Former St. Tammany Deputy Pleads Guilty

District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Kenneth Szalajeski (36) of Folsom, pleaded guilty Wednesday (August 15, 2018) to two counts of distribution of marijuana and two counts of malfeasance in office.

District Judge Raymond S. Childress sentenced Szalajeski to ten years in prison with nine of them suspended on each of the distribution charges and five years with four of them suspended on each of the malfeasance charges. The sentences are to be served at the same time. In addition, Szalajeski was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and to serve three years of probation when he is released from prison.

While employed with the STPSO, Szalajeski seized marijuana, alcohol, and other contraband while conducting traffic stops on October 25, 2016, and May 28, 2016. But instead of handling the evidence properly, he distributed it to his girlfriend for personal consumption.

When the crime was discovered, Szalajeski was fired from the Sheriff’s Office, and he was later charged.

“As a law enforcement officer, this defendant was arresting citizens for the same conduct that he was personally engaged in,” District Attorney Warren Montgomery said. “This erodes the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system far beyond this one case. This will not be tolerated.”