A former Maryland state trooper pleaded guilty on Monday to federal drug and bribery charges stemming from his role as part of a police team investigating drug and gun trafficking in western Maryland.
According to the plea agreement, Justin Riggs engaged in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, used a fictitious Facebook account to facilitate the conspiracy, and bribed a subject of his team’s investigation into providing him $1,500 in exchange for information about the investigation.
In 2022, Riggs created a fictitious Facebook account and identified himself to a drug dealer as a worker for a federal agency. In various Facebook messages, Riggs told the drug dealer he was seeking payment for information, according to the stipulation of facts.
After providing information to the drug dealer as to the location of a tracker on the dealer’s vehicle, the dealer provided $1,500 to Riggs via a drop location. Soon afterwards, Riggs told the dealer the identity of the mole who provides the dealer’s drugs to federal investigators.
Former MD state trooper pleads guilty to drug, bribery charges
