COVINGTON, La. (AP) - A former narcotics officer in Louisiana has been sentenced to two years in prison for telling drug dealers they were being investigated, with another two years suspended during probation.
Former St. Tammany Parish Deputy Jordan Hollenbeck was sentenced Wednesday on three counts of malfeasance, District Attorney Warren Montgomery said in a news release.
Hollenbeck, 35, was indicted two years ago on those charges and pleaded guilty Oct. 1.
Montgomery said Hollenbeck admitted to alerting two drug dealers that they were the subjects of an undercover sheriff’s office investigation. A pain management physician, testifying to buttress prosecutors’ request for the maximum five years in prison, testified that Hollenbeck warned him in March 2017 that the Drug Enforcement Administration was investigating him.
Hollenbeck tearfully said addiction had cost him his home and family.
“I’m sorry for the officers I betrayed. I’m sorry for the people I put in danger … I’m sorry to my family. I’m truly sorry,” he said.
Criminal Division Chief Collin Sims said Hollenbeck’s conduct was an embarrassment to the parish and law enforcement community.
“It’s conduct like this that erodes confidence in the entire system,” Sims said.
District Judge Alan Zaunbrecher said he considered the damage to the public trust but also considered that Hollenbeck had no prior criminal history, was a combat veteran who had been honorably discharged, and was an opioid addict.
The judge said Hollenbeck must undergo regular drug testing as part of his supervised probation.
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