An FBI agent accused of bilking a bunch of heroin from the Bureau will make his first appearance in federal court Tuesday afternoon.
The agent, Matthew Lowry, who was part of a task-force that targeted violent drug traffickers who bring drugs in to D.C. from Maryland, is facing 64 criminal charges, including possession of heroin, falsifying records, and obstruction of justice.
The investigation into Lowry’s actions began last September after the former agent was found passed out in his unmarked FBI car, apparently overdosed on heroin.
Lowry allegedly tampered with hundreds of grams of heroin that had been seized by the FBI during drug investigations in 2013 and 2014, and kept the drugs in his car for months at a time, the state alleges, occasionally using them. His actions led to the dismissal of charges against 28 people and exposed great weaknesses in the way the FBI office in D.C. handles evidence.
In one of the cases involving court-ordered wire taps, time-consuming and costly physical surveillance, and controlled buys, charges against 14 defendants suspected to be involved in a massive drug-trafficking ring that spanned from D.C. to California had to be dropped primarily because of Lowry’s alleged drug habits.
Charging documents accuse Lowry of taking drugs from FBI evidence lockers, removing heroin from evidence bags, and replacing the heroin with dietary supplements and laxatives to account for the missing weight.
Lowry is expected to plead guilty to all charges, and if convicted he could face at least seven years in prison and a $16 million fine.
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