Last year's Officer of the Year from the Boynton Beach Police Department now faces up to life in prison for meth trafficking, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Officer David Britto, 28, was allegedly slangin' meth between June 2009 and March 2011, officials say, although no further details of his alleged crime have been released, except that he "conspired to possess with the intent to distribute more than five hundred grams of methamphetamine."
That obviously sparked some damage control from the Boynton Beach cops:
"We realize that when an officer stands accused of a violation of
the public trust, all of law enforcement pays the price in eroded
citizen confidence and the perception of diminished integrity," Boynton
Beach Police Chief G. Matthew Immler says. "However, the Boynton Beach
Police Department vigorously polices itself, and this case is an example
of how law enforcement roots out corruption from within its own
ranks."
According to the Boynton Beach cops, the case began as an internal investigation within their department.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says those involved in the investigation into Britto include the Drug Enforcement Agency's Miami office, the Broward Sheriff's Office, Fort Lauderdale police, Miami police, Miami Beach police, and Miami-Dade police.
They also say Britto's arrest is the result of the DEA's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, which the feds describe as a drug-battling syndicate à la the first season of The Wire.
The Palm Beach County Association of Chiefs of Police website says Britto was a sergeant in the U.S. Marines before becoming a cop.
According to the site, Britto worked 18 narcotics cases last year that led to 25 arrests and seized the following drugs: 757 Xanax pills, 161 oxycodone pills, ten grams of crack cocaine, and 46 grams of weed.
The Sun-Sentinel reports that Britto -- who's been a cop with Boynton Beach since 2006 -- was one of three cops who shot 23 bullets into a stolen minivan in 2008.
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