United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that ANDREW NGUYEN, a former officer in the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres to conspiring to solicit and receive bribes, conspiring to distribute narcotics, and possessing a firearm in connection with the conspiracy to distribute narcotics. NGUYEN is scheduled to be sentenced on June 22, 2026.
“Andrew Nguyen betrayed the community he swore to protect,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “In exchange for bribes, Nguyen used his power as a police officer to distribute deadly drugs in New York City. New Yorkers have the most effective and most respected police department in the world because the NYPD and the people of New York will not tolerate bad cops. Today’s guilty plea reinforces that message.”
According to the Indictment, plea agreement, and statements made in court:
For approximately three years, between at least in or about 2020 and November 2023, NGUYEN used his position as a police officer in the NYPD to solicit and accept tens of thousands of dollars in bribe payments in exchange for assisting another individual (“CC-1”) with the operation of CC-1’s drug trafficking enterprise. For example, NGUYEN transported drugs, including approximately eight kilograms of cocaine, for CC-1 while NGUYEN was armed with a firearm, including NGUYEN’s NYPD-authorized off-duty firearm, which NGUYEN planned to use to protect CC-1 if violence occurred. While transporting those drugs, NGUYEN also carried his NYPD credentials and an NYPD parking placard, which NGUYEN planned to use to evade arrest in the event he was pulled over by other members of the NYPD. Overall, NGUYEN, who was at all relevant times an officer in the NYPD, accepted more than $30,000 in bribe payments from CC-1 (and solicited tens of thousands of dollars in additional bribes) in connection with NGUYEN’s participation in CC-1’s drug trafficking enterprise.
NGUYEN, 41, of Harriman, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive a bribe, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute mixtures and substances containing a detectable amount of cocaine, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, which must be served consecutively to any other term of prison, and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The statutory minimum and maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit and Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew J. King and Jonathan Rebold are in charge of the prosecution.
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