MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — A Connecticut State Police trooper was arrested for allegedly allowing his girlfriend to access a reporting system that contains sensitive information, authorities revealed Wednesday.
Trooper Mitchell Paz, 29, who served at State Police Troop I in Bethany, was charged with computer crimes and conspiracy to commit computer crimes following an internal affairs investigation.
According to police, officials learned of the allegations that Paz was working with a woman – identified as Amanda Marino of Terryville – to grant her access to the Law Enforcement Administration Software (LEAS), a state police computer system that had information about an ongoing drug investigation.
That investigation was related to Shawn Roka, of Watertown, who was arrested in December 2022 on numerous drug and firearms-related charges. Police said Roka and Marino have a child together.
Meanwhile, Marino and Paz are allegedly in a romantic relationship together, the arrest warrant said.
Police said Paz was not involved in or was privy to the investigation that led to Roka’s arrest and had no valid law enforcement reason to access any related reports.
On January 2023, officials received information that Marino allegedly used Paz’s state police-issued laptop to access reports associated with Roka’s arrest and then replayed information contained in those reports to Roka.
Most notably, the information leaked to Roka could jeopardize the identity of a confidential informant and undercover state police detectives used in the investigation.
In an interview with police, Roka told officers that Marino shared handwritten notes what that report, of which he took photos. He said that Roka did not know exactly how she would have access to the information other than through Paz’s computer.
Roka claimed he did not conspire with Marino to obtain the information.
Speaking to police, Marino denied having Paz’s passwords to his work computer and that she had never accessed it.
According to the arrest warrant, police said they believe Paz accessed the files and likely relayed the information to Marino, who was near him.
Paz was placed on administrative leave with no police powers after the allegations were learned. After his arrest, Paz was fully suspended with pay.
Paz joined the Connecticut State Police in 2015 and was previously assigned to Troop A – Southbury and Troop G-Bridgeport.
Roka and Marino were arrested in February. Roka faces a charge of conspiracy to commit a computer crime, while Marino faces charges of computer crimes and conspiracy to commit computer crimes.
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