Former Sugarcreek officer David Strubel pleads to midemeanor in drug theft

Midwest Ohio

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The missing drugs were police dog training aids.

March 27, 2019

The agreement calls for Strubel to forfeit his state certification as a police officer and spend 30 days in jail.

NEW PHILADELPHIA Former Sugarcreek police officer David M. Strubel accepted a plea deal Wednesday to resolve charges that he stole drugs from the State Highway Patrol.

Strubel, 33, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor theft charge before Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Judge Elizabeth Lehigh Thomakos, who found him guilty.

In exchange for the plea, the Tuscarawas County Prosecutor's Office dismissed a charge of theft in office and reduced a charge of theft of drugs to the misdemeanor theft charge. The agreement calls for Strubel to forfeit his state certification as a police officer and spend 30 days in jail.

The theft charge carries a maximum punishment of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. The original indictment for two felonies carried a potential for 18 months in prison.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 8.

Strubel, of Bolivar, was seen on a police video recording going into locked areas he was not supposed to enter on Sept. 27.

The missing drugs were police dog training aids.