[Louis Cypher]

Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Joe Guillen
Plain Dealer Reporter

A Cleveland firefighter was the target of a recent undercover drug investigation and was charged last week with conspiracy to sell cocaine.

Cleveland police and the Drug Enforcement Administration, in a joint investigation, began monitoring Michael Pavlik, 34, more than a week ago when an informant named him as a local drug trafficker, according to an affidavit filed in federal court Jan. 20.

After authorities taped Pavlik discussing selling cocaine, they obtained a search warrant Jan. 19 for his West 57th Street home. Authorities arrested him and found a digital scale, handgun and kitchen blender that contained a "white powdery residue," according to the affidavit.

But police did not find narcotics during the search, said Cleveland police spokesman Lt. Thomas Stacho.

Pavlik was charged in U.S. District Court with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. He has been released on $25,000 bond and his case has been sent to a grand jury.

Pavlik could not be reached for comment.

In addition to searching Pavlik's home, authorities also discovered and seized $65,000, which included illegal gambling proceeds, that was in a safe at the house of Pavlik's mother, according to the affidavit.

The Cleveland Fire Department hired Pavlik in 2001, said Bob Fisher, president of Firefighters Local 93.

The affidavit also gave details of Pavlik's statements to authorities: He began buying cocaine from the informant in the summer of 2005, eventually buying more than 2 ounces at a time. Pavlik was using cocaine after the Cleveland Fire Department laid him off. He was rehired in November 2005.

"He was a good kid, hardworking," Fisher said. "That's all I ever heard about him."

"At this point, he's on administrative leave," said Cleveland fire spokesman Larry Gray in confirming Pavlik was an employee.

Plain Dealer reporter Mike Tobin and news researcher Jo Ellen Corrigan contributed to this story.