Wife of veteran Tacoma police officer allegedly dealt drugs
ADAM LYNN
The wife of a veteran Tacoma police officer has been arrested and charged with dealing drugs.
Cynthia Joy Roberts, 47, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, all felonies.
Roberts, the wife of officer Reginald Roberts, posted $15,000 bail the day of her arraignment and was released from jail.
Reginald Roberts, who’s been with the department for more than 30 years, has not been charged. His wife of 21 years told sheriff’s deputies her husband “was unaware of her drug dealing and abuse,” court records show.
No attorney had entered a notice of appearance on Cynthia Roberts’ behalf as of Friday afternoon. Efforts to reach her and her husband were unsuccessful.
Tacoma police spokesman Naveed Benjamin said his department would have no comment as the case is being investigated by another agency.
Sheriff’s deputies began investigating Cynthia Roberts on July 12 after their counterparts with the Puyallup Police Department contacted them about a narcotics investigation, records show.
A man and a woman arrested by Puyallup police for alleged drug violations said they’d bought narcotics from “a police officer’s wife in the South Hill area,” the records show.
The man later pointed out to Puyallup police a house where he said the dealer lived.
“Parked in the driveway of the residence at the time was a TPD marked patrol car and numerous vehicles registered to Reginald T. Roberts at that address,” the records show.
Cynthia Roberts also is listed as a resident of the home.
The man, 49, and woman, 22, later told sheriff’s deputies they routinely bought heroin and methamphetamine from Cynthia Roberts. Both have criminal records.
The man said the “husband had never been present when she was selling drugs to him and his girlfriend, but he believed that he knew she was socializing with less than desirable individuals and had allegedly told her that her friends were never allowed at their residence,” the records show.
The woman told deputies she’d known Cynthia Roberts for more than a year and that the older woman was addicted to pain killers.
She said Cynthia Roberts sometimes would pay her to shoot her up with a mix of painkillers and methamphetamine, the records show. The woman also said she and Cynthia Roberts had gotten high at the Roberts home, where the younger woman sometimes did housework.
Deputies then asked the pair to buy drugs from Cynthia Roberts while under surveillance. They agreed and set up an appointment to buy $300 worth of pain pills and $20 worth of meth from her, records show.
About 1:15 a.m. Monday, the woman met with Cynthia Roberts in the parking lot of a drug store on Meridian Avenue East. Deputies were watching and busted Cynthia Roberts after she allegedly sold two small baggies stuffed with pills and another baggie containing what appeared to be crystal meth to the woman, records show.
Cynthia Roberts at first denied selling drugs to anyone but later admitted she sold pills and meth to the informant, records show.
“Roberts admitted being addicted to the pills and provided a list of six drug sources to (a detective),” the records show. “During the course of the interview, Roberts maintained that there were no drugs in her house and that her husband was unaware of her drug dealing and abuse.”
Deputies later searched her car and home.
They found in the house numerous pieces of drug paraphernalia, including syringes, a tourniquet, a small slide scale and glass pipes, some in a night stand and others in a floor safe, both of which are in the master bedroom, search warrant returns state.
Deputies also found prescription bottles containing Hydrocodone, Oxycontin and Oxicodone pills throughout the master bedroom and bathroom. A small amount of marijuana was discovered in the floor safe, records show.
More drugs and paraphernalia were discovered in Cynthia Roberts’ SUV after her arrest, records show.
adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com 253-597-8644
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