APPLETON – A former Appleton Police Department narcotics investigator was convicted of a felony and fined for forging signatures on paperwork related to a drug investigation.
Jeremy Haney, 37, pleaded no contest Tuesday to misconduct in public office for falsifying information in a report, a Class I felony. A no contest plea means Haney accepted a guilty verdict without admitting or denying any guilt.
In 2022, while working as part of the Lake Winnebago Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group, also known as LWAM, Haney forged signatures on paperwork authorizing a tracking device be placed on a vehicle. Haney told investigators he forged the signatures after losing the original paperwork, according to a criminal complaint.
LWAM is a multi-jurisdictional drug unit made up of investigators from police departments and sheriffs’ offices in Outagamie, Winnebago and Calumet counties.
Waupaca County Circuit Court Judge Raymond Huber fine Haney $640, along with other fees totaling $1,158.
What happened?
As part of a “large-scale, multi-defendant drug conspiracy case” in May 2022, LWAM investigators installed a GPS tracking device on a vehicle operated by a suspect they believed was working with others to distribute large amounts fentanyl, according to a criminal complaint.
To install a GPS device, police officers must secure a court order that describes both the vehicle getting tracked and the duration the tracking device will be on the vehicle.
The complaint says “no actionable evidence” was collected from the GPS device. However, after investigators intercepted a postal delivery from Arizona containing fentanyl pills, the suspect, Randy Mack, 35, was arrested in December 2022 and charged in federal court with possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a detectable amount of fentanyl.
Mack pleaded guilty to the charge in January. His sentencing is scheduled for 11 a.m. July 8
In May 2023, an Outagamie County assistant district attorney was reviewing documents related to the case because they were prosecuting one of Mack’s alleged co-conspirators, when they came across a court order application signed with their name in someone else’s signature.
The assistant district attorney told investigators they did sign off on an application in this case, but noticed some inconsistencies with this paperwork from the one they signed, including a different number of days the tracking device would be on the vehicle and a different date. While the assistant district attorney signed an application requesting a 45-day GPS monitor on May 24, 2022, the paperwork listed the GPS duration as 90 days and was dated May 23, 2022, according to the complaint.
The assistant district attorney said Haney initially requested a court order allowing GPS monitoring for 90 days, but the assistant district attorney knew “some judges find 90 days to be excessive,” and instead, after consulting with a judge, the following day changed the court order to a 45-day duration, and updated the date on the paperwork. The assistant district attorney said they then explained the change to Haney and met him, where they both signed the paperwork, along with a notary public.
On the forged paperwork, the assistant district attorney noticed the judge’s signature was also forged, which was later confirmed by the judge. Both the assistant district attorney’s and the judge’s portions of the court order lacked a notary signature.
Despite the 90-day duration listed on the forged paperwork, documents showed the GPS was removed from the vehicle 44 days after the the court order was signed.
In an interview with an investigator, Haney initially claimed he did not know what happened, but eventually stated he lost the paperwork approving the 45-day GPS installment and reprinted the initial paperwork he sent to the assistant district attorney, then forged the signatures.
Haney told the investigator, “I didn’t think about it. I’m like, it doesn’t matter, it was signed,” the complaint says.
Did Haney leave his position?
Haney resigned in July after getting placed on administrative leave pending the investigation, according to the Appleton Police Department. He had been with the Appleton Police Department for 15 years, including 2½ years assigned to LWAM, the complaint says.
What charges were dismissed?
Haney was also charged with uttering a forgery as genuine, a Class H felony, and a misdemeanor charge for resisting or obstructing an officer — both of which were dismissed in a plea deal.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Ex-Appleton narcotics investigator convicted of falsifying signatures
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