An NYPD officer was arrested on Monday near her home in the Bronx on marijuana charges, New York Daily Newsreports.
A warrant was filed for the arrest of Catherine Soto, 31, after she allegedly sold marijuana and a small amount of painkiller to an investigator for the Internal Affairs Bureau in November and December through a wellness boutique she was running from the third floor of a building on Bedford Ave. in Brooklyn. An investigation was launched after authorities received a complaint about drugs being sold from her home.
Soto has been charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal sale of marijuana, official misconduct, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Soto, who has been working with the NYPD for three years and was assigned to the Special Victims Division, has been suspended without pay.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill last month that not only made New York the 15th state to legalize recreational marijuana use, but also expunged the records of anyone with weed-related convictions. The bill allows for possession of up to three ounces of marijuana and as much as five pounds at home. In Soto’s case, selling marijuana remains illegal as the state works towards figuring out a concrete plan on how the drug will be regulated.
