Hudson Valley Youth Football Coach Guilty of Heroin Trafficking

A Hudson Valley Pop Warner youth football coach pleaded guilty in connection to an undercover heroin trafficking probe.

In Rockland County Court, 50-year-old Theodore Holmes of Middletown plead guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony.

During an undercover drug operation called “Operation Money Mike,” Holmes was heard on several intercepted phone calls detailing efforts to sell heroin in Orange and Rockland counties.

On July 25, 2015, Holmes was recorded placing an order of heroin to heroin suppler Michael McMullin. Officials say Holmes was going to resell the drugs to his own customers.

Soon after, with a 13-year-old football player from his Valley Cottage-based Pop Warner team in his vehicle, Holmes purchased heroin from McMullin in Spring Valley and drove to Orange County.

During an ensuing vehicle pursuit with law enforcement, Holmes told the boy to toss the drugs out the moving car. The heroin was later recovered by police.

"This defendant is the last person you would want coaching young athletes," said Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe said in a statement. "When we encounter a case such as this, we will make it a priority to prosecute it to the fullest. Our community is yearning for solid role models and it’s a real tragedy when this trust is violated."