COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former Columbus police narcotics officer was sentenced to nine years in prison after conspiring to traffic fentanyl and other drugs.
The sentencing stems from a case where Marco Merino pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute more than eight kilograms of fentanyl and accepting bribes to protect the transportation of cocaine.
The former officer was also sentenced to eight years of supervised release.
Merino was arrested by federal agents in September 2021 along with former narcotics officer John Kotchkoski. Authorities say the two conspired to traffic fentanyl from June to September 2021.
Merino distributed fentanyl to another person on at least three occasions and accepted $32,500 for approximately one of the kilograms of fentanyl, according to authorities.
Authorities say Merino accepted a total of $45,000 in cash in exchange for protecting the safe transport of at least 47 kilograms of cocaine in March, April, May, August and September 2021.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio, Merino was unaware there was no actual cocaine and that each of the transactions was controlled by federal law enforcement.
Court documents state that Merino tried to recruit a confidential informant to traffic drugs with him. Merino promised law enforcement protection to the person and said he could intervene if other agencies attempted to investigate.
In October, Merino submitted a letter of resignation from his position to the Department of Public Safety.
At that time, Police Chief Elaine Bryant recommended Kotchkoski be terminated. He later submitted a letter of resignation in December.
Kotchkoski pleaded guilty on April 1, 2022 to charges of conspiring to distribute fentanyl. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 29.