A former Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been charged with multiple felonies for allegedly posing as a detective and stealing prescription medication from crime victims and suspects, authorities reported.
Michael Filsinger, 35, of Arnold was charged today (Jan. 28) with four counts of stealing a controlled substance, each one a class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison; and one count of stealing and one count of misuse of official information by a public servant, each one a class A misdemeanors that carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a possible fine of up to $2,000.
Filsinger was being held today in the Jefferson County Jail on a $15,000 surety bond. If he is released on the bond, he will be under court-ordered house arrest and required to wear a GPS monitoring device, the Sheriff’s Office said in a written statement.
Sheriff Dave Marshak said Filsinger was fired Dec. 16 during the investigation.
Filsinger had been with the Sheriff’s Office since 2008 and was assigned to the department’s special operations division, Marshak said.
The Sheriff’s Office began an internal investigation into Filsinger in September after an examination of his patrol vehicle’s GPS raised questions about his activities. After interviewing people Filsinger visited while he was on and off duty, investigators came to believe he was stealing prescription medication from both victims of crimes and suspects in criminal investigations, Marshak said.
“Most officers in our organization considered Mike a friend. I did,” Marshak said. “He was a promising young officer and previously sacrificed for this community. However, we do not believe the Filsinger we terminated in December during this investigation was the same one who sacrificed for his community since 2008. This is embarrassing for our organization, our county, our profession and, we assume, Filsinger’s family and friends who are likely shocked by these allegations. We cannot describe our disappointment and sadness.
“Moving forward, we will work even harder to build the trust of our community. We hope you recognize that we self-identified this issue and initiated our own investigation without any victims coming forward.”
Marshak said investigators believe Filsinger identified potential victims from the department’s report management system and used that information to later steal from them. A couple of the victims had pending criminal charges, and others were victims who previously had medication stolen from them. Others had been a victim of a burglary where medication was stolen during the crime.
He said Filsinger would identify himself as a detective and then “verify” medication by taking the bottle to his patrol car where he could “scan it” or verify the prescription as part of his “investigation.” He would then allegedly steal some of the pills.
In one of the alleged thefts, Filsinger reportedly paid for and picked up a victim’s medication, only to replace the pills with non-prescription aspirin, Marshak said.
One victim was found with boxes of department-purchased ammunition, and investigators believed Filsinger traded the ammunition for prescription pills, Marshak said.
“These allegations are disappointing to say the least,” he said. “Our department carried the mental weight of this ongoing investigation over the holidays, and that was difficult. I believe our investigators were in shock and embarrassed as the investigation unfolded. As Sheriff, I want the public to know that we self-initiated this investigation and will continue to hold our officers accountable who violate their oath and commitment to our citizens.”
He said during the past two years, the Sheriff’s Office has conducted 49 investigations into department employees’ activities, and 35 of those investigations were self-initiated.