BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A Bakersfield man was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release on Monday for conspiring with police officers to sell meth and marijuana, the Department of Justice announced.
According to court documents, from April 2012 to August 201545-year-old Noel Carter conspired with Bakersfield Police officers Damacio Diaz and Patrick Mara, who deliberately failed to submit the seized drugs into the BPD evidence room. Instead, they provided the stolen narcotics to Carter so that Carter could sell those narcotics for profit.
In May 2016, Diaz plead guilty to possessing with the intent to distribute meth, as well as receiving bribes and making a false income tax return. Mara plead guilty in June 16 to conspiring to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute meth.
Both officers are serving federal prison sentences.
According to the plea agreement in October 2018, Carter agreed to pay restitution to his former employer, Pacific Workplaces. He admitted to embezzling money and depositing the money from the company into his personal account.
