A Columbus police detective has been charged in federal court with attempted distribution of heroin and carrying a gun during a drug-trafficking crime.
Stevie Billups, 48, who worked in the robbery unit, was arrested on Thursday. A federal magistrate ruled today that he must remain in jail while awaiting trial.
His case had been sealed until this morning.
The complaint against him says that Billups gambled frequently at the Hollywood Casino in Columbus and met an unnamed man there who was a drug dealer. According to the complaint, Billups provided paid protection for the man when he had to pick up payments for illegal drug transactions and when he had to pick up and deliver a car loaded with heroin.
Billups had his gun with him during at least one of the transactions, the complaint says.
The most recent paid protection Billups provided was on Wednesday, the complaint says.
The complaint also says that Billups had been at the Hollywood Casino more than 100 times since it opened in October, sometimes during his work shift, and had bought more than $100,000 worth of chips during that time.
It says he had lost more money than he had won, has filed for bankruptcy at least once, and is behind on payments on assets he owns. In April, a vehicle registered in his name was repossessed.
Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Ohio Casino Control Commission are working on the case, with the cooperation of the Columbus police.
The investigation began in April, when customs and immigration agents working a narcotics case observed Billups passing casino chips to a suspected drug dealer. Those agents arrested the suspect in mid-June and he reported Billups' involvement, the complaint says.
Investigators then monitored calls between Billups and the suspect. Both incidents when Billups provided protection for the suspect were after the suspect's arrest. It is unclear from the complaint whether those incidents were set up by investigators.
Billups has been with the Columbus Division of Police for nearly 22 years.
He is being held in the Delaware County jail.
Copyright 2013 - The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
