Fired Cop Says He Ate Pot-Spiked Meatballs

NYC Detective Sues To Get Job Back, Claiming Wife Snuck Marijuana Into His Meal

(CBS/AP)  A counterterrorism detective who says his failed drug test came because his wife had spiked his meatballs with marijuana has filed a lawsuit to get his job back.

Anthony Chiofalo asked the court to declare that his firing in August from the New York Police Department was unreasonable and unconstitutional, to declare that a damning hair sample was improperly taken and to order his rehiring with back pay plus interest, seniority and all benefits.

Chiofalo, a 22-year veteran assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, was suspended without pay in November 2005 after a random drug test found marijuana in his system. He denied using drugs and demanded a hearing.

During an investigation, Chiofalo's wife, Catherine Chiofalo, said she secretly put enough marijuana for about six cigarettes in her meatball recipe in July 2005, hoping a failed blood test would force him to retire, court papers say.

She said she'd been upset with him for not retiring after serving 20 years, as he originally said he would, according to the New York Post.

Catherine Chiofalo, according to court papers, testified at the hearing that she "just wanted my husband not to die of a heart attack or get killed. I wanted him to be around to help raise my son."

The couple later took and passed lie-detector tests about how the marijuana was ingested, Anthony Chiofalo's court papers say.

Chiofalo says his wife had marijuana at home because she used it to relieve nausea caused by medications she took for back pain. He said he did not know where she got it.

An administrative judge recommended that Chiofalo be reinstated. But police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who has the last word on firings, rejected the recommendation and fired Chiofalo.

A police department spokesman, John Kelly, said in an e-mailed comment on Chiofalo's firing, "The officer's excuse was not credible."

[laneykehel]

That excuse wouldn''t fly were anyone else using it. That being said, it only demonstrates how drug testing can now be used as a weapon by a disgruntled spouse or a company that doesn''t really want to keep someone on board.

[nolalou]

Well, why were they surprised with the drug test result, after all he was part of the "Joint" Terrorism Task Force!

[connapa]

Let me get this straight. He KNEW his wife had marijuana in the house and was using it and he did not turn her in (or at least destroy it)? After 20 years on the force, he must have known that just having it around is against the law. It may have been a misdemeanor offense, but still, would you want someone in authority who knowingly skirts the law?? That''s right, we already have someone like that. I believe his name is George W Bush.

[gunownerdan]

Illegal for over 70 years, today marijuana is America''s #1 cash crop giving billions of dollars to drug gangs and drug dealers through their monopoly on the black market. Prohibition causes much more crime and violence just like it did when alcohol was illegal in the 1920''s when violent gangsters ruled the streets with machine guns.

Please Get Educated:
www.leap.cc
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

[redbarron73]

Man, I wish I had a wife who could cook like that!

[badfish911]

ya harhahrahr
and i bet she laced his kool-aid with acid
harharhahrahrharhar

[omega39-2009]

Chiofalo, a 22-year veteran assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, was suspended without pay in November 2005 after a random drug test found marijuana in his system.

The Congress, presidency and USSC justices should all be subject to random drug testing with immediate termination and the "guilty until proven innocent" assumption directed at them. I don''t believe the practice would survive a week if they were subjected to this ***.

gunownerdan, I KNEW there was something we could agree on. How many violent crimes are done due to Mary Jane use? Of course there are studies from both sides saying this and saying that....but for me, with 35 years of experience, I can say most of the studies against are hogwash. I have several degrees, Ph.D. in Quantum Mathematics, Masters in Applied Mathematics a Bachelors Degree in Electronic Engineering......so, tell me something against it again and I will giggle in your face.

[mudrose-2009]

ya harhahrahr
and i bet she laced his kool-aid with acid
harharhahrahrharhar
Posted by badfish911

Wooeeeie. I''m sure it was better than Alice B. Toklais brownies.

[rohink-2009]

Posted by connapa

I bet you dream about George W. everynight. I bet you catch yourself doodling his name when you daydream about him. We should change B.C. and A.D. to B.B. and A.B. Did you know the world revolves around George Bush? How pathetic some people are. And I am not a Bush fan. I just get sick and tired of every story somehow involving a president who will be out of office soon enough. Get over it already.

[klingon69]

Well, why were they surprised with the drug test result, after all he was part of the "Joint" Terrorism Task Force!
Posted by nolalou at 11:56 AM : Dec 05, 2007
We take these steps to ensure the safety and security for our joints and for our posterity.

[gunownerdan]

Working for a better future:

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
www.leap.cc

Marijuana Policy Project
www.mpp.org

[honestabe8]

Prohibition is the biggest domestic policy failure in the nation''s history. Why do we continue it? It is time to legalize it and free law enforcement up to fight real crime.

[jetlizhan]

when i was a woodstock hippie, me and a bunch of fun & rowdy friends ate maryjane brownies and then went to the movies and saw ''clockwork orange'' - whew! what a fun and weird night that was. ah, youth. i had a ball.

[questionnews]

Posted by connapa

I bet you dream about George W. everynight. I bet you catch yourself doodling his name when you daydream about him. We should change B.C. and A.D. to B.B. and A.B. Did you know the world revolves around George Bush? How pathetic some people are. And I am not a Bush fan. I just get sick and tired of every story somehow involving a president who will be out of office soon enough. Get over it already.



Posted by rohink at 01:52 PM : Dec 05, 2007

I tend to agree. I''m am also not a Bush fan but some of these guys are totally obsessed. They have the same tunnel vision as a junkie has looking for thier next fix. It''s like Bush is thier Dan Marino and they are determined to play Ray Finkle. (Reference "Ace Ventura Pet Detective")

[manguskan-2009]

I wonder if the wife finds the good stuff in central park? Maybe she has what a good amount of Californians have.... Legal Weed!!! Long Live Prop. 215A!!

[honestabe8]

mang: legal only in california. the feds still get their rocks off busting ill patients. the drug czars (of both parties) are nothing but mouth breathing punks.

Outlaw alcohol and tobacco......those are the killers, not pot.

[honestabe8]

mitch: you want alcohol outlawed? where did that lead us last time we tried it? better yet, give them some legal competition by legalizing pot.

[random_radar]

"She said she''d been upset with him for not retiring after serving 20 years"

I wish my wife felt the same. All she says is "Get and go to work, I need the money!" every day.

[manguskan-2009]

I can''t imagine the amount of money California is making off of Prop 215A. I hope it helps the gov. w/ his states debt problem. Too bad the feds won''t allow other states to reap the benefits.

[rangerdahl]

you are what you eat.

Oh honestabe8, it was mainly a joke. It lead to the worst times of our country''s short life. Crime rate was through the roof and so on and so on. Was basically a statement of a choice....would rather see the other two outlawed and pot being legalized. As long as there is a Bible Belt (which I live in) and old farts running things, it will never be legalized. Tell you what, if people would get out of their head about the scare tactics they had in the earlier years when everyone thought pot was a terrible drug, I think it would help. What was the name of that movie they had from the late 30''s? Refer Madness? I think it was that movie that messed things up. Plus the 60''s hippie movement didn''t help much either. These I believe are the cause of all the pot heads problems getting it legalized.

[honestabe8]

manguskan: the feds don''t care. they have their empire to maintain (or increase), the assets to seize, the sucking up to the legal pushers. time to take the power back via voting. the last thing The Partnership For A Drug Free America wants is a drug free america.

Excuse my double post....I double clicked instead of single click....."remember, pass it to the left..."

[honestabe8]

mitch: somehow, there seems to be an idea that having a beer is somehow more moral than smoking a joint. the big opposition to legalization are republicans (please don''t attack me, folks) and religious folk. our elected officials are testicularly challenged crooks. the drug czar''s office (ONDCP)is nothing but a sewer of misinformation. this is the same whether the drug punk is a democrat or a republican. some years ago, ron paul asked the General Accounting Office to see if the ONDCP violated federal law by intentionally putting out misinformation. the GAO did their review and determined that the point of the ONDCP is to oppose lessening the federal law on controlled substances (kind of a misnomer, as prohibition means that the substances are not at all controlled). whether they are lying is irrelevant. thus, the drug punk''s office are free to come up with as many outrageous lies as possible (pot causes you to kill people, funds terrorism, etc). i sincerely hope there is a drunk driver with john p. walters name on his car.

The first step though is not to legalize it, but to decriminalize it. Which has been done in several states. On the other hand, some states put it right up there with Crak and Meth....

[gunownerdan]

To best fight crime and violence, cops say legalize marijuana.
www.leap.cc
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

[keiler1]

I know people who smoke it on a regular basis and they are in better health than most.....

[honestabe8]

keiler: it all depends on your other habits. i am a regular user, but also eat healthy and am a cardio nut. some folks i know don''t use at all and don''t exercise. even though i am older than them, i am in way better shape. on the other hand, i am not recommending it for fitness. same as alcohol, but way less poisonous