There will be more charges added for drug sales in Chicopee, district attorney Mark Mastroianni said.
Paul C. BarkyoumbSPRINGFIELD - Bail was set Monday at $750,000 cash or $7.5 million surety for former Holyoke police officer Paul C. Barkyoumb, who was arrested Sunday in West Springfield on drug charges.
Barkyoumb, dressed in jeans and a light blue shirt, denied charges of cocaine trafficking in the amount of 28 to 100 grams and violation of a drug-free school zone.
Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni and Barkyoumb's lawyer, Jeffrey S. Weisser, agreed to the bail amount, although Weisser can argue for a reduction in the amount at a later date.
Barkyoumb had resigned as a police officer after admitting guilt to harassing an ex-girlfriend. Springfield District Court Judge William J. Boyle said Barkyoumb will be transported to Westfield District Court to answer a charge of violating the terms of his probation in that case.
Barkyoumb was arrested around 2:30 p.m. Sunday in West Springfield although the alleged cocaine trafficking happened in Springfield, Mastroianni said after the arraignment.
The drug case was the result of an investigation by the Hampden County Task Force that includes local and state police.
Mastroianni said a person working with police gave police information which started the investigation.
During the investigation Barkyoumb arranged and negotiated for the sale of drugs and was paid the money directly, Mastroianni said. There are recordings of Barkyoumb's activities which will serve as evidence, he said.
Mastroianni said Barkyoumb also made drug sales in Chicopee. Instead of proceeding with charges in Distict Court there, Mastroianni said, the Chicopee offenses will be presented to a Hampden Superior Court grand jury along with the Springfield charges.
As a narcotics officer in Holyoke, Barkyoumb had worked with the Task Force in the past.
A 17-year member of the Holyoke Police Department, Barkyoumb resigned in September 2010 after admitting guilt to harassing a former girlfriend by sending text messages and through telephone calls. One text message read "Y R U afraid? Psycho, dike (sic) . . . I will find a way to get you back."
In addition to resigning his police position, Barkyoumb was sentenced to two years probation. He was also required to stay away from his ex-girlfriend and cannot possess firearms, a license to carry or a firearms identification card for two years.
That was not the first time Barkyoumb had been in trouble. In February 2009, a Hampden Superior Court judge refused to allow evidence in a drug case investigated by Barkyoumb, ruling that the officer had "demonstrated an unhesitating willingness to offer false testimony."
Judge Cornelius J. Moriarty II ruled in Hampden Superior Court that police trumped up a surveillance to obtain a search warrant of a man accused of trafficking in cocaine, issuing a decision that accused a state trooper and Barkyoumb of lying that amounted to "lawlessness."
