Cop sentenced to one year in U.S. jail

BUFFALO — A veteran Niagara Regional Police constable has been sentenced to one year and one day in jail for smuggling anabolic steroids from New York State into Canada.
Const. Geoff Purdie, 41, was also given two years’ probation by District Judge Richard J. Arcara yesterday afternoon.
Niagara Police Chief Jeff McGuire attended the sentencing. In a statement issued afterward, he said Purdie’s actions damaged the reputation of the Niagara force, but the force will work on repairing “the trust that has been damaged.”
Purdie was arrested in April 2012 by members of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) and charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, and conspiracy to export, with intent to distribute controlled substances.
He was a decorated 14-year veteran of the force who had worked out of the Fort Erie detachment. He pleaded guilty in Buffalo court last October.
During the investigation, BEST officers seized a quantity of testosterone, valium, Xanax, anabolic steroids and gamma Butyrolactone (GBL). The drugs had an estimated street value of $580,000.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Purdie made several trips to Buffalo last year to retrieve packages containing steroids that had been shipped to a business. He showed his law enforcement identification to immigration personnel at the border when bringing the steroids into Canada
Now that Purdie has been sentenced, he's been suspendedwithout pay. His future with the force will be determined at a hearing under the discipline process of the Police Services Act.