Alan Souto veteran Passaic County Sheriff's Officer pleaded guilty today to stealing cocaine from a department evidence room

Veteran Passaic County Sheriff's Officer pleaded guilty today to stealing cocaine from a department evidence room and selling it to drug dealers. Alan Souto, 40, who was also a Haledon Borough councilman, admitted swiping more than 5 kilos before federal District Judge Jose Linares in Newark. He is a 20-year sheriff's department veteran and oversaw the evidence room from September 2006 until his arrest in March 2008.He admitted selling the cocaine -- seized in the course of various federal, state and local criminal investigations -- for about $250,000. Souto was arrested in March after the theft was discovered at the evidence room in Wayne. He admitted to conspiring to possess and distribute cocaine.He also agreed to surrender the $250,000 he netted through selling the cocaine. Souto, of Haledon, was elected to the borough council in 2005 and resigned after his arrest.