Federal prosecutors announced that a former Alabama police officer has agreed to plead guilty for his role in a scheme to plant drugs on innocent motorists to invent drug arrests.
Michael Kilgore, 40, of Centre, Alabama, faces up to 20 years in prison and a hefty fine for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.
In the plea agreement, Kilgore admitted to conspiring with at least one other person to drum up the sham traffic stops.
Kilgore, who joined the Centre Police Department in 2022, began the corrupt scheme in early January 2023 after stopping a vehicle and discovering a stash of drugs, according to the plea.
Rather than making an arrest, Kilgore struck a deal with the driver — whose identity remains undisclosed in court records — offering a way out of trouble if the person agreed to work for him.
“The driver accepted and became a co-conspirator in Kilgore’s drug-planting scheme,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement, according to court records obtained by USA Today.
About a week after the motorist agreed to Kilgore’s proposition, Kilgore reached out, instructing him to help set up a methamphetamine arrest, according to the plea agreement.
According to the plea agreement, the co-conspirator suggested a female target and planned to plant the drugs in her vehicle. The narcotics included marijuana, specifically chosen to give Kilgore probable cause for a search based on the scent alone.
Kilgore and his co-conspirator orchestrated the placement of a package containing methamphetamine, oxycodone, and marijuana under the vehicle’s chassis, prosecutors reported.
On Jan. 31, 2023, Kilgore staged the traffic stop on the vehicle and “discovered” the drug package he knew had been planted, according to prosecutors.
During the stop, Kilgore alleged that he pulled the driver over for an alleged traffic infraction, then arrested her and a female passenger on drug possession charges, the plea agreement said.
Kilgore and his accomplice intended to execute the scheme again on another driver, prosecutors said. However, this time, after acquiring the drugs, Kilgore’s partner discarded the narcotics and alerted a law enforcement acquaintance.
After several months, Kilgore was arrested in May 2023 and fired from his job, according to a statement from the Centre Police Department. A district court will set a date for him to enter his guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
When Kilgore was arrested, the Centre Police Department stated that Investigator Randy Mayorga had started an investigation after receiving the allegation. The probe revealed evidence that backed the claim, prompting the issuance of arrest warrants for conspiracy related to controlled substance distribution.
“We are very disappointed in Kilgore’s conduct,” Centre Police Chief Kirk Blankenship wrote in a statement at the time. “There is no excuse for any officer violating the law like this.”
After Kilgore’s arrest, the driver targeted in the scheme filed a wrongful arrest lawsuit against him in October 2023, according to AL.com. The driver claimed Kilgore had planted drugs in the vehicle and used a police dog from another department to “find” the narcotics.
Prosecutors indicated that Kilgore could expect some leniency from the judge, as their sentencing recommendation would factor in his acceptance of responsibility and intention to plead guilty.
