SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A second Department of Homeland Security agent in the United States (US) been charged in federal court with using a confidential informant to sell illicit drugs that were seized as evidence.
Special agent Nicholas Kindle in Utah tasked with investigating illegal narcotics trafficking, was arrested three weeks after his alleged co-conspirator, special agent David Cole. Both face a felony drug distribution conspiracy charge, and Kindle faces an additional charge of conspiracy to convert property of the US government for profit.
On Thursday, a magistrate judge set Kindle’s initial court appearance for January 21 in Salt Lake City. If convicted he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
An attorney has not yet been listed for Kindle in court records.
Unlike Cole, who was indicted last month by a grand jury, Kindle was formally charged in an information document from the US Attorney’s Office, which does not require grand jury approval to initiate criminal proceedings.
Federal prosecutors said Kindle and Cole abused their positions to acquire illegal drugs known as “bath salts” from Homeland Security evidence and from other law enforcement personnel, including US Customs and Border Protection officers, under the false pretense that they would use them for legitimate investigations.
Prosecutors said Kindle and Cole began stealing drugs from evidence and lying to fellow agents about their purpose in 2021. They are also alleged to have stolen thousands of dollars in cash, a diamond ring and a Peruvian antiquity from evidence.
From 2022 to 2024, the agents allegedly sold the drugs to a person identified in court documents only as a “source of information” for the department, prosecutors. They let that person resell the drugs and did not arrest the customers, according to charging documents.
