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Kenneth Collins, 50, was arrested along with three other men in Pasadena Tuesday morning. The group is accused of offering protection services to an undercover team from the FBI for the transport of around 45lbs (20kg) of cocaine and more than 13lbs of methamphetamine - in return for a $250,000 cash payment.
"Deputy Collins sold his badge to assist an individual he thought was a drug trafficker," US Attorney Nicola Hanna said in a
statement. "This case is part of our long-standing and ongoing commitment to root out corruption, particularly when it involves sworn law enforcement officers."
Two other men - David Easter, 51, and Grant Valencia, 34 - were also charged in the federal criminal complaint filed last week. A fourth man, Maurice Desi Font, 56, is expected to be charged by federal prosecutors in the coming days.
Comment: It's not unusual for friends and family members to express shock and surprise when those they thought they knew well are unexpectedly accused of criminal behavior. When they learn of the crime their first thought is that the person they know could not possibly be the perpetrator because it is totally "out of character." Stanton Samenow explains in his book, The Myth of the Out of Character Crime, that people always respond 'in character' and that those with a criminal disposition are very adept at concealing their true nature. What a person presents publicly often differs radically from what he is like privately. Behavior is a direct result of the way a person thinks and behind criminal conduct in every case there are 'thinking errors' which provide clues to the personality of the individual.
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