A former Chesapeake police sergeant admitted today to stealing from an undercover drug fund last year.
Stanford Wayne Allen II, 45, pleaded guilty to three counts of misdemeanor embezzlement of money with a value of less than $1,000. He will serve 20 days in the Virginia Beach jail, pay restitution of $1,800, complete an anti-theft course and do 100 hours of community service.
He was given a suspended sentence of two years and 345 days incarceration.
Stanford Wayne Allen (Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy)
The charges stem from an investigation that began in July 2024. At the time, Allen was an 18 year law enforcement veteran and was responsible for managing the Vice and Narcotics unit’s confidential criminal fund. He began his role managing the fund and was trained in 2023.
The fund, which is a cash fund kept in a safe, is used by officers to pay confidential informants and conduct other police work such as controlled drug buys. Allen was responsible for tracking the money coming in and going out of the fund.
At the end of each month, a review of the month’s expenses is completed. The supervising sergeant is given a check to replace the fund’s balance, which is cashed and put back into the safe.
Special prosecutor Michael Stehlin likened it to balancing a checkbook.
“It is a very simple process, requiring little or no preparation,” Stehlin said.
In July 2024, Allen started taking money out of the fund for personal use and falsifying records to make it appear that other officers had checked out the funds for police work. In one instance, he wrote in the ledger that a sum had been paid to a deactivated confidential informant who hadn’t worked with the department since 2020.
Surveillance and interviews conducted during the investigation provided evidence that Allen had misused the funds. Investigators found large withdrawals and deposits in Allen’s bank accounts.
On Oct. 30, 2024, Allen went to Truist Bank — where the department does not have an account but he personally banks — then drove to the Vice and Narcotics office, despite having a scheduled day off. The other officers from the unit were out of the office conducting police work.
He took Truist bank envelopes with cash and placed them in the safe to cover up the fund’s discrepancies. An audit of the fund took place the next day, and it was later discovered that Allen’s report contained a fraudulent starting balance for November.
When confronted about the discrepancy, Allen admitted to taking the money to pay a bill.
Files related to the fund’s balance were also recovered from Allen’s residence. Investigators determined that Allen acted alone to steal the funds between July and October 2024.
Stehlin said that Allen was trusted with the funds by the department and called his actions “flagrantly in violation of his duties.”
The criminal investigation into Allen led to the dismissal of drug charges against two men. Four additional cases involving nine defendants that Allen was involved with were dropped due to the investigation into his misconduct.
In 2019, Allen was named Top Cop for the Chesapeake Police Department and the entire Hampton Roads region by the Greater Hampton Roads Crime Lines. He left the department in January.
Retired judge Leslie L. Lilley presided over the case. All of the Chesapeake Circuit Court judges recused themselves, citing Allen’s regular testimony in their courtrooms.
When asked by Lilley if he wanted to make a statement in court, Allen declined.
He will report to the Virginia Beach jail on Nov. 14 to serve a weekend sentence.
Emma Rose Brown, 757-805-2256, emma.brown@virginiamedia.com
