Attorney General James Announces Conviction and Resignation of Former New York State Police Trooper Who Jeopardized Narcotics Investigation

August 25, 2026

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced the conviction and resignation of Rosalia Flower, 35, of Lancaster, a former New York State Police (NYSP) trooper, for leaking confidential information and jeopardizing a major narcotics investigation in Western New York. Flower was assigned to monitor wiretaps during an investigation led by the Office of the Attorney General's (OAG) Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF), which resulted in the indictment of 17 individuals on August 20, 2026 for narcotics trafficking. While monitoring the wiretaps, Flower used her personal cellphone to take photographs containing confidential investigative information, and shared at least one photograph in a text message with a friend. The leaked photograph was shared with targets of the investigation, causing part of the investigation to shut down. Flower pleaded guilty on July 20 to one count of Attempted Tampering with Physical Evidence, a Class A misdemeanor, and has resigned from NYSP.

"We hold our law enforcement professionals to the highest standards and trust them to keep New Yorkers safe," said Attorney General James. "This investigation was compromised because a trooper flagrantly disregarded her duty and put law enforcement officers and New York families in danger. Despite this leak, our investigators continued their hard work and were able to successfully arrest 17 individuals for their role in narcotics trafficking. My office and our law enforcement partners will continue working to keep dangerous narcotics out of our communities."

"The New York State Police does not tolerate wrongdoing by its members - especially when that wrongdoing breaks the law," said New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James. "Once we confirmed Trooper Flower's actions, we pursued this investigation with the same focus and intensity as any other criminal case, committed to uncovering the truth. Trooper Flower's actions do not reflect the values of the State Police or our members, who do outstanding work each day to keep our communities safe. I thank the Attorney General's Office for their continued partnership and support throughout this investigation."

The multi-agency narcotics investigation that Flower was assigned to was led by OAG in partnership with NYSP and multiple other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. On August 20, 2026, 17 individuals were charged with 117 crimes for their roles in the drug trafficking operation, which trafficked cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl in Erie, Monroe, Niagara, and Onondaga Counties, as well as Puerto Rico.

During the investigation, OAG detectives intercepted a text message sent on July 10, 2025 from the phone of one of the investigation's targets. This text message included a photograph that contained confidential information about the operation, clearly taken by someone involved in the investigation.

The OAG and NYSP opened a separate investigation into the source of the photograph and leaked information. This investigation found that on July 2, 2025, Flower used her personal cellphone to take a photograph that contained confidential investigative information. Flower then sent the photograph to at least one individual who was not involved in the drug trafficking investigation. This photograph was then shared with targets of the investigation, informing these individuals that they were being surveilled and ultimately causing part of the investigation to shut down.

In July 2025, as part of the investigation into the leaked photograph, NYSP questioned Flower about the photograph and text message. Flower at first denied that she was the individual who took the photograph and attempted to place blame on others who were involved in surveillance. During a second questioning by NYSP in September 2025, Flower admitted to taking the leaked photograph. She also admitted to taking other photographs of herself while on surveillance duty which she had deleted after her first interview with NYSP.

On July 20, 2026, Flower was arrested and charged with the crime of Tampering with Physical Evidence, a Class E felony. On the same day, she was arraigned before State Supreme Court Justice Paul Wojtaszek in Buffalo and pleaded guilty to the crime of Attempted Tampering with Physical Evidence, a Class A misdemeanor. As a condition of her guilty plea, Flower submitted her letter of resignation, effective immediately, to NYSP Superintendent Steven James and is barred from serving as a police or peace officer of New York state.

Attorney General James thanks NYSP's Special Investigative Unit (SIU) and the NYSP Computer Crimes Unit of Troop E for their work on the investigation.

The OAG's investigation was conducted by Detectives Michael Hockwater, Christopher DiPasquale, and Ebony Brown, under the supervision of Detective Supervisor Peter Fitzgerald, all of the Major Investigations Unit. The Investigations Bureau is led by Chief Investigator Oliver Pu-Folkes.

The OAG case was prosecuted by Public Integrity Assistant Attorney General Susan H. Sadinsky, under the supervision of Public Integrity Bureau Chief Gerard Murphy and Deputy Bureau Chief Mary Gorman, with assistance from Public Integrity Legal Support Analyst Samantha Shaughnessy and Auditor Investigator Pushvinder Saini, under the supervision of Chief Auditor Kristen Fabbri and Deputy Chief Auditor Sandy Bizzarro. Both the Public Integrity Bureau and Major Crimes Bureau are part of the Division of Criminal Justice, led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Jose Maldonado and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux.