BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Two former Bakersfield police officers who stole methamphetamine and marijuana and put the drugs back on the street are expected to be released from federal custody within a month.
Damacio Diaz, 48, is scheduled for release on May 10 while Patrick Mara, 40, is expected to be free on April 20, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records.
Both men are currently in halfway houses, Diaz in the Sacramento area and Mara in the Long Beach area.
In October 2016, Diaz and Mara were each sentenced to five years in prison for using their positions as officers to steal methamphetamine and marijuana they seized during the course of their work and using a third person to get the drugs back on the street and profit from their sales. They each pleaded guilty.
From April 2012 to August 2015, businessman Noel Carter was handed drugs by Diaz and Mara with the intent to manufacture, process and sell them for profit. Carter is serving a term of seven years and six months in prison and is scheduled for release in 2025, records show.
The indictment against Carter stated he made $216,000 by using the office he leased in the Bank of America building downtown as a drop-off point for drugs and money. He was also accused of defrauding business customers whom he was leasing office space to by cashing their checks into his personal bank account instead of the company’s account.
