A former Ocean County Sheriff's Canine Trainer Friday was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting he stole cocaine intended to be used to train K-9s.
According to authorities, John C. Adams, 41, of Toms River, must serve three-year sentence for theft concurrently to his two year sentence for official misconduct.
Officials say back in January of 2017, an investigation uncovered that Adams - who was serving as the commander of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department canine unit at the time - had failed to secure cocaine used in the training of canine animals adequately. Adams initially falsely reported that the cocaine was accidentally discarded with canine training items.
Upon further investigation, it became apparent that Adams had blamed other members of the K-9 Unit for the cocaine’s disappearance after he diverted more than one kilogram of the controlled dangerous substance from its intended training purposes and used it for his consumption. It is alleged that John C. Adams ingested the cocaine.
As a consequence of his guilty pleas, Adams forfeited his public employment. He is also ineligible for any future government employment in the State of New Jersey.