Ex- detective jailed for laundering drug money
A former Sussex Police detective has been jailed for 16 months after admitting laundering more than £80,000 over a five-year period.
Darren Graysmark, 44, of Coney Furlong, Peacehaven, East Sussex, served with Sussex Police for 23 years but resigned after pleading guilty last month.
Maidstone Crown Court was told Graysmark's partner was dealing drugs.
Graysmark was arrested after police found cocaine with a street value of £148,000 in his car last April.
The vehicle was being driven on the A23 at Handcross by Graysmark's boyfriend, Darren Simpson, 42, who was charged with possession with intent to supply.
Simpson is still awaiting sentence after also admitting the charge at an earlier hearing.
Graysmark was not in the car at the time but inquiries by the Sussex Police officers led them to the home the men shared, where they seized financial correspondence and £12,000 in cash.
The arrests were part of a wider investigation by the force's serious and organised crime unit into alleged drugs trafficking.
"Darren Graysmark let himself, his colleagues and the public down in knowingly benefiting from organised crime," said Deputy Chief Constable Giles York.
"He took money which was the proceeds of crime and used to it support his own lifestyle.
"There is no tolerance in the police service for criminal activity by anyone who works for us. The public must expect more of Sussex Police."
Graysmith initially maintained that he had no knowledge of any criminal activity, but later accepted that he knew the cash was the proceeds of crime.
The money paid for a comfortable lifestyle, including improvements to the home Graysmith shared with Simpson.
Judge Adele Williams told him: "For you to commit this offence whilst you were a serving police officer is a very serious matter.
"You closed your mind to the obvious. As a police officer you had a special duty to uphold the law."
A confiscation hearing is to take place at Maidstone Crown Court at a date to be confirmed.
Three other men were also charged in connection with the inquiry. One has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentence.
Two others are awaiting trial at Maidstone Crown Court.