EX-LOS ALAMITOS OFFICER GETS JAIL FOR STEALING DRUG EVIDENCE

Courts:He stole methamphetamine,forcing dismissal of cases.

A former Los Alamitos police officer was sentenced to one year in jail
Friday for stealing methamphetamine from the department's evidence
locker,thefts that prompted the dismissal of several pending cases.

Cpl. David Conte, 36, the Los Alamitos Employee of the Year in 1994,
admitted the thefts at a hearing before Orange County Superior Court Judge
Andrew Banks in Westminster. He resigned after his arrest in April.

Police confirmed their suspicions about Conte in a sting operation in which
agents from the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement gave him some
methamphetamine to book into evidence. Instead, he stole about 2.5 grams of
the drug and put it is his department locker.

Detectives served search warrants and found opened, empty evidence envelopes
both in Conte's locker and at his home in Temecula, according to the report.
He admitted he had been stealing and using methamphetamine for the past
year.

The arrest rocked the department and forced prosecutors to throw out several
cases in which Conte was a witness.

Conte, who worked for the department for more than 10 years, apologized in a
letter to the Probation Department. He said he began using methamphetamine
after he became fatigued and depressed due to a heavy workload that included
stints as a watch commander, field training officer and drug-recognition
expert.

"At times I was working 16-to18-hour days and then commuting two hours to my
home in Temecula," Conte wrote. "I then chose to use methamphetamine to
fight off both the fatigue and depression. It was a decision that I have
come to regret every minute of my life."

Checked-by: "Don Beck"