A former Reynoldsburg police lieutenant falsified search warrants and skimmed up to $250,000 in cash and property seized during drug investigations in a conspiracy with another officer that spanned a decade, federal investigators said Wednesday. Shane M. Mauger, 41, of the 1800 block of Quarry Ridge Drive on the Far East Side, has agreed to plead guilty in U.S. District Court to one count each of federal program theft and conspiracy to deprive persons of their civil rights.

A former Reynoldsburg police lieutenant falsified search warrants and skimmed up to $250,000 in cash and property seized during drug investigations in a conspiracy with another officer that spanned a decade, federal investigators said Wednesday.

Shane M. Mauger, 41, of the 1800 block of Quarry Ridge Drive on the Far East Side, has agreed to plead guilty in U.S. District Court to one count each of federal program theft and conspiracy to deprive persons of their civil rights.

Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but Mauger cooperated with authorities and likely won't face that much time. He is free pending a court appearance next Wednesday.

Federal agents said Mauger and Officer Tye Downard abused the public's trust and their positions to enrich themselves.

"This conspiracy was ongoing for almost 10 years," said Benjamin C. Glassman, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. "When they would execute search warrants or consent searches, they would seize money and keep some of it for themselves."

Mauger was placed on leave on Feb. 18 after Downard, 43, was arrested on charges that he dealt drugs. Downard died four days later, after hanging himself with a bedsheet in his Delaware County jail cell.

Reynoldsburg police Chief James O'Neill said Mauger resigned on Friday. He had been with the police department for 20 years.

The pair under-reported seizures of cash and property in police reports, and Mauger also obtained search warrants by lying about having probable cause for searches, Glassman said.

The FBI began investigating Downard after an informant said Downard was providing him with drugs to sell, including some from earlier police seizures.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said three pending drug cases will be dropped because of Mauger's corruption. Prosecutors are contacting defense lawyers in 10 closed cases to disclose Mauger's involvement. O'Brien's office already dropped drug charges against 15 people whose cases hinged upon Downard's testimony.

Glassman said the federal probe will end with Mauger's plea. Reynoldsburg police had placed a third officer on leave after Downard's arrest, but O'Neill said he has been cleared.

"Now we can sort of push the reset button and get back to normal business," the chief said.

Covert drug investigations require secrecy, O'Neill said, but the police department will try to determine how rogue officers exploited that trust and operated unnoticed for so long.

"There might have been a red flag or two that we missed," he said.

tdecker@dispatch.com

@Theodore_Decker