Ex-state police lieutenant pleads guilty in drug case

Sedrick Reed.
Sedrick Reed.

A former Arkansas State Police lieutenant accused of taking drugs from the agency's evidence room and selling them to a dealer pleaded guilty Wednesday to one charge in exchange for several others being dismissed.

U.S. District Court records show Sedrick Reed entered a guilty plea to a charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Four others were dismissed.

According to a plea agreement reached with the government, Reed acknowledged that he in 2006 "diverted seized marijuana from a traffic stop for resale" rather than turning it in as evidence and between 2011 and 2013 took cocaine, marijuana and heroin from the evidence room. Before his arrest, Reed supervised the agency evidence room in Little Rock.

The agreement, dated Tuesday and signed by Reed and U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer, notes that Reed profited from the resale of the drugs, making more than $200,000.

A sentencing date has not yet been set. The single count to which Reed pleaded guilty carries a range of 10 years to life in prison.

Reed was fired and arrested last year on accusations he removed drugs from it days prior and provided it to his cousin, Lamont Johnson, who then sold it to a confidential informant who was working with law enforcement, police have said.

Johnson's trial is set to begin in October.

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