Officer Brian Gross Leaked Confidential Information Of Pending Search Warrants, Allowing Suspects Time To Remove Evidence Of Narcotics From Premises
Defendant Pleads Guilty To Misdemeanor Counts Of Official Misconduct And Divulging An Eavesdropping Warrant
TROY – Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the guilty plea of Troy Police Officer Brian Gross for purposefully revealing to at least one suspect that law-enforcement agencies conducting a joint investigation into a Capital Region drug ring planned to execute search warrants. Gross pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of official misconduct and one misdemeanor count of divulging an eavesdropping warrant before the Honorable Andrew G. Ceresia in Rensselaer County Court. As part of a plea agreement, Gross is expected to be sentenced to three years of probation, to resign from the Troy Police Department, to agree to never seek employment with a law enforcement agency, to pay $5,500 in restitution to the New York State Police, and to complete 100 hours of community service. Officer Gross was initially charged last July and has been on administrative leave since that time.
“Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe, and revealing confidential information that could jeopardize their safety is unacceptable,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Today’s guilty plea sends a clear message that there is no place for misconduct that undermines criminal investigations and puts officers at risk.”
New York State Police Superintendent Joseph A. D'Amico said, "This officer's unacceptable actions jeopardized an important narcotics investigation and also threatened the lives of his fellow law enforcement officers. This case demonstrates that any breach of the public trust or abuse of authority will not be tolerated on any level."
Since 2013, the NYSP’s Community Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET) had been investigating a specific criminal narcotics ring in Rensselaer County. Officer Gross was assigned to assist CNET with the operation and thus had knowledge of and access to investigative intelligence, suspect information, and details concerning the timing and location of search warrants.
Investigators became suspicious when, upon executing search warrants in February 2014 at five locations where there was probable cause to believe illegal drug activity was taking place, there was no discernible evidence of the drug enterprise. One of the residences searched was that of a suspect identified in the criminal complaint as “Person #2.” This person subsequently informed NYSP investigators that he’d been told by “Person #1” of CNET’s investigation into “Person #2” for drug trafficking and that a search warrant would be executed in the next few days. According to the complaint, “Person #1” admitted receiving this information directly from Officer Gross, who arranged in-person meetings via text message.
Further investigation by the Attorney General’s Office and New York State Police revealed that Officer Gross warned that “Person #2” had better “watch [his] back” because he had come to the attention of the State Police. According to the original criminal complaint, in the week prior to the execution of search warrants, Officer Gross again warned that there better not be any drugs inside the home of “Person #2” because “there was a good chance the police would be getting a warrant.” In interviews with investigators, “Person #1” acknowledged warning “Person #2” to remove any drugs from his residence, based on the information from Officer Gross.
The arrest was the result of a 5-month long joint investigation between the Attorney General’s Office and the New York State Police.
Prosecuting the case was Assistant Attorney General Bridget Holohan-Scally of the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Bureau, which is led by Deputy Bureau Chief Stacy Aronowitz, Bureau Chief Daniel Cort, and Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice Kelly Donovan. The investigation was handled by Deputy Chief Antoine Karam and Investigator Dennis Churns of the Attorney General's Investigations Bureau, which is led by Chief Dominick Zarrella.