A corrupt AFP officer busted for passing restricted information to his ex-girlfriend's alleged pimp was a regular drug user who timed binges to avoid getting caught.
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Last year the officer was sentenced to 12 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to a range of charges related to drug use and corruption.
Now, a joint investigation by the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity and the AFP has uncovered the extent of the officer's drug use as well as his links to the criminal underworld.
"During search warrants executed at the home of Officer A, ACLEI and the AFP located a number of items of AFP equipment which Officer A later admitted to have stolen, as well as a quantity of drugs," read the investigation report, seen by Fairfax Media.
"Officer A admitted to being a regular user of illicit drugs, timing drug use to coincide with rostered days off in order to avoid detection through the AFP mandatory drug testing regime.
"He also admitted to associating regularly with people involved in criminal activity."
Sources confirmed to Fairfax Media that the employee in question was former protective services officer John Lewis Wallis, from Queanbeyan.
Court documents revealed how the sordid affair unfolded after Wallis was contacted by an ex-girlfriend, an alleged sex worker who was reportedly looking for a new pimp.
Wallis accessed the AFP database to look up the alleged pimp's criminal history, taking a picture of the screen on his mobile phone and sending it to the man in an apparent attempt to curry favour.
"These issues in Officer A's private life had gradually intruded into his official functions, to the point where he was using access granted through his official role to benefit those with whom he had personal relationships," read the investigation report.
The ploy unravelled in September 2015, when police caught wind of a "significant corruption issue" in which a civilian was being passed inside information from the database.
An audit of computer access records identified Wallis, then working as an armed and uniformed protective services officer in the AFP.
Following his arrest, Wallis told officers he had previously looked up people on the AFP system to show his girlfriend her friends were not good people, but he knew it was wrong and in contravention of his training.
Police subsequently searched his Queanbeyan home, where they found 2.5 grams of methamphetamine and three MDMA tablets in a cigarette packet inside a safe.
Wallis told police he had bought the drugs online using bitcoin and had sold some to friends.
Officers also found guns, including an AFP training Glock, batons and handcuffs, which Wallis said he had taken from Parliament House.
In May 2016, Wallis was sentenced to 12 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to the charges in the Queanbeyan District Court.
The recently-released internal investigation report also revealed how Wallis had been removed from a previous overseas deployment with the AFP because he had issues with alcohol abuse.
"As this matter was dealt with overseas, and because it did not reach a threshold for gravity, it was not known to [the professional standards unit] before the current investigation was well underway," it read.
Integrity Commissioner Michael Griffin AM concluded in the report that Wallis had engaged in corrupt conduct, but had been up-front in his willingness to take responsibility for it.
The AFP has since undertaken "significant reform" of its drug testing regime and is considering other ways to make sure such warning signs are spotted early.
