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NEWS IN BRIEF

Colorado: Former Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) forensic analyst Yvonne “Missy” Woods, 66, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on September 8, 2026, for her role in a decades-long DNA scandal, Forensic Mag reported. Woods pleaded guilty to four felonies, including cybercrime and perjury, after an investigation revealed that she manipulated DNA testing in over 1,000 cases during her 29-year career, omitting material facts, altering case files, and deleting DNA data to quickly close cases. Her misconduct compromised dozens of investigations, including sexual assault and homicide cases, while also sparking efforts to overturn convictions. The CBI now faces reforms including increased lab transparency and quality control.

Georgia: WMGT in Macon said that a state Department of Corrections (DOC) employee was arrested on September 1, 2026, for illegally accessing Flock Safety surveillance technology. Special Agent in Charge Robert “Bobby” Michael Keim, 45, was charged with misusing the DOC’s access to the private firm’s network of automated license plate readers for unauthorized personal purposes. The nine-year veteran conducted and headed up both internal and external investigations and criminal investigations. His current employment status was unclear, and it was unknown if he posted bond or remained in custody. Also unclear was whether the DOC had interdicted any contraband since signing up for the Flock service, which costs up to $3,000 per camera every year. At least 11 police officers and dispatchers in Georgia have been charged since July with abusing the surveillance system.

Louisiana: Seventh Judicial District Court Judge John Reeves was disciplined on June 25, 2026, after a state Judiciary Commission investigation sustained multiple allegations of judicial misconduct. According to KNOE in Monroe, Reeves admitted to issuing legally deficient verbal search warrants and custody orders, allowing court staff to serve as reserve sheriff’s deputies, delaying recusal in a friend’s criminal case, and mishandling a defendant’s bond status. For violating statutory procedures and failing to maintain judicial neutrality, the Louisiana Supreme Court ordered Reeves suspended without pay for four months, effective August 31 through the end of his term on December 31, 2026. He was also ordered to pay $6,148 in costs. Reeves had been on the bench since January 2015.

Maine: According to a report by Maine Wire, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) arrested former Dep. Regan J. Goan, 51, on multiple criminal charges on September 11, 2026, following allegations of misconduct involving lie detector examinations. Goan, who also previously served as a Bridgton police officer, was booked into the County lockup on charges of unsworn falsification, violation of the Maine Polygraph Examiners Act, and multiple counts of tampering with public records. Though no longer with the CCSO at the time of the alleged wrongdoing, he is accused of misusing polygraph testing that he conducted for the agency through his private firm, RJ Goan and Assoc. He was released pending a late October court date.

Maryland: Former Bowie Police Department (BPD) Sgt. Robert Warrington, 37, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on September 11, 2026, for shooting at an unarmed motorist. However, all but 18 months of the term was suspended to home detention, according to WJLA in nearby Arlington, Virginia. Prince George’s County prosecutors originally sought a five-year prison sentence for Warrington, a 12-year BPD veteran who was convicted in May 2026 on charges of felony attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office for taking a shot in September 2024 at a motorist who was merely attempting to retrieve a hat blown away by wind near his stranded vehicle.

Maryland: Anne Arundel County Police Department (AACPD) Sgt. James Brooke Shoults, 59, was hit with multiple felony sex offense charges and suspended without pay following an investigation by the Maryland State Police. According to WMAR in Baltimore, the 31-year veteran was arrested on August 31, 2026, for an incident the previous January at his Severna Park home involving an unnamed 16-year-old girl. Shoults faces seven counts, including second-degree rape, sexual abuse of a minor, and second-degree child abuse. After a judge deemed the allegations “extremely serious,” he was detained without bond to await a preliminary hearing.

Maryland: DC News Now reported that another former AACPD cop, Jaron Earl Taylor, 32, was sentenced on July 10, 2026, to three years of probation, including five months of home confinement, for executing a multi-year auto insurance fraud scheme. Prosecutors revealed that Taylor and several fellow officers conspired to file fake police reports, stage vehicle thefts, and strip automobiles to collect fraudulent payouts or avoid car payments. Following his guilty plea to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the disgraced former cop was also ordered to pay $38,670 in restitution to insurer USAA.

Massachusetts: Former Methuen Police Department (MPD) Chief Joseph Solomon, 65, pleaded guilty on September 18, 2026, to 17 criminal counts of public corruption and abuse of power. According to the Office of state Attorney General Andrea Campbell (D), Solomon unlawfully appointed six unqualified, part-time intermittent officers to full-time roles in the MPD, in violation of state civil service laws. He also falsely certified that one had completed a police academy training course. Solomon pleaded guilty to perjury, procurement fraud, uttering a forged document, and multiple civil service violations. The Essex County Superior Court sentenced him to 30 months in the House of Correction, though all but 30 days of the term was suspended. He was also ordered to serve three years of probation and forfeit both his pension and gun license.

Michigan: According to a statement from the Office of state Attorney General Dana Nessel (D), former Lincoln Township Police Department (LTPD) Det. Lt. Jonathan Chase, 55, was sentenced to 18 months in jail on August 11, 2026, with all but the first 90 days probated, following his no-contest plea to charges of misconduct in office and false certification. As the LTPD’s sole officer responsible for salvage vehicle certifications, Chase repeatedly submitted falsified inspection forms, systematically bypassing safety protocols meant to verify that heavily damaged or rebuilt vehicles are safe and free of stolen parts. The breach of public trust compromised community safety by allowing unverified, potentially dangerous automobiles onto Michigan roadways.

Minnesota: Former State Trooper Jeremy Francis Plonski was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison on September 8, 2026, for producing and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of Minnesota, the 324-month sentence will be followed by 180 months of supervised release. The Minnesota State Patrol confirmed that he was terminated on October 8, 2025, following his guilty plea. Court records revealed that between April and October 2023, Plonski produced 23 videos depicting his personal sexual abuse of a minor victim, wearing his state trooper uniform and weapon in several instances, before distributing the media on social applications. The victim was a female between the ages of one and two years old.

Nevada: Former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Off. Manuel Ramangmou, 28, was sentenced to 30 days in jail on September 15, 2026, for abusing his official authority to sexually assault a woman. KSNV in Las Vegas reported that he entered an Alford plea to gross misdemeanor oppression under color of office stemming from a May 9 vehicle welfare check, when he deactivated his body-worn camera (BWC) and directed the unnamed woman away from other surveillance cameras before unlawfully detaining her and fondling her buttocks. He was forced to resign from the MPD and remanded to the Clark County Detention Center.

New York: In another misappropriation of Flock surveillance tech, former Albany County Sheriff’s Investigator Laurie Moore, 47, was arrested on September 9, 2026, on misdemeanor charges of official misconduct and falsifying business records. According to WRVO in Oswego, Moore allegedly used the department’s access to query the Flock network of automated license plate readers over 4,000 times without authorization. She targeted her ex-girlfriend’s vehicle in roughly 3,000 of those searches and illegally tracked five other personal acquaintances. The charges followed an internal audit prompted by an outside tip, which also resulted in indefinite suspension of another unnamed command staff member. Sheriff Craig Apple apologized for the breach of trust and announced new oversight measures including monthly search audits and mandatory supervisor approval. If convicted, Moore faces up to two years in prison.

Pennsylvania: A trigger-happy Upper Pottsgrove Police Department (UPDP) cop took the life of college athlete Glenwood Earl Pysher IV, 22, on August 23, 2026. According to AP News, Pysher was intoxicated and attempting to rejoin friends from whom he’d become separated when he accidentally wandered into the wrong home, and the occupant called the UPDP. Footage from the BWC of responding Cpl. Sean Farrell, 58, showed that Pysher was unarmed and standing with his hands raised when the cop yelled, “Stop or I’ll…”—and then fatally shot Pysher in the chest. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steel called the shooting unlawful, noting that Farrell bypassed less-lethal options like firing a Taser from a safe position. The 21-year veteran was charged with voluntary manslaughter on September 1 and retired the next day.

Tennessee: According to the USAO for the District of South Carolina, former Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Dep. Johnathan Nathaniel Allen, 27, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on September 16, 2026, for producing CSAM. An HCSO deputy from 2021 until his December 2024 arrest, he carried out an extensive online grooming campaign targeting minors across five states. Using fake online personas, including posing as a 14-year-old boy named “Josh” on Reddit, Instagram, TextMe, and Roblox, Allen manipulated eight victims as young as a sixth grader to create sexually explicit materials, alternately employing feigned affection and threats to share the intimate images. One said that Allen “begged” him to engage in sex acts with a dog. In addition to his prison term, Allen was also ordered to serve 15 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

Texas: Former Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper Christian Estrada, 40, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on September 16, 2026, for attempting to entice a minor for sexual activity. Valley Central of Nexstar Media Group reported that he pleaded guilty in April 2026 after an undercover FBI investigation found he operated under the alias “dopehound” on Reddit, Snapchat, and Telegram, to solicit sexually explicit images from an undercover agent posing as a 12-year-old girl, with whom he also attempted to arrange a sexual encounter. A search of his phone uncovered sexual chats with other victims as young as 14. After prison, he must remain on supervised release for life, and Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo also imposed strict internet and child-contact restrictions. It was unclear when his DPS employment ended.

Washington: Former Pierce County deputy prosecutor John Sheeran, 62, was sentenced to one year of supervised release on August 7, 2026, and fined $10,000 for concealing a federal drug crime. The News Tribune reported that Sheeran pleaded guilty to misprision of felony after unwittingly bringing methamphetamine-stuffed shoes into a King County jail for a detained client. Even after he suspected that accompanying tobacco cans were also contraband, Sheeran failed to notify law enforcement, returning them to the unnamed detainee client to avoid learning the truth. While federal grand jury charges carrying 20 years in prison were dismissed, Sheeran was forced to resign from his law firm and his post as fire commissioner. He now faces potential disciplinary action against his law license by the Washington Bar.

Wisconsin: The USAO for the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced that former Middleton Police Department (MPD) Off. Myles S. Schumaker, 26, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison on September 10, 2026, for attempted transportation of child pornography. It was unclear when his MPD employment ended, but the U.S. Marine Corps reservist was found soliciting a minor online in November 2025, after which he met the child at a park-and-ride lot and sexually assaulted the victim inside his vehicle before requesting additional sexually explicit material. In addition to his prison term, he was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release and register as a sex offender for life.

Wisconsin: According to Reuters, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to summarily suspend the law license of former state judge Hannah Dugan, 67, in a 5-2 ruling on September 16, 2026. She was convicted in December 2025 of obstructing a federal proceeding when she helped a Mexican migrant evaded federal immigration agents through a non-public exit in her Milwaukee courtroom. Though she received no prison time, she was fined $5,000, and the state Office of Lawyer Regulation petitioned for an emergency suspension of her license. The high Court held that immediate suspension was unwarranted, though formal disciplinary proceedings may proceed. Conservative Justices Brian Hagedorn and Annette Ziegler dissented. Dugan has appealed her conviction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  

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