bail. An investigation began that resulted in Tuesday's charges. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

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