Alachua County is one of 35 counties facing a statewide review by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after a Pensacola chemist was found tampering with evidence.
An investigation into the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office evidence room revealed that prescription pain pills were being replaced with over-the-counter medication, according to the FDLE.
The investigation found that Joseph Graves, crime lab analyst supervisor at the FDLE Pensacola Regional Office Center, worked on all the cases with the missing drugs. Since 2006, Graves reportedly was involved in 2,600 cases for 80 law enforcement agencies.
Tampered evidence could lead to the release of prisoners and dropped drug charges in some cases.
Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Sgt. Becky Butscher said investigators have identified cases in Alachua County “but until an audit is done, we are unable to determine the exact number,” she said. “Ramifications will be significant.”
The FDLE is sending teams to impacted agencies around Florida to examine the evidence handled by the chemist.
Butscher said she expects an FDLE team will be arriving soon to work with the sheriff’s office.
“They will be coming in the next few days to work with evidence bureaus to determine how many cases have potentially been compromised because of this situation,” Butscher said. “We will be working very closely with them to assist them in this investigation.”
Gainesville Police Department spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said the department is still waiting to hear from the FDLE.
“There is nothing we can do at this moment,” he said.
Graves, who was relieved of his FDLE duties last Friday, officially resigned Monday.
FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said several dozen cases were revealed to have missing pills over the weekend.
“We don’t know how many of the 2,600 cases have been tampered with,” she said. “We have never had to do an undertaking like this.”
Along with Alachua County, Marion, Columbia, Lafayette, Suwannee and Hamilton counties were also listed by the FDLE as potentially affected areas in North Central Florida.
While a motive has yet to be uncovered, Plessinger said Graves could’ve been using or trafficking drugs.
Special agents contacted the counties last Saturday, but Plessinger said she is unsure of how long an investigation of this magnitude could take.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 2/4/2014 under the headline "Altered evidence could affect county drug cases"]
