Former Minneapolis Police Officer Sentenced to Federal Prison

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former Minneapolis police officer convicted of stealing drugs from people during dubious traffic stops was sentenced Wednesday to more than three years in prison.

Ty Jindra, 29, was found guilty in November of stealing Tramadol, methamphetamine and oxycodone. In two cases he filed false reports and in one case he failed to mention that he had discovered pills, prosecutors said.

Jindra was also convicted of two civil rights violations, once for stopping a driver at a service station for a tag violation and once for pulling over three juveniles in a vehicle that slowly rolled through a stop sign. Both times he was accused of conducting illegal searches.

Judge Donovan Frank, who sentenced Jindra to 38 months in prison, said any lesser term would be “disrespectful to the law,” but praised Jindra for seeking treatment for his drug addiction. Jindra declined to comment afterward, the Star Tribune reported.

Aaron Morrison, Jindra's attorney, said in a presentence brief that Jindra suffered trauma from his experience as a soldier in Iraq and as a police officer, leading him to abuse the prescription drug Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication. He later moved on to street drugs.

Jindra has learned from his mistakes and will carry the message of sobriety to other first responders and military veterans like himself, Morrison said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle E. Jones wrote in a sentencing memorandum that the court should “give little or no weight to Jindra’s conveniently timed expression of contrition.”