A former Elmira police officer who abused her law enforcement authority to leak confidential investigative intelligence to the subject of an active narcotics probe will not serve any time in jail, following a sentencing hearing held in Elmira City Court. The sentencing concludes a criminal case that revealed serious internal security breaches within the municipal police department.
Shyonna Pacheco, a 26-year-old resident of Breesport, was officially ordered by the court to complete three years of probation. The sentence comes after Pacheco entered a guilty plea on March 31 to a charge of second-degree attempted hindering prosecution, a class A misdemeanor under New York State law, resolving the criminal allegations leveled against her.
Pacheco’s legal troubles originated in the autumn of 2025, culminating in her formal arrest by investigators from the New York State Police on October 15. The state-level intervention occurred after local departmental leadership discovered that confidential investigative information had been improperly accessed and disseminated outside authorized law enforcement channels, triggering a specialized external inquiry.
At the time of her arrest by state police, Pacheco faced a broader set of criminal accusations. Prosecutors originally lodged charges against her that included full hindering prosecution, obstruction of governmental administration, and official misconduct. These initial charges were subsequently reduced and consolidated as part of the formal plea bargain reached between the defense and the prosecution.
During her court proceedings before Elmira City Court Judge Peter Finnerty, Pacheco explicitly admitted to the actions that precipitated her criminal charges. She confessed that she had deliberately attempted to render criminal assistance to a person who was the primary target of an active felony drug investigation conducted by law enforcement authorities.
According to the admissions made on the record in court, Pacheco exploited her official capacity as an active Elmira police officer to obtain restricted, confidential intelligence. Instead of safeguarding the sensitive case files, she deliberately accessed the data and handed it over to a relative who maintained close personal ties to the felony drug suspect under investigation.
That relative subsequently passed the sensitive police records and warnings along to the drug suspect. The resulting leak had immediate and detrimental repercussions for law enforcement operations, severely compromising the integrity of the active narcotics probe and jeopardizing the potential for successful future prosecution of the alleged criminal conduct.
The breach of departmental security originally came to light in July, when Elmira Police Chief Kristen Thorne received critical information indicating that Pacheco had engaged in the unauthorized release of ongoing investigative details. The unauthorized disclosure presented immediate operational risks and directly threatened the viability of the police department's investigative efforts.
Chief Thorne noted that Pacheco’s unauthorized actions specifically placed individuals connected to the drug investigation in serious jeopardy. Due to the high-stakes nature of the felony investigation and the personal danger posed to those involved, Chief Thorne promptly sought the assistance and independent oversight of the New York State Police to spearhead the investigation.
As the New York State Police pursued their deeper inquiry into Pacheco's conduct, investigators reportedly discovered other separate instances in which the officer had improperly handled confidential information. However, under the specific terms outlined in the negotiated plea agreement, prosecutors agreed not to pursue additional criminal counts for those separate instances of misconduct.
In addition to serving three years on probation and avoiding incarceration, Pacheco was required to make substantial concessions regarding her career in public service. As an explicit condition of her plea agreement, she was mandated to permanently resign from her position as a police officer, a step she finalized prior to her court sentencing.
City records show that Pacheco’s tenure with the municipal police force had begun relatively recently. According to Elmira City Council official records, Pacheco was formally appointed to the position of police officer in January 2023 at an annual starting salary of $52,135. Her law enforcement service was halted when she was immediately placed on suspension following her October 2025 arrest.
To ensure fairness, transparency, and the absence of any perceived bias throughout the judicial proceedings, the prosecution of Pacheco was reassigned away from local prosecutors. The Schuyler County District Attorney's Office was officially appointed to handle the case to prevent any potential conflict of interest that could arise within the Chemung County District Attorney's Office.
With her formal resignation submitted, her guilty plea entered, and the sentencing finalized in Elmira City Court, Pacheco will now serve out her three-year term of supervised probation in Breesport. The case closes a chapter that prompted internal departmental scrutiny and required multi-agency coordination to address criminal misconduct within local law enforcement ranks.
(0)