A former Alabama police officer will plead guilty in connection with a scheme to plant drugs on innocent motorists to manufacture drug arrests. Michael Kilgore, 40, of Centre, Ala., was charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Kilgore signed a plea agreement, admitting to conspiring with at least one other person, reports USA Today. Kilgore, a Centre officer since 2022, began his scheme in January 2023 when he stopped a vehicle and found various drugs. He offered the driver a chance to avoid drug charges by working for him. "The driver accepted and became a co-conspirator in Kilgore’s drug-planting scheme," the U.S. Attorney's office said. Kilgore was arrested in May 2023 and fired.
After the driver became his co-conspirator, Kilgore said he wanted to make a methamphetamine case. The co-conspirator proposed a female target and told Kilgore that he would plant the narcotics in the target's vehicle. The plant included marijuana, "so that Kilgore would have probable cause to search the target's vehicle based on the marijuana smell," according to the plea agreement. Kilgore and his co-conspirator arranged for a package containing methamphetamine, oxycodone, and marijuana to be attached to the undercarriage of a vehicle. Kilgore performed a "sham traffic stop that vehicle and 'discovered' the drug package where he knew it had been planted," according to prosecutors. Kilgore had pulled over the driver , who was accompanied by a female passenger, for an alleged traffic violation and detained the two for drug possession.
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