Federal court records show a former Columbus police officer is expected to enter into a plea agreement in a drug trafficking case.
A notice of a plea agreement in the case against Joel Mefford, 34, was filed Tuesday, according to U.S. District Court records. Mefford had been scheduled to go to trial in September. No date had been set as of 2:45 p.m. Tuesday for a plea hearing in Mefford’s case.
The terms of the plea agreement are not publicly available.
Mefford is charged with possession of five kilograms or more of cocaine and possession with the intent to distribute. He also faces a money laundering charge.
Federal court records say Mefford and another unnamed officer were investigating drug crimes in February 2020 at a detached garage belonging to a suspect in a drug investigation. Police were expected to execute a search warrant on the garage the following morning, court records say, but an employee of the apartment complex where the garage was located gave Mefford and the other officer garage access.
