USDOJ Press Release: ATF Agent Sentenced for Stealing Money During Search

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Gina Balaya - (313) 226-9758 March 30, 2011 www.justice.gov/usao/mie/index.html
ATF AGENT SENTENCED FOR STEALING MONEY DURING SEARCH
Steven Campbell, age 32, a former special agent with the Cleveland Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), was sentenced today to one year and a day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release as a result of his guilty plea to converting to his own use money seized during the execution of a federal search warrant, announced United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade.
The sentencing took place before United States Magistrate Judge Gregory White in Cleveland, Ohio.
United States Attorney McQuade said, "Just as we hold public officials accountable for wrongdoing, we hold federal agents accountable as well."
Information presented to the court at the time of the plea established that on October 18, 2010, while executing a federal search warrant at a suspected drug house, Campbell stole, and concealed on his person, approximately $46,785 in cash that was recovered during the search. An affidavit previously issued explained that Campbell hid the cash in various places in his clothing, but was caught when another federal agent observed the theft in progress.
The investigation of this case has been conducted by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, and the Internal Affairs Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. The case is being prosecuted by the US Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Michigan because the US Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Ohio is recused from the case.
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