Former HPD Officer Guilty Of Aiding And Abetting Possession With The Intent To Distribute Cocaine
HOUSTON - Jasmine Bonner, 27, a former officer with the Houston Police (HPD), has been convicted of aiding and abetting possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Bonner is the final of eight defendants now convicted on charges stemming from a seven-count narcotics conspiracy indictment returned in 2014.
Bonner admitted today that while employed as an HPD officer, she aided Derryck Collins, who had been identified during a federal investigation as a major source of supply for narcotics in the Huntsville area. At the time of the offense, Collins was Bonner’s boyfriend.
A confidential source had been working with officers and negotiated an arrangement to provide cocaine to Collins. He, in turn, informed the source that his girlfriend would meet them during the transaction and she would transport the narcotics.
During the operation, the confidential source entered Bonner’s car and sat in the front passenger seat. Bonner sat in the driver’s seat, while Collins sat in the back seat immediately behind Bonner. The source withdrew a kilogram of cocaine from a bag he carried with him and passed it to the backseat to Collins. Shortly after the transaction, Collins and Bonner left the parking lot driving in tandem and were subsequently arrested.
U.S. District Judge Nancy F. Atlas, who accepted the guilty plea, has set sentencing for Oct. 6, 2015. At that time, she faces a minimum of five and up to 40 years in federal prison and a possible $5 million fine. Bonner will remain in custody pending her sentencing.
Others convicted and also awaiting sentencing in the case include:
Collins, 34, of Huntsville, David Choate, 52, Michael Kelly, 24, and Roddrick Collins, 30, all of Huntsville; and Jarvis Lovelady, 34, Javier Gomez Aguirre, 39, and Carlos Montemayor, 39, all of Houston.
The charges are the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Huntsville Police Department and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the Walker County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Jocher and Bryan Best are prosecuting the case.
