Former cop who stole money, drugs sentenced to six years in prison

Admitting he used his position to steal money and narcotics from the department's property room, was sentenced today to six years in prison.

November 3, 2016

A former Mount Vernon Police Department detective who pleaded guilty in March to a federal extortion charge, admitting he used his position to steal money and narcotics from the department's property room, was sentenced today to six years in prison.

Matthew L. Dailey faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley imposed the sentence.

Dailey, 45, of Howard, a sergeant who was evidence custodian of the property room, resigned from the police department where he had worked for 10 years.

He pleaded guilty to extortion in a bill of information negotiated by his attorney, Sam Shamansky, and the U.S. attorney's office. The agreement requires him to pay $8,000 in restitution to the Mount Vernon Police Department and to never work in law enforcement again.

Besides stealing money and drugs from the property room of the Knox County police department, Dailey admitted using a police informant to sell narcotics.

Shamansky said Dailey was addicted to painkillers for years following an on-duty injury. He said he strictly stole to feed his addiction, not for money.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Kim and FBI Special Agent Tisha Hartsough presented a case that show Dailey took marijuana, methamphetamine, bath salts and ecstacy pills from the property room, gave the drugs to an informant to sell and then split the profits with him.

Dailey also was observed by agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Columbus buying varying amounts of oxycodone pills five days a week over seven months from a second informant.