A 25-year veteran of the Newark Police Department has been jailed on allegations he forced a drug dealer to sell cocaine on his behalf, Essex County authorities said Monday.

Investigators from the police department and the county prosecutor’s office discovered Officer Anthony L. Gibson, 50, had been giving the dealer $5,000 to buy cocaine and demanding $10,000 in return, officials said in a statement announcing Gibson’s arrest.

The officer has also been accused of stiffing a Georgia car dealership out of $19,000 for a Dodge pickup ordered using his police identification, as well as claiming $10,000 in city sick pay while working a security job at St. Michael’s Medical Center.

City Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose, in a statement, said the police department had “no room” for officers like Gibson.

“This type of conduct will not be tolerated,” Ambrose said. “This officer does not represent the hardworking men and woman of the Newark Police Department.”

The prosecutor’s office said Gibson, who remained jailed Monday at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, has been charged with conspiring to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, distributing a controlled substance, theft and passing bad checks.

The prosecutor’s office said he could face more than 20 years in prison if convicted of all the charges.

Authorities did not immediately specify how they learned of Gibson’s alleged crimes, or whether the alleged drug dealer — who has not been publicly identified — had also been charged.

Source: https://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2018/11/newark_police_officer_made_money_off_drug_deals_pr.html