San Diego

A San Diego fire captain fired for illegal drug use has lost his appeal with the city’s Civil Service Commission for reinstatement.

In a report released Thursday, the panel said the dismissal of George Jessup, a 17-year Fire Department veteran until his firing last November, was “reasonable, fully justified and warranted.”

Jessup was one of four San Diego firefighters disciplined and charged in the wake of a police investigation into illegal drug activity among firefighters.

Of the remaining three cases, a captain also lost his bid for reinstatement before the commission, while a firefighter was reinstated and another firefighter’s suspension was overturned.

According to a police investigation from August, 1988, Jessup was arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana and during the arrest was found with a marijuana cigarette in his shirt pocket.

The next day, Jessup held a party at his Crest home, where undercover police said he was observed smoking marijuana and offering it to his guests. Two dozen marijuana plants were found growing in his vegetable garden, police said.

Two days later, police said, Jessup gave 0.04 grams of cocaine to an undercover police officer at a theater on Sports Arena Boulevard. A subsequent police search of his home allegedly uncovered various amounts of marijuana, along with a marijuana plant that had grown 5 feet tall.

Under a federal court agreement, the prosecution of criminal charges filed against Jessup was deferred for one year with the provision that prosecution be dropped after that time if he has refrained from any criminal activity.