William McCartneyPHOENIX (AP) -
A former Phoenix police detective accused of evidence tampering and narcotics theft from the department's property room has pleaded not guilty.
William B. McCartney, 37, entered his plea Thursday. His next scheduled court date is a Sept. 7 initial pretrial conference, Maricopa County prosecutors said.
McCartney was arrested June 27 in Pittsburgh and extradited to Phoenix on July 18. He was indicted last month on multiple counts of tampering with evidence, possession of narcotics and dangerous drugs, computer tampering, felony theft and fraudulent schemes.
Phoenix police conducted a quarterly audit of drug items cleared for destruction from its property room in January 2011. They discovered some Oxycodone tablets were replaced with over-the-counter medication.
McCartney was arrested in March 2011, but quit the police force and was released pending an investigation.
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