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Pot Meatballs: Brilliant or Bad Idea Jeans?
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 3, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 3, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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A police officer in the NYPD's Joint Terrorism Task Force underwent random drug testing - only to find that he tested positive for marijuana. Twenty-two year vet Anthony Chiofalo was automatically suspended without pay but did not understand why he tested positive. And then his wife admitted she "spiked" the meatballs with pot to get him fired. From the Post:
During the departmental trial, the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau interviewed Cathy, who confessed to them that in the summer of 2005, she cooked up two separate pots of meatballs and laced them with weed so her husband would test positive and get booted from the force.
"I'm afraid he's going to get killed," a police source quoted Cathy as telling IAB investigators.
Cathy's justification for mixing marijuana with the ground beef was that she feared for her husband's life following the Sept. 11 attacks - particularly now that her husband worked for an elite unit that investigates terrorism.
She also told the department that she had expected the NYPD would force her husband to retire with his pension, not fire him, if he failed a drug test, the sources said.
Oh, dear. Chiofalo's firefighter brother and two former partners had been killed on September 11. Chiofalo said his wife Cathy, who substituted the oregano with pot, did smoke marijuana for back pain.
While the internal investigation found him not guilty (by reason of "involuntary ingestion") and said he should be reinstated, it's up to Police Commissioner Kelly to decide whether Chiofalo will get his job back.
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commissioner kelly
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internal affairs
Joint Terrorism Task Force
marijuana
News: NYC
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police commissioner kelly
september 11
Task Force
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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