An ongoing investigation into nightclubs that court documents say were using drug money to pay Cincinnati police officers for off-duty details has led to charges against a third officer.
Officer Diondre Winstead, a 16-year veteran, was charged this week in federal court in Cincinnati with lying on his federal tax returns. The case was unsealed Thursday.
According to court documents, Winstead has admitted to investigators that between 2015 and 2017 he underreported tens of thousands of dollars in cash he earned working those off-duty details. Since talking to investigators, he had a tax preparer file an amended form that reported nearly $50,000 in self-employment income, the documents say.
As the investigation unfolded, according to the documents, it was revealed that officers working off-duty details were aware of unnamed nightclubs laundering drug money. The investigation is continuing, documents say.
“Winstead stated that it was likely he and the other officers were paid with drug cash,” court documents say.
The investigation also revealed, according to the documents, that “members of the Cincinnati Police Department” were warning people associated with the nightclubs of impending investigations or “enforcement activity.”
One now-former Cincinnati police officer was publicly accused of doing that.
Investigators said in court documents that Quianna Campbell – who last year admitted she didn’t report at least $60,000 she earned working off-duty details – confirmed to a nightclub owner that a particular person was an undercover officer. Campbell’s police powers were suspended in November 2018.
Winstead remains on the Cincinnati Police Department's payroll, the department confirmed Friday. The department referred all questions about the case to the U.S. Attorney's Office and declined to make any further comments on the matter.
Winstead's attorney, Brad Moermond, issued a statement, saying: "We deny the charges made against him in this matter. The allegations are completely unrelated to his conduct as an officer and allege that Mr. Winstead did not pay his fair share of taxes. I’m confident that in the months to come the truth will prevail. Not only did Mr. Winstead not willfully evade paying his personal taxes, but as to date has paid most if not all his outstanding tax liability. It is a shame that an officer of my client's standing has been treated in such a way."
Campbell pleaded guilty last year to tax charges and was sentenced in April to five years of probation.
In 2019, a former department captain, Michael Savard, pleaded guilty in a case that involved him underreporting money from off-duty details. Savard also was sentenced to five years of probation.
For several years, Cincinnati police along with IRS-Criminal Investigation agents have been looking into money laundering and other crimes involving local nightclubs that also support drug trafficking, according to court documents. Drug proceeds are used to pay artists to perform at some nightclubs to generate revenue that appears legitimate, court documents say.
Police officers working off-duty details were aware of money laundering at the nightclubs, the documents say, “and had reason to believe the cash being paid to them was derived from narcotics sales.”
Winstead worked off-duty details for about 10 years.
He told an investigator that the nightclubs host performers and concerts that are paid for and promoted by “dope boys,” so they could clean their drug money through the nightclub, court documents say.
The clubs keep all bar sales and the “dope boys” keep the money from the tickets, the documents say. Winstead told the investigator that “dope boys” used cash from drug sales to pay for all the expenses, including the cost of officers to work security.
In 2017, Winstead was one of four officers working off-duty outside the now closed Cameo nightclub when two people were killed and 15 were wounded during a gun battle inside the East End club.
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