Three Hill Air Force Base workers were recently recorded by hidden cameras snorting cocaine while on the job, an investigator's affidavit filed in federal court says.
The document was filed in U.S. District Court here, where one of the men, James Thomas Valdez, 29, Farmington, pleaded not guilty to possession of cocaine during his arraignment Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Ronald Boyce.No court date was set, but Boyce was told Valdez will be defended by Salt Lake City attorney Gilbert Athay.
In the meantime, Nevin James Sheldon, 39, of Layton, is scheduled to appear before Boyce Thursday afternoon on a similar possession charge.
Both men are charged with misdemeanors under federal law.
A court clerk said no court date has been set for the third defendant, Gregory J. Acosta, 34, of Salt Lake City.
Acosta was arrested on a felony information charge and faces a federal grand jury indictment on the more serious charge of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute.
In the affidavit, Joe M. Aguirre, a special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, said hidden cameras were used to detect the alleged crimes.
The cameras were installed in response to information that certain civilian workers were using cocaine on the job, the document said.
The affidavit said that on Oct. 18, the camera showed Acosta forming three rows of white powder on the glass of a pressure gauge, then snorting one of the lines. Later, Valdez and Sheldon entered alone and each inhaled the remaining powder, the document says.
It said Acosta and Valdez snorted more later in the day.
Although Acosta wiped off the glass, the affidavit said, Weber State College crime laboratory personnel determined that remaining powder on the device was cocaine.