DA Hoovler Joins Town of Deerpark Police Chief Sztyndor and City of Port Jervis Police Chief Worden to Announce Arrest of Corrections Officer for Possessing Narcotics With an Intent to Sell

March 31, 2017

New York State Corrections Officer Charged with Possession 42 packages of Heroin and Drug Paraphernalia after Search Warrant was Executed at his Residence

Goshen, NY – Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler, joined by Town of Deerpark Police chief Richard Sztyndor and City of Port Jervis Police Chief William Worden announced that in March 30, 2017, Michael Leake, 24, of Deerpark, a New York State Corrections Officer who was recently assigned to the New York State Otisville Correctional Facility, was arrested and charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia in the Second Degree.

The arrest was the result of an investigation by the Town of Deepark and City of Port Jervis Crime Suppression Unit. Police officers from that unit, assisted by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, obtained a search warrant for Leake’s residence. The Orange County Sheriff’s Offices Special Operations Group aided in the executed the search warrant at Leake’s Westbrookville residence where police recovered 43 bags of heroin, a scale, and other materials commonly used by narcotics traffickers. Leake was arraigned in the Town of Deerpark Justice Court and bail was set in the amount of $50,000 cash or $200,000 bond. The case is next scheduled in the Town of Deepark Justice Court on April 5, 2017. The case will be presented to an Orange County Grand Jury.

The maximum sentences for the Class B felony of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree is nine years in State Prison.

District Attorney Hoolver thanked the Town of Deerpark Police Department, the City of Port Jervis Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Special Operations Group for their investigation and arrest of Leake.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior District Attorney Matthew Healy.

“It is always particularly disappointing when law enforcement officers themselves become involved in the narcotics trade,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “The key to the successful narcotics enforcement is the cooperation and collaborative efforts of different police agencies and prosecutors. That cooperation is exemplified by the Town of Deerpark Police Department and the City of Port Jervis Police Department having created the Crime Suppression Unit, and the assistance they received from the Sheriff’s Special Operation Group. With the aid of our law enforcement and community partners we will continue to fight the illegal drug epidemic.”

“With our partners in the City of Port Jervis Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office we will do all we can to identify and arrest any individual trafficking in narcotics” said Town of Deerpark Police Chief Richard Sztyndor. “The cooperation of these agencies shows our commitment to reducing the impact illegal drugs have on our communities.”

“We will continue to work in partnership with the Town of Deerpark Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the New York State Police to share resources and aggressively pursue drug dealers in the Tri-State area as a team,” said City of Port Jervis Police Chief William Worden.

A criminal charge is merely an allegation by the police that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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