SPRINGFIELD -- A 22-year veteran of the Springfield Police Department kept his badge despite flunking two drug tests and attempting to pass a third with a phony urine sample, according to internal records recently obtained by The Republican.

Internal Investigation Unit reports received through a public records request say Officer Ramon Sierra in 2017 was caught submitting a fake specimen to avoid testing positive a second time for marijuana.

After admitting he submitted another person's urine, Sierra took a subsequent drug test and failed that, records show. But Police Commissioner John Barbieri opted to keep him on the payroll, instead insisting Sierra sign a "last chance agreement" prohibiting further drug use.

Sierra -- who told IIU investigators he bought the bogus urine "at a store in Enfield" -- was suspended for 45 days in early 2017, according to the documents. He failed the second test in January of that year and was back on the street by March 6, having attended a rehabilitation program at the city's expense for the second time.

"I handed the sample to the nurse and she stated that it was not valid due to the temperature and that I had to take it again. ... I was then told to do (the) test again and I refused. I felt embarrassed and ashamed of what I did and went home," Sierra wrote in an April 2017 narrative to an IIU investigator.

Barbieri defended his decision to keep Sierra on, which came to light amid an ongoing public controversy over the department's disciplinary policies.

"Officer Sierra has served the city of Springfield for 20-plus years. He engaged in a prohibited activity off-duty, but there was never any indication internally or externally that it impacted his job," Barbieri said in a statement.

"Although he could have been terminated for his actions, I made the decision to give him one last opportunity and to have Officer Sierra sign a 'Last Chance Agreement,' in which it explicitly states that if he fails another drug test he will be fired without the chance to appeal."

Sierra failed a previous drug test two years ago and enrolled in a rehab program, the narrative said. He also said in his report to IIU that he had passed several other drug tests in the interim and tested positive only for marijuana in 2017.

After an injury on the job, Sierra in 2016 reported using marijuana to his doctor, who then forwarded the information to the department as required for a worker's compensation claim, the documents show.

He has been a police officer since 1996 and currently works the midnight shift as a beat cop in the city's Pine Point neighborhood.

Barbieri proffered the "last chance" to Sierra despite sending a strongly worded memo to the entire police force one year before, informing all sworn personnel that marijuana use was strictly prohibited despite changes in state law.

The memo was titled, "the possession, use and/or distribution of marijuana by sworn department personnel is strictly prohibited."

It went on to say the department will follow the Federal Controlled Substance Act of 1970, despite the legalization of marijuana in Massachusetts.

Marijuana use, even for medicinal purposes, is "inherently incompatible with the duties and responsibilities of a duly sworn Springfield Police Officer. Therefore, the possession, use and/or distribution of marijuana by sworn department personnel is strictly prohibited," the memo concluded, with the last two words bold and underlined.

Sierra refused to answer the IIU's question of "where did I get the marijuana," per the advice of his union representative, according to his report.

William E. Mahoney, the city's personnel director, said city employees with commercial driver's licenses are subject to the strictest drug testing policies, following federal transportation standards.

Police officers were most recently subject to random drug testing in 2014, following a decision by an arbitrator after lengthy contract negotiations, Mahoney said. Subsequently, officers are not subject to random drug testing but can be tested for drug or alcohol use based on "reasonable suspicion," he said.

"If someone is slurring, unsteady on their feet, that type of thing," Mahoney said.

If an officer fails a drug test, he or she may enter a substance abuse program and must pass a "return to work" test before he or she is eligible to go back to work, he said. Under this scenario, an officer is subject to 18 months of random follow-up tests, Mahoney added. Sierra's second self-report of drug use fell inside that window, the reports show.

Sierra could have been fired for the second infraction under the city's policies, Mahoney said. The policy allows for disciplinary action "up to and including" termination. The decision ultimately fell to the discretion of the commissioner.

Mahoney said "last chance" agreements are employed only occasionally and can be drafted broadly or narrowly.

Also included in Sierra's IIU history were reports on his being among seven officers investigated when a loaded .22-caliber pistol was discovered lying on the floor of a police cruiser, undetected, for three days in 2010.

He also is featured in a YouTube video blasting a woman in the face with pepper spray after an unruly mob erupted in the city's club quarter. Police were attempting to quell the crowd and defend themselves, according to reports. However, a witness recorded the incident on a cellphone and posted an edited clip under the heading "Springfield Police Brutality, Springfield's Finest" in 2011.

No disciplinary action followed, police have said of that incident, which was cited in a separate excessive force lawsuit. That lawsuit does not name Sierra and is pending in federal court. The video clip is essentially a footnote and not central to the complaint.

Sierra also was among a handful of officers who fell under investigation in 2002 for allegedly taking free or discounted rooms at the former Holiday Inn on Dwight Street, records show. The night manager at the time reported that certain officers took advantage of free rooms there and were sometimes drunk on the job. Several of the officers argued the night manager had an ax to grind with police and was not telling the truth.

All the officers under investigation denied drinking on the job, while a couple -- including Sierra -- admitted they occasionally rented hotel rooms at a discount but otherwise told IIU investigators to mind their own business, according to a report. It is unclear whether any of the officers were disciplined, despite a lengthy IIU investigation.

Sierra's second run-in over drug use came shortly after former police officer Michael Fernandez, a 20-year veteran of the force, was fired in 2016 when a supervisor accused him of smoking a cigar during a road detail. His firing was dictated by a state law that dates back to the 1980s, prohibiting police and fire employees from smoking on, or off, the job.

That law affords supervisors no discretion over whether an offense merits firing, Barbieri has noted.

However, Fernandez took his case to Springfield labor law attorney John Connor, who persuaded the city to rescind his client's termination three months later and allow him to retire.

Connor confirmed this to The Republican and said Fernandez denied he was smoking on the job.

Police spokesman Ryan Walsh said he could not comment on the end result of the department's negotiations over Fernandez's employment status.