Former Police Detective & FBI Task Force Officer Indicted for Bribery

A veteran detective for the Carlisle, Pennsylvania Police Department, who was also a task force officer with the FBI and a member of the Cumberland County Drug Task Force, was indicted by a federal grand jury for bribery, drug distribution, fraud and making false statements.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Special Agent in Charge Guido Modano of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General’s New York Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Michael Harpster of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office made the announcement.   

The indictment alleges that Christopher Collare, 52, of Blythewood, South Carolina, used his official position to obtain sex from two women in exchange for agreeing to take actions in prosecutions.  In 2015, Collare allegedly agreed to accept sex or money in exchange for not appearing at an evidentiary hearing so that a criminal charge would be dismissed.  In 2018, Collare allegedly agreed to accept sexual favors in exchange for taking steps to help reduce a potential sentence.

The indictment also alleges that Collare distributed heroin in 2016. The indictment alleges that between 2011 and 2018 he defrauded the Borough of Carlisle and the Cumberland County Drug Task Force by providing confidential informants with drugs and allowing informants to retain drugs that they had obtained during controlled buys.

The indictment further alleges that Collare lied on a federal form he completed during the process of becoming an FBI task force officer and that he made multiple false statements in an interview with federal agents in May 2018.

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General investigated the case.  Trial Attorney James I. Pearce of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carlo D. Marchioli and Phillip J. Caraballo are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.