A former Minneapolis police officer was sentenced Wednesday after being found guilty of stealing narcotics through unconstitutional searches and seizures.
Court documents from the U.S. District Court state that Ty Raymond Jindra, 29, was sentenced to just over three years in prison.
Jindra Convicted in November 2021
Jindra was convicted of three counts of acquiring a controlled substance by deception and two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law in November 2021.
"Ty Jindra failed to uphold his oath as a peace officer, he failed the community he was sworn to serve, and he failed his fellow officers" said Acting United States Attorney W. Anders Folk said at the time of his conviction. "This office and our law enforcement partners will not tolerate corruption and blatant abuse of authority. I am grateful to the Minneapolis Police Department for rooting out Jindra's wrongdoing and notifying the FBI."
Jindra Stole Drugs by 'Deception, Extortion and Conducting Unconstitutional Searches'
Prosecutors alleged that Jindra, a former North Side patrol officer, abused his position as a street cop to steal meth, heroin, oxycodone and other drugs for personal use during the course of his duties. He allegedly ran a scheme from September 2017 to October 2019 to steal drugs by means of "deception, extortion, and conducting unconstitutional searches and seizures."
This included confiscating drugs during a search without his partner looking, then failing to log them as evidence or filing a report, according to the indictment. Jindra pocketed drugs turned in to police by a concerned citizen and skimmed from bags before logging them into evidence, according to the indictment. In one case, the charges say, Jindra stole heroin and meth from the scene of an overdose call.
Jindra, who was working for the force since 2013, was removed from the Minneapolis Police Department in the wake of the investigation, which was conducted by the FBI with assistance from the Minneapolis Police Department.
