Former Schenectady police chief and wife charged in drug ring

Schenectady's former police chief Greg Kaczmarek and his wife Lisa turned themselves in Thursday morning as part of an ongoing drug investigation. 

Kaczmarek arrived at the Schenectady County Court shortly after 10:00 a.m. with Lisa to face charges in an ongoing investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cumo's office into an upstate drug ring that they say brought cocaine and marijuana from Long Island to Schenecatady.

In an indictment unsealed in Schenectady County Court the two were charged with:

● Conspiracy in the 2nd Degree (class B felony), which carries a

maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

● Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in

the 3rd Degree (class B felony), both of which carry maximum penalties of nine years in prison.

● Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in

the 4th Degree (class C felony), both of which carry maximum penalties of five and one-half years in prison.

● Conspiracy in the 6th Degree (Class B misdemeanor), which

carries a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail.

This most recent indictment supercedes the May indictment that previously charged Lisa Kaczmarek.  She and her step-son, Miles Smith, were arrested back in May with 23 other people in connection with the drug ring.   At that time Cuomo's office seized over $160,000 in heroin and cocaine along with firearms and drug paraphernalia.

Greg Kaczmarek was named in the Mya court documents as meeting with his wife and another alleged drug dealer to discuss how to continue the operation after an apparent drug raid. 

That indictment also revealed that his wife told another dealer that he was willing to "mule" drugs and would "flash his badge" if necessary. 

Bail was set at $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond for each of them.  Greg Kaczmarek served as Schenectady's police chief from 1996 until 2002.