SEATTLE — A veteran King County sheriff deputy admitted to the department he bought and used illegal steroids—yet he kept his job.
KIRO 7 uncovered the information after filing multiple public-record requests dating back to last year, when disgraced King County Deputy Darrion Holliwell was sent to prison for promoting the prostitution of his wife, theft from the department and selling steroids.
Holiwell is currently serving a 17-month sentence at the Monroe Corrections Center.
Last October, an internal investigator recommended Deputy Frank Stasiak be fired for buying a supply of steroids from Holiwell and for stealing King County ammunition and giving it to other people in the department.
Stasiak is currently a patrol officer in Burien.
While the internal investigator recommended Stasiak's termination for both offenses, Sheriff John Urquhart allowed Stasiak to keep his job.
In a sit-down interview, we asked Urquhart, why?
“Because I make the final decision, that's what it boils down to," Urquhart said.
He told us Stasiak, a 24-year veteran, has been a good deputy.
But one woman who called Stasiak for help disagreed.
"He was just mean."
Two years ago, Cheryl Read filed a complaint against Stasiak.
She said he failed to take any action after she called 911 to report abandoned and abused kids in a park.
"He said, ‘Well, why don't you mind your own [expletive] business?’ And I was really shocked and he just gave me a really dirty look and got in his car," said Read. "I think it's outrageous that he hasn't been terminated yet and someone needs to do something about it."
Urquhart said Stasiak was disciplined for that incident. Records show he was cited and told “the behavior should not be repeated.”
Read also said she would like to see Stasiak charged for drug use and theft.
Last year, Stasiak received a 30-day suspension without pay for the steroid use and ammunition theft; however, he was allowed to reduce his suspension up to 10 days if he gave presentations to police officer groups about his case.
Stasiak also had to submit to a drug-addiction assessment and share the results with human resources. In the future, he must notify the department if prescribed steroids or human growth hormone.
"I’m convinced it'll never happen again. And that's my role -- if I can use discipline to change behavior, then I've succeeded," Urquhart said.
Stasiak has been with the department since 1991. In the past two and a half years, eight use-of-force cases involving Stasiak were reviewed by the Internal Investigation Unit.
One incident from 2014 is still pending but in the seven others, his use of force was found to be appropriate.
We went to Stasiak’s home and left messages; he has not responded.
The department believes three other deputies also bought steroids from Holiwell; two were fired, one deputy resigned.
Previous stories:
Sheriff describes 'police corruption' after deputy arrest (6/19/2014)
Deputy charged in pimping, drugs, theft scandal (6/24/2014)
Police: Disgraced deputy may have dealt erectile dysfunction pills (7/1/2014)
Deputy in police corruption investigation fired (7/15/2014)
Deputy in corruption scandal pleads guilty (8/4/2014)
KIRO
