An ex-FBI agent was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday for stealing heroin from evidence to feed his own addiction.
Matthew Lowry, 33, had pleaded gulty in March to 64 charges of obstruction of justice, falsifying records, heroin possession and conversion of property.
Lowry broke down in tears in court as he apologized to his family. Before that, Lowry's father -- a former police chief -- was also in tears as he asked for mercy for his son.
After court, Lowry was less emotional, as he said he had thought about how safe he would be as a former FBI agent in prison.
"It concerns me, but I have assurances from the Bureau of Prisons that measures will be taken to ensure my safety wherever location I will go," Lowry said.
"I'm appreciative that it's not a very lengthy time that was given to me," Lowry said. "I understand that punishment must be given in my case."
Lowry was formerly a special agent with the agency's Washington field office. He admitted to tampering with hundreds of grams of heroin seized during drug investigations in 2013 and 2014, keeping it in his car for weeks or months, and periodically using it, according to charging documents filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Fueled by an addiction to prescription painkillers, Lowry abused heroin from his own drug investigations and in the process botched dozens of cases involving suspected drug traffickers in multiple states, according to details that emerged just before his sentencing.
The accusations against Lowry caused federal prosecutors to dismiss charges against 25 defendants in drug cases -- some of whom had pleaded guilty. Prosecutors had to notify 150 more that Lowry had participated in investigations targeting them, according to charging documents.
Lowry's attorneys had argued that he was in the grip of a powerful addiction. One of his doctors had prescribed him powerful pain medications without warning him of how addictive they were, said his attorney, Robert Bonsib, at the time of Lowry's guilty plea.
When his doctor left the practice without notice, Lowry tried to kick the addiction but it was "overpowering" and the pain from his medical condition was "unbearable," Bonsib said.
"Mr. Lowry recognizes the importance of taking full responsibility for each of his acts and he also recognizes the need to account to the public for his misconduct," Bonsib said.
