An L.A. police officer surrendered to authorities and faced a judge today after prosecutors alleged he tried to sell prescription hydrocodone pills to an undercover Los Angeles Police Department detective, prosecutors said.

The L.A. County District Attorney's office says 40-year-old Randolph Agard responded to an online ad posted by LAPD Northeast Division narcotics detectives posing as potential buyers. According to a D.A.'s statement, “Agard allegedly responded the same day and agreed to a meeting.”

When the suspect, an LAPD officer, arrived, …
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 … he allegedly had 20 hydrocodone pills in a jacket pocket, prosecutors said.

The sting happened April 23 and, according to L.A. County Sheriff's Department inmate data, Agard was arrested that day, booked the next, and released on April 25.

His bail was initially set at $30,000, but the D.A.'s office says the cop has been released on his own recognizance.

In court this morning Agard pleaded not guilty to “one count of sale or transportation for sale of a controlled substance and one count of possession for sale of a controlled substance,” according to the D.A.'s statement.

He could face five years behind bars if successfully prosecuted. He has a scheduled, July 17 preliminary hearing in court, prosecutors said.

We reached out to the LAPD but were told the department had not statement on the matter yet.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which wants to reschedule hydrocodone from level III to II to allow stricter controls, says the drug “is the most frequently prescribed opioid in the United States and is associated with more drug abuse and diversion than any other licit or illicit opioid.”

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