Ohio cop kills himself in jail after feds bust him for dealing drugs seized in police raids

A former police detective and Drug Enforcement Agency task force member committed suicide after being arrested for allegedly setting up drug sales involving substances seized by his department, WBNS-TV reported.

Authorities said 43-year-old Tye Downard hung himself inside his cell on Monday morning. The 20-year veteran officer for the Reynoldsburg Police Department had been arrested on Feb. 18 and charged with possession of drugs with the intent to distribute.

Downard was accused of delivering drugs ranging from Percocet pills to heroin and marijuana, among others, to a confidential informant on 21 different occasions between October 2015 and this month. Two of those deliveries included pills and harvested marijuana buds that were seized using search warrants.

WSYX-TV reported that Downard made nearly $35,000 from the transactions leading up to his arrest. He faced up to 20 years in prison as a result of the charges against him, and nearly 50 cases in which he was involved will be reviewed.

The suspect, who was not on suicide watch, was pronounced dead at a hospital in Delaware, Ohio, after he was found hanged inside his jail cell. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien has since requested that the charges against him be dismissed in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation into his alleged actions.

Watch WBNS' report, as aired on Monday, below.

[h/t The Free Thought Project]