Former police officer sentenced to prison for planting cocaine, falsifying documents

COLUMBUS — A former Columbus police officer is now facing time in prison, according to our news partners at WBNS.

Steven Rosser, 46, was given 18 months in prison Thursday for violating the civil rights of a person he was investigating in February 2022.

Rosser was employed with the Columbus Division of Police for 19 years and worked as a detective in the vice unit from April 2013 to October 2018, according to WBNS.

According to court documents and testimony, Rosser and others “conspired to deprive” the civil rights of one of the owners of a gentlemen’s club by seizing and searching him and his vehicle without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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During the trial, the government presented evidence that Rosser was part of a scheme to frame the victim for cocaine possession. The amount of cocaine planted was approximately .017 gram.

Authorities say Rosser falsified documentation to cover up the activity after the fraudulent arrest.

Rosser was fired by Columbus police in 2019. He was indicted by a federal grand jury and arrested in March 2020.

Before being fired, Rosser spent a year on desk duty following the controversial arrest of Stormy Daniels and two other women in July 2018.

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