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Kevin T. Matthew, 47, of Cedar Grove, apparently was selling the drugs based on what was a series of cash deposits under $10,000 each at various banks to try and slide past federal reporting requirements, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
Two razor blades were also found in Matthew’s office at the BCPO, the attorney general said.
“They tested positive for the presence of cocaine,” Platkin added.
There are a number of concerns and upshots from the developments, not the least of which is the fact that all of those drugs are now tainted. This could end up sabotaging a significant number of prosecutions, and investigations, now underway in Bergen County.
Law enforcement officers of all stripes and in various departments in Bergen County have been waiting the past several weeks for an arrest to be announced.
Matthew, meanwhile, has been out of the country since Daily Voice reported in early November that one was imminent.
The lieutenant surrendered his service weapon and badge and was “walked out of the building” on Nov. 3, according to a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the investigation.
SEE: Theft Of Drugs From Bergen Prosecutor's Evidence Room Centers On Veteran Detective: Sources
Matthew – who Platkin confirmed has been on leave since then -- has apparently spent at least part of the time in Trinidad, another law enforcement source said.
The lieutenant couldn’t be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said that all media inquiries “are going through the AG’s Office.”
Platkin called Matthew’s behavior “a shocking and brazen disregard of the law by a high-ranking officer who was sworn to uphold the law.”
The lieutenant didn't only jeopardize his freedom, a pension and more if he's convicted.
He's also “impaired the evidentiary chain of custody and the items’ reliability as evidence in criminal prosecutions,” Platkin said.
There's no telling at the moment how many motions will be filed by attorneys representing drug defendants in the county.
Matthew, who began his career in law enforcement as an officer and then a detective with the Newark Police Department, previously was a member of the Bergen prosecutor's Narcotic Task Force. He was promoted to lieutenant five years ago and most recently worked with the Special Victims Unit investigating sexual assaults.
According to a complaint on file in Superior Court in Trenton, Matthew signed the drugs out of a main evidence locker sometime after October 2022, even though he had no legitimate reason.
Surveillance cameras showed him toting large bags from the prosecutor’s Paramus headquarters, it says.
“Some items were returned to the vault in conditions substantially different than when they were signed out,” Platkin said, “but the lieutenant allegedly tried presenting them as being the same evidence he had removed from storage.”
Those drugs were seized as evidence in the state investigation, which sources said has had the full cooperation of the prosecutor’s office.
The office has experienced a wave of retirements that sources said will include Chief of Detectives Jason Love. Some, but not all, were planned before the state began investigating, sources have said.
Matthew is charged with official misconduct, tampering with public records, structuring financial transactions and illegal drug possession.
Platkin’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) is conducting the probe, assisted by Musella’s Confidential Investigations Unit, under the auspices of the state Division of Criminal Justice.
“The law applies to everyone, including those who wear the badge,” OPIA Executive Director Thomas J. Eicher said.
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