The former commander of the Ohio Valley Drug Task Force recently pleaded guilty to federal charges of stealing more than $75,000 from the task force to fuel his gambling habit.

In documents filed in federal court June 23, David Drahos pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone to a single count of theft from programs receiving federal funds. The maximum penalty for that charge is up to 10 years in prison and fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing will be carried out at a later date.

According to a written statement, Drahos admitted that in January 2022, as a Wheeling police officer and commander of the Ohio Valley Drug Task Force, he had developed a gambling problem. As task force commander, a position he held for four years, part of his duties was to oversee funds coming into and out of the task force.

In the statement, Drahos admitted to taking money from the task force to gamble. He would take money from the organization’s “buy bag” and from a safe kept at the task force.

“When no one noticed the missing funds, I continued taking money from the task force to use for my personal gain,” the statement reads.

When he ultimately was confronted by federal law enforcement agents, he admitted to taking the money, which in the end totaled $75,124.44. Federal officers had found empty evidence bags in his desk and in his car.

The Ohio Valley Drug Task Force received more than $10,000 per year in federal funding from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.

Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said Drahos was hired to the WPD in October 1998 and resigned on Jan. 28, 2022.

Schwertfeger said the police department had conducted an audit and made a referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which ultimately garnered the assistance of the FBI in its investigation.

Drahos’ plea could affect at least part of his pension, according to Jeff Fleck, executive director of the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board. Part of Drahos’ pension is from his time as an Ohio County sheriff’s deputy, and that pension is overseen by the CPRB, Fleck said.

People can lose their pension for less-than-honorable service, Fleck said, if they are convicted of a felony pertaining to their job.

“Our legal staff can take a look at it and make a recommendation to our board that they be disqualified for less-than-honorable service,” Fleck said.

If that happens, he continued, the person would be entitled to a refund of the contributions they have made into their pension fund. Yet in cases like this where money is stolen, those contributions could be used to pay back that money, Fleck said.