NO JAIL for Police Chief Caught Stealing 3,000 Bags of Heroin from Evidence Room
Matt Agorist
TheFreeThoughtProject.com
November 22, 2019
Elizabeth, PA — In the land of the free, there are two sets of justice systems — one for all those connected to that system, and one for everyone else. Time after time, we’ve seen police officers and politicians alike accused of terrible crimes and they escape with little to no jail. As the following case illustrates, police chiefs can betray everything they stand for, steal tens of thousands of dollars in heroin from their own department and face no jail.
The former Elizabeth Borough police chief, Timothy Butler, pleaded guilty to stealing heroin from the department’s evidence room but he will not go to jail. Instead of jail, Butler was sentenced to 55 months probation and 325 hours of community service.
In August, Butler pleaded guilty to two counts of theft, one count of possession and one count of obstructing the administration of law. The sheer amount of heroin found in Butler’s possession makes the one count of possession outright laughable.
According to police, Butler was arrested last year after they found more than 60 bundles of heroin and 3,230 individual “stamp bags” (given this name for being the size of a stamp and individually packaged for resale) in and around his desk — inside his police chief office.
Clearly he was unconcerned with hiding it because after all, he was the top cop. According to the criminal complaint, when asked how bad the evidence problem was, Butler said, “it was all gone.”
Had Butler not been a police officer, rest assured that he would have received a far harsher sentence than just probation. Indeed, many will argue — and rightfully so — that Butler should face harsher sentencing due to the betrayal of his duties as the top cop.
If we contrast Butler’s sentence with that of Alonte M. Bjorlie, a massive disparity becomes evident. Bjorlie was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison earlier this month after being found in possession of far less heroin than Butler and Bjorlie didn’t steal it from cops who kidnapped and caged people for having it.
While Butler should certainly face harsh sentencing for stealing from the evidence locker and betraying his oath to the office of chief, he should never be punished in a court of law for using and possessing heroin—no one should.
Criminalizing addiction and substance abuse has done nothing to curb use. America cannot arrest its way out of a drug problem. People are literally dying in the streets at an increasing rate and no amount of police state can stop it. In fact, since the inception of the drug war, drug addiction and overdoses have gotten worse. Why is that?
To understand the answers to that question, we have to look at how the state has essentially created and facilitated the current opioid epidemic in which America currently finds itself.
The Rest…HERE
