COVINGTON, La. — A former Causeway Police Department sergeant was found guilty Thursday of stealing thousands of dollars in money, drugs and firearms from an evidence room he supervised in 2016.
According to prosecutors in the 22nd Judicial District Attorney's office, a jury found 46-year-old William Jones guilty of stealing $6,300 in cash, two guns and cocaine after they were submitted as evidence into the Causeway Police station.
Jones, a 25-year veteran in law enforcement and former sergeant in the CPD, reportedly was in uniform when then sold the seized guns to the owner of a convenience store in Washington Parish.
After deliberating for about an hour, the jury found Jones guilty of malfeasance in office and two counts of theft of a firearm. He faces up to 15 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum of four years behind bars for the firearm charges.
Prosecutors said the investigation into the missing evidence started in November of 2016, when a defense attorney working a different case contacted the DA's office about $6,300 Causeway Police had seized six months before.
State law requires law enforcement to notify the DA's office within 10 days of a seizure. However, prosecutors said no such notification was made.
Jones then avoided calls, emails and texts about the money, prompting Assistant District Attorney Jessica Brewster to bring in the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office and other Causeway PD to investigate, officials said.
That investigation uncovered missing cocaine and guns on top of the unreported cash. Jones was on record confessing to the thefts, but testified during this week's trial the confession was a lie, officials said.
Jones was fired from the police force. His sentencing date is June 13.
