Ex-officer admits false drugs report at Ind. jail

COLUMBUS, Ind. -- A former central Indiana police officer has pleaded guilty to purposefully filing a false report linking illegal drugs found at a jail to the wrong prisoner.

Former Columbus officer Matthew Stephenson admitted to a felony charge of official misconduct during a Bartholomew County court hearing on Monday. The Republic reports prosecutors dropped charges of conspiracy to deal cocaine and obstruction of justice in a plea deal.

The 28-year-old Stephenson was charged with attributing a bag of suspected drugs found on the floor at the county jail to a female inmate to whom the drugs didn't belong in February.

He could face six months to three years in prison at sentencing.

A former jail officer is awaiting trial on similar charges.