PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla — A Clearwater Police detective was arrested on corruption charges after he allegedly helped two suspected drug traffickers.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said Fredrick Lise was protecting two suspected drug traffickers in a yearlong drug investigation.
Lise was following investigations and surveillance of Matthew Turner and Henry Smith. He was told about Turner and Smith's investigations and had access to the police system, which had information on ongoing investigations. Lise placed an alert in the system so that he would be notified of any investigations into them. According to the PCSO, he would then tell Turner and Smith about the information that they had.
Lise would allegedly tell Turner about wiretaps used on his phone and he would switch phones when Lise would tell him it was tapped.
PCSO says that they believe that Lise was friends with Turner and Smith and say there was no evidence that Lise was receiving any kickbacks or money from the suspected drug traffickers.
"He is a corrupt cop that needs to go to prison," Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a press conference Tuesday. “It’s a kick in the gut to everybody, and it’s a betrayal.”
Clearwater Police Chief Eric Gandy said Lise had been with the department for 9 years and was the head of the Clearwater Police union.
Lise is on administrative leave pending the investigation, according to Chief Gandy. While on administrative leave, he will have no access to police facilities or resources.
He is facing eight felony charges, including misuse of public office, unlawful disclosure of criminal information, and unlawful use of two-way communication.
Desire Mosser lost her mother to a drug overdose in Clearwater, so the announcement from the Pinellas County Sheriff was hard to hear.
“It really did hit close to home. My eyes welled up," said Mosser, now an advocate with NOPE of Pinellas. “And to know that it was right here in Clearwater, and that happens to be, you know, where my mom overdosed on fentanyl.”
She said there’s no excuse for what the detective is accused of doing.
“It makes me sick to my stomach to think that there’s someone that was, you know, there to be a trusted servant of our community doing something so underhanded and putting people in risk and in danger," Mosser said.
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