Meatball Defense Fails NYPD Veteran Detective

The New York Police Department has fired a veteran counterterrorism detective who flunked a drug test, finding that claims his wife served him marijuana-spiked meatballs "simply weren't credible," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said yesterday.

With the dismissal, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly rejected an earlier recommendation by an administrative judge that the detective, Anthony Chiofalo, be reinstated. Mr. Kelly has final say on firings.

An attorney for Mr. Chiofalo did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.

Mr. Chiofalo, a 22-year-veteran assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, was suspended without pay in 2005 after a random drug test found marijuana in his system. The officer denied ever using drugs and demanded a hearing.

During an investigation, his wife said she had secretly substituted marijuana for oregano in her meatball recipe in hopes of forcing him to leave police work.