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Drug Probes Find Smugglers In The Military (The Los Angeles Times
says the American military has encountered an unexpected enemy in its war
on drugs: U.S. servicemen smuggling marijuana and cocaine into California
for Mexican drug rings. At least 50 Marines and sailors have been
investigated "in recent years" for drug running, according to the Naval
Criminal Investigative Service. Eight military probes involving 20 Marine
and Navy suspects were launched in the past year alone. And here's an
interesting statistic: Out of an active duty force of 1.4 million, 4,888
servicemen and women were discharged in fiscal 1998 for drug-related
misconduct - mostly marijuana and cocaine use.)

Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 16:17:30 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Drug Probes Find Smugglers In The Military
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jim Rosenfield
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Copyright: 1998 Los Angeles Times.
Fax: 213-237-4712
Pubdate: 13 December 1998
Author: H.G. Reza, Times Staff Writer

DRUG PROBES FIND SMUGGLERS IN THE MILITARY

SAN DIEGO--The American military has encountered an unexpected enemy in its
war on drugs: U.S. servicemen smuggling marijuana and cocaine into
California for Mexican drug rings.

At least 50 Marines and sailors have been investigated "in recent years"
for drug running, according to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Eight military probes involving 20 Marine and Navy suspects were launched
in the past year alone, officials said in response to a Times inquiry. And
investigators said five of the cases involved Marines suspected of driving
narcotics through Camp Pendleton to apparently help traffickers avoid the
Border Patrol checkpoint on nearby Interstate 5. Officials refused to
provide names of the suspects or other details about the smuggling cases,
including how many were prosecuted or convicted. The number of service
members implicated in smuggling is relatively small compared to the more
than 100,000 sailors and Marines stationed in the San Diego area.

But the development represents an insidious twist in the corrupting
influence of the drug trade, which previously has spawned bribery
investigations and convictions of several federal border agents. Records
show that some servicemen who were arrested by federal drug agents worked
for major Mexican drug rings. Authorities say most, if not all, of these
rings have ties to the violent Arellano-Felix cartel of Tijuana that
funnels tons of cocaine and marijuana into the United States. Officials
were reluctant to discuss the investigations because a number are ongoing.
However, some acknowledged privately that they are surprised and dismayed
that any servicemen were involved in smuggling at a time that the military
has been used to help stem the flow of drugs across the border.

"Overall, we don't consider [military drug smugglers] a [big] problem,"
said a senior federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of
anonymity.

"But it's one that interests us because you don't expect military personnel
to be involved in drug smuggling."

A few servicemen allegedly used their military training or positions to
assist the traffickers, records show.

In one case, an active duty Marine sneaked marijuana shipments into the
United States by using a rubber speedboat to elude Coast Guard and Navy
radar. Under cover of night, the drugs were delivered to waiting vehicles
at San Diego County beaches.

Military authorities said some servicemen were recruited at Tijuana
nightspots and allegedly were paid to transport drugs across the border in
private vehicles. Marines and sailors, they said, evidently were chosen
because their clean-cut looks made them less likely to raise suspicion
among border inspectors and to be searched.

Cases Called 'Isolated Incidents'

Debbie Hartman, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney here, said her office
does not track convictions by occupation and does not know how many
servicemen have been convicted of smuggling.

Pentagon officials said they do not know how many servicemen have been
court-martialed and convicted for drug smuggling--nor how many from each
branch are now under investigation.

"The number of smuggling cases is so rare that we don't track them," said
Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Tom Begines in Washington. "This
is something that rarely happens because the military has a deserved
reputation for being hard on drug usage."

Begines said that out of an active duty force of 1.4 million, 4,888
servicemen and women were discharged for drug-related misconduct--mostly
marijuana and cocaine use--in fiscal 1998.

In a written response to questions from The Times, NCIS Special Agent Wayne
Clookie said that at least 50 Marines and sailors have been investigated or
currently are under investigation for narcotics trafficking in the San
Diego area.

"To the best of our knowledge, these are isolated incidents," he said. "We
have no information which would indicate [drug smuggling] is a widespread
problem."

He said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which handles
investigations for the Navy and Marine Corps, is examining cases developed
by its investigators and is looking into alleged smuggling by servicemen
who have been apprehended by civilian law enforcement agencies. Capt. Gregg
Hartung, Navy spokesman in San Diego, said only one sailor was
court-martialed for drug smuggling in fiscal 1998. Seaman Jeffrey T. Baca
was arrested March 20, 1998, at the border trying to import "in excess of
122 pounds of marijuana," he said.

Baca was reduced in rank, sentenced to 12 months in the brig and will be
discharged upon completing his sentence, Hartung said. "The Navy has
mandated training for every sailor, making everyone aware of the dangers in
visiting Mexico," he said.

"When [drug smuggling] does happen, we consider it a serious infraction
that warrants vigorous prosecution."

Two Marines Are Indicted

In the last two years, U.S. Customs Service agents have investigated
10 to 15 such cases of active-duty military men and reservists involved
in narcotics trafficking, according to a federal official familiar with the
probes. Investigations by U.S. Customs and Drug Enforcement
Administration agents have resulted in the indictment of at
least two Marines here during the past year, and one National Guard soldier
is a fugitive, records show. Smuggling cases targeting dozens of military
personnel have arisen while U.S. Army, California National Guard and Marine
units were conducting drug interdiction patrols along the border.

Ground patrols were ended in the summer of 1997, after a shooting incident
in Redford, Texas, where a team of Camp Pendleton Marines killed a U.S.
citizen who allegedly fired at them.

As some Marines were patrolling the border, Marine Lance Cpl. Jason Allen
Miller and a Mexican national were arrested at 2 a.m. on Feb. 9, 1997, by
customs agents for transporting 1,000 pounds of marijuana in a 14-foot
Quicksilver rubber speedboat off the San Diego coast. Miller pleaded guilty
and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Miller, 22, had been trained in military beach landing techniques, said one
investigator.

Court records alleged that Miller and his accomplice dumped seven U.S. Army
duffel bags of marijuana into the sea when they were apprehended.
Investigators said Miller acknowledged that he previously smuggled eight
similar loads but declined to say who hired him or how much money he was
paid. A state Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman said Miller had been
listed as owner or co-owner of 27 vehicles, including two watercraft.
Miller did not respond to an interview request submitted to his attorney,
Steve Hubachek, who declined to comment.

Court records show that Miller was working for a drug ring run by some
members of a San Diego-area family that had confederates on both sides of
the border. The patriarch, Claude Wayne Nicholas, was convicted in a
separate marijuana smuggling case and he died of cancer in federal prison
in July. One of his sons, Martin Ricardo Nicholas, 28, was convicted along
with Miller. According to military records, Martin Nicholas was an
ex-Marine who was honorably discharged in 1993.

Marine Reservist Becomes a Fugitive

In a separate case, another son, Juan Cruz Nicholas, 23, was arrested
in 1997 with Marine reservist Jerry Sandy Makepeace, 28. Makepeace
had ties to both Nicholas brothers. Records show that he worked at the same
Tijuana junkyard with Juan Nicholas and served in the same Marine units
with Martin Nicholas between 1989 and 1991. When Makepeace was
arrested last year, he was out on bail from a 1996 marijuana
smuggling indictment. It alleged that Makepeace, a Guatemalan citizen,
"used his status in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve to circumvent the U.S.
Border Patrol checkpoint at San Clemente [on Interstate 5] by using the
roads at . . . Camp Pendleton when Makepeace was transporting marijuana."

The indictment identified Makepeace as a member of a Mexicali-based ring
that smuggled marijuana through the Imperial Valley. Court records said he
was "operating a marijuana distribution point" out of his Chula Vista
apartment. In June 1997, after he was freed on bail, Makepeace was arrested
in a DEA sting and indicted with Juan Cruz Nicholas for possession of
methamphetamine and assaulting a DEA agent. Nicholas received a sentence of
15 years and 8 months for aiding and abetting the distribution of
methamphetamine.

Sources said the 1996 indictment was dismissed partly because authorities
believed that the 1997 case was stronger. After the dismissal, Makepeace
was mistakenly released from federal custody in August 1997. Officials say
he is a fugitive.

Camp Pendleton Used by Traffickers

Earlier this year, a customs intelligence memo suggested that traffickers
still were using Camp Pendleton--a 125,000-acre installation about 60 miles
from Tijuana.

The Feb. 25 memo obtained by The Times said an informant told investigators
that the Arellano-Felix cartel transports small loads of marijuana through
the base to avoid the Border Patrol checkpoint on I-5 at San Onofre.

"The drug runners have a route through or around a barricade at Camp
Pendleton" by entering the base through Las Pulgas Road, five miles south
of the Border Patrol checkpoint, the memo stated.

Attempts to Avoid Checkpoint

NCIS agent Clookie said two civilians were arrested on the base in
November 1997 for transporting 52 pounds of marijuana. "They
attempted to cross the base to avoid the I-5 checkpoint," Clookie said.
"While the I-5 checkpoint may be avoided by crossing Camp
Pendleton, there is a greater chance of getting caught on base."

Camp Pendleton spokesman Lt. Eric Dent said Marine officials are aware of
the temptations young Marines face while visiting Tijuana. The base uses a
Department of Defense counselor to train Marines how to respond when
"targeted by drug peddlers, prostitutes and gangs."

"We expect our Marines to understand that if they're in Tijuana and are
asked to bring something across the border, they should fall back on our
core values," Dent said. "We don't want any part of this. But we realize
that our people are human and some mistakes will be made." One of the first
reported smuggling cases involving an active-duty Marine occurred in 1995.
The Times reported that Cpl. Yiluarde "Jerry" Pacheco belonged to a Mexican
drug ring based in Yorba Linda that was dismantled by the DEA. When he was
arrested, Pacheco was a staff member of the commanding general at Camp
Pendleton.

Links to Colombia Cartel Pacheco's ring had direct ties to the Cali cartel
in Colombia, and records show that the ring shipped up to 14 tons of
cocaine between 1993 and 1994 from Southern California to other U.S. cities.

An affidavit filed by a DEA agent said Pacheco rented dwellings for storing
cocaine and transported the drug. However, federal prosecutors said there
is no evidence that Pacheco shipped cocaine through Camp Pendleton. Pacheco
was convicted on smuggling charges and is serving a seven-year prison
sentence. He did not respond to an interview request. Authorities said
Marines and sailors are not the only servicemen suspected of smuggling.

California National Guard soldier David A. Garzon, 27, was assigned to the
Calexico port of entry to assist customs inspectors in checking commercial
trucks entering the United States from Mexico. Garzon, 27, was removed from
his position this year after National Guard officials learned he was the
subject of a federal investigation into corruption at the border.

Spokesman Maj. Stanley Zezotarski said, "The federal authorities told us
Garzon was under investigation for drug smuggling and we took him off the
line. Later on, Garzon found out he was being investigated and dropped out
of sight." He is now a fugitive, and customs agents say they want to
question him about a cocaine shipment of more than 1,000 pounds.

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Marines Reportedly Smuggled Drugs (The Associated Press version)

From: "Todd McCormick" (todd@a-vision.com)
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Marines Reportedly Smuggled Drugs
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 08:31:37 -0800
Reply-To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

Yahoo! News AP Headlines

Sunday December 13 9:23 PM ET
Marines Reportedly Smuggled Drugs

SAN DIEGO (AP) - U.S. servicemen have smuggled marijuana and cocaine into
California for drug rings, sometimes using their military training or
positions to aid traffickers, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

At least 50 Marines and sailors have been investigated or are under
investigation for narcotics trafficking, military officials told the Times.

That represents a fraction of the more than 100,000 personnel in the San
Diego area, said Wayne Clookie, a special agent for the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service.

``To the best of our knowledge, these are isolated incidents,'' Clookie said
in a written response to the newspaper. ``We have no information which would
indicate drug smuggling is a widespread problem.''

Although officials declined to provide specific case details, five involved
Marines who allegedly drove narcotics through Camp Pendleton to bypass the
U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on nearby Interstate 5. The site is 60 miles
north of Tijuana.

U.S. Customs Service agents have investigated 10 to 15 cases of active-duty
military men and reservists involved in narcotics trafficking, the Times
said, citing an unidentified federal official.

Federal drug agents also arrested some servicemen who allegedly were working
for Mexican drug rings, records showed.

Authorities said most of the rings had ties to the Arellano-Felix cartel of
Tijuana, which brings tons of cocaine and marijuana into the United States.

Among the key cases involving military personnel:

- Seaman Jeffrey T. Baca was arrested March 20 at the border while trying to
import more than 120 pounds of marijuana, according to Navy spokesman Capt.
Gregg Hartung in San Diego said. Baca was reduced in rank and will be
discharged after serving 12 months in the brig.

- Marine Lance Cpl. Jason Allen Miller and a Mexican national were arrested
on Feb. 9, 1997 for transporting 1,000 pounds of marijuana into the United
States by using a rubber speedboat to sneak past Coast Guard and Navy radar.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison.

- In 1995, Marine Cpl. Yiluarde ``Jerry'' Pacheco was arrested after DEA
officials alleged he belonged to a drug ring based in Yorba Linda.

Authorities alleged that drug ring had links to the powerful Cali cartel in
Colombia and had shipped up to 14 tons of cocaine from Southern California
to other U.S. cities. Pacheco is serving a seven-year prison sentence for
smuggling.

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Failing To Police Their Own - Win At All Costs series (The tenth and final
part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette series about the newspaper's two-year
investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors break the law
routinely. The Office of Professional Responsibility is the arm
of the US Justice Department that is supposed to enforce the law and ethics
among federal prosecutors. That's why Roger Pilon, a former Justice
Department official, was surprised to learn that the men who leaked erroneous
information about him to newspapers - leaks that violated federal privacy
laws - included top attorneys at the OPR. No one was ever punished.)

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 12:39:25 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Failing To Police Their Own - Win At All Costs series
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Nora Callahan http://www.november.org/
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 1998 PG Publishing
Pubdate: Sun, 13 Dec 1998
Contact: letters@post-gazette.com
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Author: Bill Moushey, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Note: This is the 1st item of the 10th part of a 10 part series, "Win At
All Costs" being published in the Post-Gazette. The series is also being
printed in The Blade, Toledo, OH email: letters@theblade.com

FAILING TO POLICE THEIR OWN

Justice'S Oversight Office Called Ineffective, Unresponsive

The story was as devastating as it was untrue.

Newspapers across the country, including the Post-Gazette, reported in 1990
that Roger Pilon, a former Justice Department official, had been
investigated and forced to resign for leaking -- through his wife -- top
secret information to the apartheid government of South Africa.

But at the time, the FBI already had cleared Pilon of the unfounded charge.
In fact, the Justice Department, in a letter sent in the fall of 1988
exonerating him and his wife of wrongdoing, had thanked Pilon for his
patience and cooperation.

It would be years before Pilon learned in court that the men who leaked
this erroneous information to newspapers -- leaks that violated federal
privacy laws -- included top attorneys at the Office of Professional
Responsibility, who were angry that the Justice Department hadn't heeded
their recommendation to fire him.

OPR is the very office that is supposed to ensure that federal lawyers
abide by the laws and ethical standards set by the federal government.

Pilon figured such blatant misconduct within the Justice Department's own
watchdog agency would be punished. He was wrong. He eventually sued the
Justice Department and in 1996 received a $250,000 settlement, but no one
was ever disciplined.

"In negotiations (with the Justice Department), we asked that disciplinary
action be taken," Pilon told Congress at a 1996 hearing on the ethical
responsibility of attorneys. "That was the first thing to go. The
department, it seems, would rather pay money -- the taxpayer's money --
than discipline . . . its own."

His experience mirrors many of the incidents detailed by the Post-Gazette's
two-year investigation into misconduct by federal agents and prosecutors.
Even when misconduct is clear, federal officials are loath to acknowledge
it, punish it or ensure that it doesn't happen again.

U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, whose Citizens Protection Act passed
the House last year before being partially dismantled in a conference
committee, last week described the Post-Gazette series as a diagram showing
what needs to be reformed.

He said he has received calls complaining about misconduct by federal law
enforcement officers from around the country since the series started three
weeks ago.

Murtha said he will press for legislation to address problems raised in the
series and will send a copy of the series to every member of Congress along
with a letter describing the investigation as "required reading."

Referring to the Justice Department, he said: "When you have the ability
and the vast resources to take away a person's liberty, you better play by
the rules."

Rogue Investigators

Created by the Justice Department in 1975, OPR investigates complaints
lodged against Justice Department attorneys "involving violation of any
standard imposed by law, applicable rules of professional conduct, or
Department policy."

It also oversees internal investigations by the FBI and DEA. The U.S.
Customs Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have their
own internal affairs sections.

OPR employs 19 attorneys -- its staff was doubled after 1995 Senate
hearings into disastrous confrontations by federal agents at Ruby Ridge,
Idaho, and Waco, Texas.

The Justice Department in a statement Friday said the following changes
have been made since Janet Reno was appointed attorney general in 1993: The
OPR now conducts investigations as soon as it learns of misconduct
accusations rather than waiting until after litigation ends; it completes
investigations even if an attorney resigns or retires; it publicly
discloses results of OPR probes "in certain cases"; and it files complaints
with state bar associations against lawyers who make "bad-faith complaints"
with OPR.

The Justice Department also said that the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration and FBI Offices of Professional Responsibilities have been
reorganized and expanded.

In Roger Pilon's case, it looked as though the system had worked.

After a nine-month FBI investigation in 1988, he and his wife, who lost an
appointment at the Department of the Interior because of the probe, were
cleared of charges that they'd illegally leaked classified information to
the government of South Africa.

But OPR wasn't satisfied with the FBI probe and initiated its own
investigation, which concluded that Pilon should be asked to resign or be
fired. The Attorney General's office then reviewed both investigations,
along with rebuttals by the Pilons' attorney. Again, Pilon and his wife
were cleared. Afterward, they both resigned from their government posts to
take jobs in the private sector.

Later, Pilon would learn that OPR attorneys thought he'd been cleared by
the Justice Department because then-Attorney General Dick Thornburgh was
miffed over an OPR investigation into two of his aides and wanted to
discredit the office.

In an annual report published in 1989, the OPR made this erroneous
statement: a high ranking Justice Department official had been forced to
resign because he may have disclosed classified information to a foreign
government. Newspapers quickly connected Pilon to the statement. The
Justice Department again exonerated the couple, made it clear that Pilon
had left for another job on his own volition, and this time paid Pilon and
his wife $25,000 to cover legal expenses.

This was followed by still more leaks discrediting Pilon. This time he
sued. The Justice Department fought the case for more than six years, and
finally lost. In 1996, the department agreed to pay him $250,000.

OPR never disputed the leaks in court proceedings -- it argued the
disclosures didn't violate the law. The U.S. Court of Appeals noted that
the leaks had been carried out by OPR Deputy Counsel Richard Rogers and
Peter Nowinski, who had worked on the Pilon case but left the Justice
Department before he leaked the materials to the press.

OPR General Counsel Michael Shaheen was also questioned in the case. He
denied in a deposition having done anything wrong. But the appeals court
noted in its ruling a later deposition given by former Deputy Attorney
General Donald B. Ayer, in which Ayer said Shaheen had tried to release
confidential information to him about Pilon after Ayer had resigned from
the department. Pilon said Shaheen was not questioned again after Ayer gave
his testimony.

Shaheen could not be reached for comment.

Michael Gordon, a Justice Department spokesman, said: "No sanctions were
imposed on any OPR official [in the Pilon case] because the Department
determined that the conduct of the officials was legal." The appeals court
judge disagreed.

Nowinski is now a federal magistrate in California and did not return a
telephone call seeking comment.

Rogers eventually served as interim head of the OPR before being replaced
last May. The Justice Department did not make him available for an interview.

Shaheen retired from the OPR last December. In June, he was appointed by
Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr to examine allegations that a key witness
in the Whitewater scandal -- David Hale -- had received cash from critics
of President Clinton.

Pilon in 1996 testified in support of Murtha's Citizens Protection Act. He
said the mind set in the Department of Justice has not changed, and he
still has difficulty fathoming efforts to smear him.

"The only thing I can think of, and others have said it as well, is that
Shaheen is a guy used to winning, and this is a case that he has lost at
every turn," Pilon told the Post-Gazette.

Scrutinizing OPR

The effectiveness of OPR in its fight against misconduct is nearly
impossible to quantify.

The agency issues annual reports regarding its work, but no specific cases
are discussed.

The Post-Gazette talked to nearly 200 people who had filed complaints with
the OPR. Most of them said the agency simply wrote them a letter saying it
found no basis for their complaints. A few said OPR told them it was taking
action. None of the complainants ever learned what that action was.

The General Accounting Office in 1993 reported a troubling pattern in 59
cases the GAO had monitored as the result of a 1992 audit of OPR.

It found OPR sometimes closed cases before doing basic investigative work
like contacting other Justice Department agencies who were involved in the
probes that led to complaints.

"Although OPR is responsible for helping to ensure that Justice employees
uphold high ethical standards, OPR did not ask for or expect ... a response
from (other Justice Department entities) concerning its investigative
outcome," the GAO said.

Marvin Miller, who has served as chairman of the ethics caucus of the
National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, said the problem is a
simple one: "The government will not prosecute its own.

"I've had cases where what they did was worse than what they claim the
defendants did, and they are completely exempt from prosecution. No matter
what kind of misconduct was committed, it's OK."

Arnold I. Burns, who served as deputy attorney general for President
Reagan, said the problem may also be a matter of money.

OPR was staffed with capable people when he was in office, Burns said. "The
problem was they had too limited a budget, a zillion cases and few people
to run them, so it was not an effective check."

Murtha's Concern

OPR is the focus of legislation U.S. Rep. Murtha wants to see passed next
year. He wants the watchdog agency to make public all of its findings, and
he wants Justice Department employees who engage in misconduct to face
specific penalties from OPR.

"If they do violate their obligations and the law, there will be
punishment," he said.

Murtha's concerns about overzealous federal prosecutions is personal.

He watched as his colleague, Rep. Joseph McDade, R-Scranton, had his
political career almost destroyed by an eight-year federal investigation
into allegations of accepting kickbacks from contractors he helped get
government work.

In 1996, a jury acquitted McDade after deliberating only a few hours.

Murtha wondered how an average citizen could have have withstood such an
attack.

So he and McDade introduced the Citizens Protection Act in the House last
year to establish oversight and safeguards that would protect citizens
against unfair and illegal tactics by federal agents and prosecutors.

It was their belief, affirmed by defense attorneys and former federal
prosecutors interviewed for this series, that real reform will require
Congress to establish specific safeguards.

Their bill's most important provision would have established an independent
oversight board to monitor federal prosecutors and require them to abide by
the legal ethics laws of the states in which they operate. It also provided
sanctions against prosecutors who knowingly committed misconduct.

Despite opposition from the Justice Department, the legislation was
approved on a broadly bipartisan vote, 345-82.

The House bill became part of the federal appropriations package that
Congress passed in October, and the Justice Department managed through
intense lobbying to have many of the provisions killed in the conference
committee that crafted the budget bill. The provision requiring federal
prosecutors to abide by the ethics laws in the states where they work
remained, but the appropriations bill delays its implementation for six
months.

Murtha said the Justice Department has increased its efforts to have even
the watered-down law repealed before it takes effect in mid-1999.

He said he plans to meet those efforts head-on.

"My fellow members didn't vote overwhelmingly for this because they liked
us," he said. "Each and every one of them know of abuses and understand
what people [who've suffered from those abuses] are saying."

He said he will work to get a bill passed in both the U.S. House and
Senate, "so there is no chance for it to be repealed."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Hyde Amendment Makes Violations Costly - Win At All Costs series
(The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its series about the newspaper's
two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors break
the law routinely. Last year, Congress provided a measure of recourse
for some victims of overzealous federal prosecutions. Legislation introduced
by U.S. Representative Henry Hyde now allows defendants to recover
reasonable defense costs if they can show a federal case was "vexatious,
frivolous or in bad faith." The claims are starting to add up to serious
money.)

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 12:58:12 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Hyde Amendment Makes Violations Costly - Win At All Costs series
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Nora Callahan http://www.november.org/
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 1998 PG Publishing
Pubdate: Sun, 13 Dec 1998
Contact: letters@post-gazette.com
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Author: Bill Moushey, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Note: This is the 2nd item of the 10th part of a 10 part series, "Win At
All Costs" being published in the Post-Gazette. The series is also being
printed in The Blade, Toledo, OH email: letters@theblade.com

HYDE AMENDMENT MAKES VIOLATIONS COSTLY

Last year, Congress provided a measure of recourse for some victims of
overzealous federal prosecutions.

Legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee, allows defendants to recover reasonable defense
costs if they can show a federal case was "vexatious, frivolous or in bad
faith."

Richard Holland, a 19-year veteran of the Virginia Senate, was the first to
use the amendment successfully.

Holland is chairman of the board of the Farmer's Bank of Windsor, Va. In
1992, he and his son, Richard Jr., the bank's president, were told by bank
examiners they would be fined and probably sent to prison for a series of
improper loans made during the nationwide crash in real estate prices that
followed changes in the federal tax code in 1986.

Holland told them they'd done nothing wrong.

"We told all of our employees to cooperate with these people," he said.
"Whatever they want, give it to them."

In 1997, he and his son were indicted on 31 counts of banking law
violations. The government then proceeded to try to destroy them
professionally and personally, said Holland, now 73.

Less than a month before his indictment, his wife died in her sleep.
Holland said his lawyers asked the government to hold off on the
indictments while they mourned.

"They told my lawyer, 'No sir, we're going to indict them right now,' "
Holland recalled last week.

Last April, during a pre-trial hearing held four months before the trial
was scheduled to start, a federal judge dismissed the charges after
prosecutors presented their case. The government had presented no evidence
of a crime, the judge said. Afterward, upon his return to the Virginia
Senate, Holland received a standing ovation.

He then filed a claim with the government under the Hyde Amendment. After a
two-day hearing, U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan awarded the Hollands
$570,000 toward their $1.6 million in legal fees, terming the government's
actions "vexatious."

The Justice Department has said it will appeal.

That same month, Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Alan Enslen of the
Western District of Michigan ordered the government to pay $404,737 to
lawyers representing a company called Ranger Electronic Communications Inc.
in another Hyde Amendment case.

He concluded that federal prosecutors had failed to disclose evidence that
might have helped prove that the owners of the company were innocent of
charges of illegally importing radio equipment.

In his ruling, Judge Enslen, quoted from Hyde's speech on the floor of the
U.S. House of Representatives during debate on his amendment.

"[Some federal prosecutions are] not just wrong, but willfully wrong . . .
frivolously wrong," the judge stated. "[These federal prosecutors] keep
information from you that the law says they must disclose.. . . They suborn
perjury."

Holland said he was fortunate to have the resources to fight the government
but that it scared him to think about those who don't.

"The people who don't have the wherewithal, the resources or the will to
fight the government when they say you're going to prison for 50 years,
that's bound to scare the hell out of them," he said.

He said he found it easy to believe that someone might plead guilty to a
lesser charge, rather than face a trial and decades in prison.

"That has made me believe there actually might be some people in prison who
are not guilty," he said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Congress Steps In To Protect Whistleblower - Win At All Costs series
(The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its series about the newspaper's
two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors
break the law routinely. Dr. Frederick Whitehurst, an FBI chemist,
began reporting his concerns to OPR in 1986 that FBI Crime Laboratory
managers lacked proper training, routinely ignored or tried to cover-up
problems in handling evidence, that lab employees sometimes lied as witnesses
to bolster government cases, and that some lab officials had rewritten
reports he and others had produced. In response, the Justice Department
suspended and publicly humiliated him.)

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 13:04:26 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Congress Steps In To Protect Whistleblower -
Win At All Costs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Nora Callahan http://www.november.org/
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 1998 PG Publishing
Pubdate: Sun, 13 Dec 1998
Contact: letters@post-gazette.com
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Author: Bill Moushey, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Note: This is the 3rd item of the 10th part of a 10 part series, "Win At
All Costs" being published in the Post-Gazette. The series is also being
printed in The Blade, Toledo, OH email: letters@theblade.com

CONGRESS STEPS IN TO PROTECT WHISTLEBLOWER

Righting wrongs in federal law enforcement isn't easy. Dr. Frederick
Whitehurst can vouch for that.

Whitehurst was an FBI chemist who in 1995 charged that FBI Crime Laboratory
managers lacked proper training and routinely ignored or tried to cover-up
problems in handling evidence.

He said FBI labs were dirty and dusty, which made accurately analyzing
chemical evidence all but impossible. He said lab employees sometimes lied
as witnesses to bolster government cases, and that he discovered some lab
officials had rewritten reports he and others had produced for high-profile
cases, such as the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, so that they more closely
adhered to the government version of what happened.

Whitehurst began reporting his concerns to OPR in 1986, and continued to do
so for several years. He got no response. In the spring of 1993, he began
sending letters to the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General.

The Inspector General is charged with promoting economy, efficiency and
effectiveness at the Justice Department and investigates individuals who
are accused of financial, contractual or criminal misconduct in the
department's programs and operations.

Inspector General Michael Bromwich said that while his department found
"serious and significant" deficiencies in the way the FBI laboratories
operated, Whitehurst's allegations that "many employees within the lab
repeatedly committed perjury, fabricated evidence, obstructed justice, and
suppressed exculpatory evidence" could not be substantiated.

As soon as the Justice Department received the report, Whitehurst was
suspended from his $95,000-a-year job and escorted from the building by
security. He then filed suit against the Justice Department for violating
the federal whistleblower's law, which is supposed to protect employees who
reveal wrongdoing, and for violating the federal Privacy Act for making
public his allegations.

Eventually, he agreed to mediation and so far has received $1.16 million
from the government in exchange for agreeing to leave the FBI.

The Justice Department also paid his $258,580 legal fees and agreed that it
wouldn't pursue criminal or disciplinary actions against him.

The FBI's removal of Whitehurst caused an outcry in Congress. Sen. Charles
Grassley, R-Iowa, accused the Justice Department of exacting retribution
against Whitehurst for whistle-blowing.

"The FBI would have preferred to get rid of the messenger," Grassley told
the media after the FBI announced Whitehurst's ouster early this year,
hailing the chemist for his "immense public service."

Whitehurst has since founded the National Whistleblower Center's Forensic
Justice Project, located in Washington D.C. The group is reviewing past FBI
laboratory work to check for errors.

"These [lab technicians and scientists] were violating the civil rights of
people in the courts of law, denying them fair trials and due process," he
said last week.

"I want to know who got hurt. I am going to figure this thing out. I'm
going to make a living figuring it out."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Aggressive Attorney At OPR Targets Prosecutor, Loses On All Counts - Win At
All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette series about the
newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors
break the law routinely. The US Justice Department's Office of Professional
Responsibility, in one of its largest investigations ever, spent two years
looking into charges against William R. Hogan, a prosecutor in the Chicago
U.S. Attorney's office. Based on OPR findings, he was fired in 1996, but
vindicated last August by a judge who determined that the exhaustive OPR
investigation showed he was guilty of no wrongdoing.)

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 13:38:13 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Aggressive Attorney At OPR Targets Prosecutor,
Loses On All Counts
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Nora Callahan http://www.november.org/
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 1998 PG Publishing
Pubdate: Sun, 13 Dec 1998
Contact: letters@post-gazette.com
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Author: Bill Moushey, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Note: This is the 4th item of the 10th part of a 10 part series, "Win At
All Costs" published in the Post-Gazette. The series was also printed in
The Blade, Toledo, OH email: letters@theblade.com

AGGRESSIVE ATTORNEY AT OPR TARGETS PROSECUTOR, LOSES ON ALL COUNTS

Agents of the Office of Professional Responsibility came down hard on
William R. Hogan.

But Hogan, a prosecutor in the Chicago U.S. Attorney's office, was
vindicated last August by a judge who determined that the exhaustive OPR
investigation showed he was guilty of no wrongdoing.

"I have a very, very unfavorable view of OPR," said Hogan last week. "I
would say they were rank amateurs.

"The agents involved and the lawyer involved had never tried any major
cases. They had no concept of how to try the case. They had no experience
in dealing with the witnesses and no appreciation of the realities and
practicalities [of what goes on in this job]."

In the early 1990s, Hogan was the prosecutor who successfully won guilty
pleas and convictions against 56 members of Chicago's notorious El Rukn
gang -- one of America's most violent street gangs. Police say the gang
might be responsible for as many as 600 murders.

But in 1994, appeals courts began to reverse some of the convictions. Some
gang members said they'd been granted special favors in exchange for their
testimony, and defendants they testified against weren't informed of that
special treatment, as required by federal discovery law.

Hogan was accused of allowing cooperative El Rukn witnesses to use drugs
while in jail, to have sex with their girlfriends, to receive free
cigarettes, food and beer, and to receive clothes and unlimited telephone
privileges.

The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that it pursued an
investigation of Hogan after it concluded that he engaged in "professional
misconduct, poor performance and mismanagement" in the El Rukn prosecutions.

OPR, in one of its largest investigations ever, spent two years looking
into the charges against Hogan. Based on OPR findings, he was fired in 1996.

At every step along the way, Hogan insisted he'd done nothing wrong. He
said most of the people OPR interviewed told the investigators Hogan had
done nothing wrong. He filed mountains of paperwork proving his
contentions, he said.

Yet OPR filed charges against him anyway.

While some of the charges made by El Rukn gang members about the favoritism
they received were true, the incidents occurred without Hogan's prior
knowledge while the gang members were in custody of entities like the U.S.
Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service, Hogan said.

Last August, a judge ruled that OPR had gotten its facts wrong.

"They had the burden of proof and they couldn't prove anything," Hogan said.

A 196-page opinion issued by Howard J. Ansorge, an administrative judge,
said: "A thorough analysis of the record in this appeal reveals that the
agency did not carry its burden of proving any of the charges listed in the
notice of proposed removal. Because the agency did not prove any of the
charges, I reverse the agency's action removing the appellant from
employment."

Hogan went back to work and the government was ordered to reimburse him for
back pay and legal expenses. He is again trying cases. He is negotiating
with the Justice Department to recover the hundreds of thousands of dollars
he spent fighting for his professional life. He is also negotiating the
amount of back pay he is due.

But he feels his reputation has been irreparably damaged.

Once those negotiations are complete, Hogan will decide whether to continue
his employment with the Justice Department.

"They looked at every single aspect of my personal life, every woman I ever
dated, interviewed friends, family members, friends of family members. They
interviewed the guy my youngest sister used to date who had a subsequent
drug problem. . . . They dredged [the man's past] up in front of his wife
and daughter -- absurd things. Their theory was I must have had some
involvement [in drugs]."

The bottom line, Hogan said, was that the OPR investigation was simply
incompetent.

"They got a ton of things wrong, even the most basic elements of the
information. The two agents and lawyer who conducted it were completely
incompetent and completely venal in the manner in which they created the
report."

While the OPR investigators traced his life back to his childhood, Hogan
said, none of the investigators who worked on a daily basis in the El Rukn
case ever had even one conversation with the lawyer who filed the charges
against him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Win At All Costs series - sidebars end the series
(The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette concludes its series on corruption
in the Justice Department with an invitation to write to two key congressmen
asking for stronger oversight.)

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 14:20:25 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Win At All Costs series sidebars end the series
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Nora Callahan http://www.november.org/
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 1998 PG Publishing
Pubdate: Sun, 13 Dec 1998
Contact: letters@post-gazette.com
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Author: Bill Moushey, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Note: These are the final sidebars for this 10 part series, "Win At All
Costs" which was published in the Post-Gazette. The series was also
printed in The Blade, Toledo, OH email: letters@theblade.com

Note: Links to congressional email information are at:
http://www.mapinc.org/pollinks.htm

VOICE YOUR OPINION TO CONGRESS

If you would like to contact U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, about his
effort to strengthen oversight of the Justice Department, write to him at
this address:

The Hon. John Murtha
U.S. House of Representatives
2423 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington, D.C. 20515

Phone: 202-225-2065

You can also write to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde at this
address:

The Hon. Henry Hyde
U.S. House of Representatives
2110 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington, D.C. 20515

Phone: 202-225-4561

Or, you can contact your local representative.

***

SPECIAL PROSECUTORS ENJOY EVEN GREATER POWER

The Post-Gazette's investigation didn't look at the best-known federal
prosecutor in the country.

Kenneth Starr, who's investigation of President Clinton could lead to his
impeachment by the House of Representatives, works under the authority of
the federal independent counsel statute, which gives him even more power
than the federal agents and prosecutors that were the focus of the
Post-Gazette series.

By law, Starr operates independently of the Justice Department, unlike
federal agents and prosecutors. He also enjoys a virtually unlimited budget.

The targets of an independent counsel are few -- there have been only 20
such investigations since Congress authorized them in 1978 -- so the
Post-Gazette focused exclusively on federal law enforcement officers, whose
actions can touch any American.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Border Agency Protects Its Own Despite Misdeeds (The Miami Herald
says its investigation of the U.S. Customs Service's employment practices
in Florida found that the agency has promoted officers caught dating drug
smugglers, wrecking an agency car after drinking, tampering with evidence,
and helping a key witness leave the country. The newspaper's investigation,
prompted by disclosures that the Customs Service's head agent
in South Florida got the job after 2 1/2 years of failed management
elsewhere, reveals a culture that often protects favored employees from their
own mistakes yet hammers those who go public with criticism.)

Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 21:04:45 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Border Agency Protects Its Own Despite Misdeeds
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Explorer
Pubdate: Sun, 13 Dec 1998
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 1998 The Miami Herald
Section: Special Report
Contact: heralded@herald.com
Forum: http://krwebx.infi.net/webxmulti/cgi-bin/WebX?mherald
Website: http://www.herald.com/
Author: David Kidwell, Herald Staff Writer

BORDER AGENCY PROTECTS ITS OWN DESPITE MISDEEDS

Despite longstanding orders from Congress to eradicate "cronyism,'' the
U.S. Customs Service promoted Florida officers caught dating drug
smugglers, wrecking an agency car after drinking, tampering with evidence,
and helping a key witness leave the country.

A review of the agency's employment practices -- prompted by disclosures
its head agent in South Florida got the job after 2 1/2 years of failed
management elsewhere -- reveals a culture that often protects favored
employees from their own mistakes yet hammers those who go public with
criticism.

The Herald found dozens of examples in South Florida and elsewhere in which
Customs employees at all levels either kept their jobs and pay grades or
were promoted after such misdeeds as sleeping with a paid informant,
skimming seized cash, even sexually assaulting female subordinates.

In one case, several Miami supervisors were all promoted to high-ranking
positions -- including Customs director at Miami International Airport --
after numerous employees accused them in 1987 of rampant sexual harassment,
including fostering a sex-for-jobs atmosphere.

One runs operations in Tampa, where his office is now under investigation
on similar complaints.

Angry federal regulators identified problems with "good ol' boy networks''
almost a decade ago, and have repeatedly said they raise questions about
Customs' overall integrity, its competence to police U.S. borders, and its
ability to police itself.

"These problems are real,'' said U.S. Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly,
who on Aug. 4 became the sixth person to run the agency in the past 10
years. "I have to address a lack of attention to some serious, serious issues.

"And anyone who knows anything about federal bureaucracy knows it is very
difficult.''

Some longtime Customs administrators say critics exaggerate the problems.
They say it's unfair to judge entire careers on a single mistake, that
discipline and promotions must be based on past accomplishments as well as
transgressions.

"I don't see it as an issue of favoritism,'' said Bonni Tischler, assistant
commissioner of the office of investigations. "With the discipline system
we're forced to live with, it's a matter of win some and lose some.''

More than 150 interviews with current and former Customs employees, along
with a review of thousands of records -- from internal Customs reports to
congressional hearing transcripts -- suggest the problems go much deeper.

Without complete access to confidential personnel files it is impossible to
judge Customs' decisions in each individual case, or even to know specific
charges against agents.

But the volume of cases where punishment appears to be lenient suggests
management problems persist.

A few examples:

Agent Walt Wilkowski, promoted to Washington after he ignored advice to
dump his longterm live-in girlfriend in 1996 as DEA agents secretly tapped
his Miami home phone. A search warrant was executed at his house, and his
girlfriend jailed on charges of drug smuggling. Wilkowski denied
involvement, including allegations she obtained from him and disseminated
secret Customs information. There was no evidence Wilkowski knew about the
crimes.

The girlfriend faces sentencing this month. Wilkowski was not disciplined.

"I had no knowledge of, or involvement with, the incident in which my
former girlfriend was arrested,'' Wilkowski said in a written response. "I
can assure you that my most recent promotion was based solely on my own
merits.''

Had he been investigated on internal charges of "association with persons
connected with criminal activities,'' guidelines would have called for at
least a 14-day suspension.

Inspector Vincent Priore, a supervisor accused in the sex-for-jobs
harassment case in Miami, promoted to direct operations at Port Everglades,
where last year he was investigated on allegations he repeatedly took time
off without authorization, then filed paperwork suggesting he was at work.

Priore told the Herald the investigation is not complete, and he denies the
allegations. He now runs Customs operations in Bermuda.

Had he been charged with being "absent without leave or authorization'' for
five days or more, guidelines would have called for at least a 14-day
suspension.

Agent James O'Rourke, promoted to group supervisor in the Fort Lauderdale
office in 1996 after he lost control of his Customs car in Coconut Creek on
April 21, 1995, jumped a curb, then got in a cab and left the damaged car
unsecured -- with his gun in the trunk -- before police arrived.

Witnesses said O'Rourke was "very intoxicated'' when he emerged from the
car and began beating on it with a riot baton. O'Rourke later acknowledged
he had been drinking and said he used the riot baton to break a window
because he was locked out.

He was suspended for several days, but neither he nor Customs would specify
the punishment.

Under charges of "willful'' vehicle misuse, guidelines would have called
for at least a 30-day suspension.

Agent Ron Woody, awarded a coveted "executive potential'' training program
after he was caught in his Customs' car soliciting a Miami undercover
police officer posing as a prostitute in 1994. His record was cleared after
he agreed to a pre-trial intervention program.

He was suspended for several days. Customs would not say how many. Until
Herald inquiries, he was considered a top candidate for a management
promotion.

Contacted at work, he declined to be interviewed.

Had he been charged internally with "criminal, infamous, dishonest,
immoral, notoriously disgraceful conduct, or other conduct prejudicial to
the government'' guidelines would have called for at least a 14-day
suspension.

Inspector Jose Ramirez, promoted to a high-level Miami headquarters job
despite being caught placing marijuana cigarettes in the luggage of a
cruise passenger at Port Everglades. Ramirez said he found the cigarettes
in the suspect's cabin, then transferred them to his baggage to help prove
they belonged to the suspect. The passenger later acknowledged the drugs
were his.

Ramirez received an oral reprimand.

Under Customs' guidelines "intentional falsification, misrepresentation,
exaggeration or misstatement of material fact . . . '' would have called
for at least a 5-day suspension and at least a seven-day suspension for
"failure to observe established policies or procedures in the apprehension
or detention of suspects.''

Several Miami supervisors of the nation's most successful drug interdiction
team, all promoted despite a 1987 sex-for-jobs sexual harassment case in
which five men and four women employees filed affidavits supporting an
inspector who said she faced a choice between sex with her bosses or a
stagnant career.

Tampa Port Director Van Capps, who headed the team and received a letter of
reprimand over the case, is accused of condoning similar attitudes in his
current command. He and all the other accused supervisors -- including MIA
Director Jayson Ahern -- deny the charges.

Customs' guidelines say sexual harassment calls for at least an official
reprimand, at worst removal.

Former Senior Agent Wayne Roberts, promoted to Customs attache in Caracas,
Venezuela despite being the target of a Miami criminal grand jury probe in
1991. He was questioned about his role in the secret removal from the U.S.
of a government witness set to testify in the trial of deposed Panamanian
leader Manuel Noriega. He was also publicly accused by Customs management
of giving false statements about it to his superiors.

There were no indictments.

Reached in Caracas, Roberts denied that he lied and declined to elaborate.

Had he been charged internally with "negligent or careless performance of
duties where . . . a Customs enforcement function is substantially and
negatively impacted,'' guidelines call for at least a 5-day suspension.

Inspector Regis Adams, former Customs port director in Akron, Ohio, was
allowed to keep his job until he retired even after he spent 90 days in
jail in 1987 for sexually assaulting two of his female employees. He was
originally charged with rape, but was allowed to plead no contest to two
misdemeanor charges of sexual imposition.

Citing privacy laws that protect federal employees, Customs administrators
declined to discuss specific cases or punishments.

Many Customs insiders defend the agency's overall employment system as
cumbersome, but fair. However, they lament federal employee civil service
protections that make it expensive -- often impossible -- to fire anyone
short of felony convictions or gross misconduct.

They suggest those protections sometimes leave managers shuffling a deck of
incompetent employees.

Dozens of Customs employees argue that once anyone files a grievance they
are targeted for harassment, forcing them into filing more grievances to be
treated fairly. "From them on, the grievance process becomes your life,''
one inspector said.

D. Lynn Gordon, district director in charge of all inspectors in South
Florida, disagrees.

Fair-Minded Policy

"Frankly, when I look at the sheer volume of employee complaints we deal
with -- from EEO, the union, internal grievances -- I find it extremely
difficult to accept the notion that anyone feels reticent about coming
forward with problems,'' she said. "I think we have an extremely open,
fair-minded policy.''

Many within the agency say reform is long overdue.

"I'm ashamed of them,'' said veteran Senior Inspector Croley Forester, who
says supervisors told him his career advancement was finished in 1997 after
he went public with security problems at Miami International Airport.

"I love what I do. I think this job really makes a difference, but what's
happening in this agency disgusts me, it really does,'' Forester said.
"Nothing ever changes. If you stand up to them, right or wrong, your career
is over.''

The public record backs him up.

Congressional Critics

Critics in Congress say Customs' management problems have been chronic, and
at the root of all the agency's other problems.

Congressional oversight panels have publicly accused its managers of
coverups, lies and withholding information repeatedly over the past 15 years.

The U.S. General Accounting Office consistently criticized the agency's
internal financial controls as in "total disarray'' from 1985 through 1994.
Whistleblowers have testified of airport security lapses, systematic
internal theft of seized guns, illegal misappropriation of millions of
dollars, embezzlement and corruption.

Harassment, Ostracism

Almost without exception, those who blow the whistle on management problems
have been subjected to ostracism, harassment, even unfounded firings,
regulators have concluded. Often, transgressors move up the ladder.

"Customs is not able to properly deal with allegations of wrongdoing,''
former U.S. Rep. J.J. Pickle, D-Texas, said on July 31, 1991, as he chaired
one of numerous congressional investigations into alleged corruption and
mismanagement.

"Instead of taking action to eliminate the old boys network, Customs
officials ignore improprieties, perpetuate cronyism and foster an
atmosphere of unprofessionalism,'' he said. "Customs is in need of a major
overhaul immediately.''

Too Much Power

That same year, a Customs task force confirmed Congressional complaints
that regional managers were invested with too much power.

"Confused and competing lines of authority, the absence of clear and
enforced policies for recruitment, mobility and career paths and a
personnel process driven by various `old boy' networks created this
situation,'' the task force said.

Customs Made Efforts At Reform

A headquarters-based disciplinary review board, with a rotating membership,
was formed in 1995 to independently review all internal investigations of
wrongdoing and suggest punishment in the most severe cases.

Another headquarters review process was established to address, in part,
allegations that favored employees were allowed -- and sometimes encouraged
-- to embellish promotional applications.

That process recently led to a Miami agent's removal from consideration for
a management job after questionable claims were found on his application.

Also in 1995, Customs won a clean financial audit for the first time in a
decade.

A Broad Mandate

Customs defenders argue the agency is a bureaucracy like no other. Its
mandates are enormous and diverse.

Its 20,000 employees collect some $20 billion each year in duties, seizures
and tariffs at more than 300 ports of entry, all the while processing some
450 million people entering the country.

It is charged with stopping illegal drugs and contraband, yet is asked to
give visitors a good first impression. It must enforce trade laws while it
promotes free trade. It must inspect and regulate cargo carriers, while
ensuring unencumbered commerce.

Kelly, the new commissioner, said attempted reforms have not addressed
fundamental flaws.

Severe Morale Problems

He acknowledges the agency's mission is hampered by severe morale problems,
by managers who won't honestly evaluate bad employees because it's a
tedious process that likely won't stand up anyway, by employees who often
won't aggressively pursue drug enforcement for fear of offending the wrong
company or the wrong supervisor.

"These are all issues that are very difficult to get your arms around,''
said Kelly, a former U.S. Marine Corps colonel with a reputation for
integrity. "There is definitely a go-along, get-along mentality to
overcome. It's my job to buoy the spirit of the organization, to make
people feel good about their jobs again.''

Among his suggestions:

Strip some power from local managers, with headquarters taking greater
control of promotions, discipline, hiring and policy decisions.

A more independent grievance procedure, where Customs Equal Employment
Opportunity officers no longer report to the bosses who are often the
targets of complaints, and more potent internal affairs investigators. A
top candidate to take over internal investigations under Kelly is former
acting U.S. Attorney in South Florida, William Keefer.

A heavily regulated self-inspection program where operations at regional
offices are reviewed every 18 months instead of every four to six years.

"I understand I have a lot of untangling of lines to do,'' Kelly said. "I
think the answer is strengthening controls right here. It's more a matter
of philosophy than resources. It has to come from the top down.

"I have a huge challenge,'' Kelly said. "We'll see. The jury is out.''

-------------------------------------------------------------------

FBI: Serious Crime Rates Dropping (The Associated Press
says the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported Sunday that serious crimes
dropped another 5 percent in the first half of 1998, extending a six-year
trend. The half-year report comes weeks after the FBI's final 1997 figures,
which showed the national murder rate reaching its lowest point in 30 years.)

From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: FBI says Serious Crime Rates Dropping
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 16:31:37 -0800
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

Illegal drug use up, serious crime down. I wonder how the two are related?
Bob_O

***

FBI: Serious Crime Rates Dropping

By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP)--Extending a six-year trend, serious crimes dropped another
5 percent in the first half of the year, the FBI reported Sunday.

Citing preliminary figures from police around the nation, the FBI said
violent crimes were down 7 percent and property crimes, which are far more
numerous, were down 5 percent, compared to the first six months of 1997.

All seven major crimes showed declines, led by drops of 11 percent for
robberies and 8 percent for murders.

Both aggravated assault and rape were down 5 percent.

In property crime, auto theft dropped 8 percent; larceny-theft declined 5
percent and burglary dipped 3 percent.

The half-year report comes weeks after the FBI's final 1997 figures, which
showed the national murder rate reaching its lowest point in 30 years. The
mid-year report contains only percentage changes in the number of crimes and
does not provide national totals for specific crimes or crime rates per
100,000 residents.

``This is remarkable progress and it shows that our strategy of more police,
tougher gun laws and better crime prevention is making a difference,''
President Clinton said in a statement.

Attorney General Janet Reno said the country has turned ``an historic
corner'' on crime.

``Crime is still too high,'' she said, ``but rising crime rates are not a
fact of life.''

Academic experts, law enforcement and elected officials have attributed the
now 6 1/2-year decline to the aging of the baby boom generation beyond its
crime-prone years and police efforts to get guns away from teens, especially
in big cities.

Other reasons include increased police-community cooperation; stiffer
sentences, particularly for violent criminals; prevention programs for kids
with little supervision; the improved national economy, and reductions in
crack cocaine use and the warfare between gangs that peddle it.

Regionally, all seven crimes declined in all regions of the country, except
for a 1 percent rise in burglary in the Midwest. Overall, serious crimes
were down 8 percent in the Northeast; 6 percent in the West; 5 percent in
the South and 1 percent in the Midwest.

By population, overall crime declined in cities of all sizes, suburbs and
rural areas. Cities with more than 1 million residents saw a 6 percent drop.
The largest decline was 8 percent in cities of 50,000 to 99,999. Towns under
10,000 recorded a 3 percent drop.

Suburban counties saw 6 percent declines overall, and rural counties
reported a 2 percent overall drop.

The few isolated increases were in areas that experts had predicted: an 8
percent rise in murders in small towns of 10,000 to 24,999 and a 3 percent
rise in murders and aggravated assaults in rural counties.

Professor Alfred Blumstein of Carnegie-Mellon University has found that, as
crack cocaine gangs matured, they negotiated truces in bigger cities and
increasingly sought new markets in smaller towns and rural areas where
police were less equipped to quell the activity.

The drug gangs have been blamed for beginning the arming of teen-agers in
the mid-1980s with guns. Other teens obtained guns to emulate the gangs or
to defend themselves.

The result was that teen-age gun homicides soared 169 percent between 1984
and 1993, when the juvenile murder rate peaked. But from 1993 through 1997,
the juvenile murder arrest rate has fallen more than 40 percent, according
to the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention. Small towns and rural areas have been the last areas to
participate in both trends.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Justices Limit Searches By Police In Traffic Stops (The Philadelphia Inquirer
notes the US Supreme Court has ruled that a routine traffic violation
doesn't automatically give police the right to search an automobile.)

Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Sun, 13 Dec 1998
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
Contact: Inquirer.Opinion@phillynews.com
Website: http://www.phillynews.com/
Forum: http://interactive.phillynews.com/talk-show/
Copyright: 1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
Author: Aaron Epstein

JUSTICES LIMIT SEARCHES BY POLICE IN TRAFFIC STOPS

The Supreme Court last week broke with its recent trend of giving police
greater leeway to conduct searches and seizures.

In a unanimous vote, the justices ruled that officers do not have the
constitutional right to make complete searches of motorists and vehicles
stopped for traffic citations.

Its ruling invalidated the conviction of Patrick Knowles, a worker in a
plastics plant in Iowa, who had been given a speeding ticket in 1996.
The officer searched Knowles' car and found a bag of marijuana and a "pot
pipe" under the driver's seat. Knowles was convicted of marijuana offenses
and sentenced to 90 days in jail.

Under a unique Iowa law, officers can either issue a citation or make an
arrest for traffic violations and can conduct a full search in either case.

The Supreme Court had ruled 25 years ago that, because of the need to disarm
suspects and preserve evidence, making full searches during an arrest are
allowed.

But, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist explained for the court, "The threat
to officer safety from issuing a traffic citation is a good deal less than in
the case of [an] arrest."

The decision disappointed the National Association of Police Organizations,
representing 220,000 law-enforcement officers, which argued that traffic
stops are inherently risky for police.

The group cited FBI statistics showing that 4,333 officers were assaulted
with weapons, and 90 were killed, during traffic stops and pursuits from 1987
through 1996.

- Aaron Epstein, in Washington

-------------------------------------------------------------------

A Selective Drug War (A letter to the editor of The Washington Times
says Viagra enthusiast Bob Dole is a recreational drug user.)

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 17:04:41 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US DC: OPED: A Selective Drug War
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Sun, 13 Dec 1998
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Contact: letter@twtmail.com
Website: http://www.washtimes.com/
Copyright: 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Author: S. Benjamin Colfax

A SELECTIVE DRUG WAR

Inside the Beltway has reported that former Senate Majority Leader Bob
Dole and his wife are enthusiasts of the new impotence drug, Viagra,
and have gone so far as to label it "a great drug" ("Doling Viagra,"
Dec. 7). Given that Mrs. Dole is, beyond all probability, too old to
now bear children, it can be surmised that the sexual relations
between Sen. and Mrs. Dole would be appropriately labeled as
"recreational."

It is therefore a reasonable jump to also label the drug they are
touting as "recreational." It appears that the hypocrisy in the War
on Drugs marches on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

University President Wants Pot-Growing Professor Fired (The Miami Herald
notes the president of the University of Victoria, in British Columbia,
wants to fire Jean Veevers, a sociology professor convicted of growing
and selling marijuana who was fined $15,000 and given a conditional 12-month
sentence to be served in the community.)

Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 19:48:30 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Canada: University President Wants Pot-Growing Professor Fired
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Sun, 13 Dec 1998
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Contact: heralded@herald.com
Website: http://www.herald.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Miami Herald

UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT WANTS POT-GROWING PROFESSOR FIRED

VICTORIA -- The president of the University of Victoria wants to fire a
sociology professor convicted of growing and selling marijuana .

Jean Veevers, was fined $15,000 and given a conditional 12-month sentence
to be served in the community after being convicted of cultivating
marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

RCMP officers raided Veevers' residence in April 1997, seizing 122
marijuana plants and 8.6 kilograms of marijuana.

She was suspended and relieved of her duties at the university effective
Friday.

University president David Strong said he is recommending the UVic board of
governors dismiss Veevers.

During the trial, evidence showed she offered to pay tuition fees for a
prospective UVic student "as an inducement for that person to continue as a
partner in the illegal activities which led to Dr. Veevers' conviction,"
Strong said.

Veevers declined to comment on the university's call for her dismissal, but
her lawyer Mel Hunt said Veevers "most certainly will be fighting it and
will pursue all legal remedies in that regard."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Brazen Drug Dealers Frustrate Mexico, US (The Washington Post
begins the annual debate over certification of Mexico as an ally
in the United States' drug war with an article about suspected corruption
in Quintana Roo, "the first narco-state in Mexico,"
according to one U.S. official.)

Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 16:17:39 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Mexico: Brazen Drug Dealers Frustrate Mexico, US
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jim Galasyn
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Washington Post Company
Pubdate: 13 Dec 1998
Author: Molly Moore and Douglas Farah

BRAZEN DRUG DEALERS FRUSTRATE MEXICO, U.S.

Officials Accused of Protecting Them

For several months this year, a Mexican army lieutenant trained by the CIA
was leading the most sensitive anti-narcotics investigation in Mexico. He
was pursuing tips that he believed tied a powerful drug kingpin to the
governor of the Yucatan state that includes the lavish beach resort of
Cancun and its $2 billion tourist industry.

On June 2, as the lieutenant pulled up to a traffic light during a midnight
surveillance operation, he was surrounded by local police, dragged from his
car and tortured for several hours by henchmen of Ramon Alcides Magana,
known as El Metro, the most powerful drug trafficker on the Yucatan
peninsula, according to U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials.

When CIA and Mexican military authorities received word of the kidnapping
-- which occurred while the lieutenant was tailing Alcides Magana --
Mexico's defense secretary dispatched armored vehicles to surround the
Mexico City house of the alleged drug trafficker's wife, threatening to
open fire unless Alcides Magana released the lieutenant.

The lieutenant -- a member of a secretive, CIA-trained and organized
Mexican anti-narcotics intelligence unit at the vanguard of the American
anti-drug effort in Mexico -- was freed. But the same night as his
abduction, according to Mexican law enforcement officials, his office was
robbed of all the documents that supported his investigation, including
explosive details of allegations that one of El Metro's main protectors is
Mario Villanueva Madrid, the governor of the Yucatan state of Quintana Roo.

"Quintana Roo has become the first narco-state in Mexico," said a U.S.
official familiar with both U.S. and Mexican anti-drug investigations in
the state.

The kidnapping incident underscores not only the expanding reach and
brazenness of Mexican drug traffickers, but the increasing frustration of
investigators in both countries, who complain that their probes are being
blocked by some of Mexico's highest-ranking elected officials.

The incident -- and the allegations that Mexico's most powerful drug cartel
has the protection of a state governor -- also is likely to figure in
whether the United States recertifies Mexico in the coming months as a
cooperative partner in the fight against drugs, according to officials in
both nations.

The White House is required to make that determination annually.
Decertification would be enormously costly to Mexico in terms of
international prestige as well as U.S. financial assistance. Over the past
several years, however, the White House has resisted pressure from the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration to withhold certification from Mexico, one
of the United States' largest trading partners.

The Yucatan peninsula is one of the biggest drug trafficking gateways to
the United States, with Mexico's most powerful drug mafia, the Juarez
cartel, recently establishing a massive base of operations in the state of
Quintano Roo, known for the Cancun resort's luxury hotels, fine beaches and
posh restaurants.

At least four Mexican anti-drug agencies and the DEA have investigated
charges that the Juarez cartel receives protection at every level of
government in the state, including the local police, the Mexican military
force assigned to the region, and Gov. Villanueva.

Villanueva, whose term expires in April, has denied that he has connections
to drug trafficking and has blamed the allegations on political enemies in
both opposition parties and his own ruling party.

"His position has been very clear," said Roberto Andrade, the governor's
spokesman. "He has demanded the proper investigations be made. He says that
he is clean."

The 50-year-old governor is under investigation by Mexico's federal
attorney general, organized crime unit, military narcotics intelligence
unit and anti-drug agency, which several weeks ago conducted an hours-long
voluntary interrogation of the governor, according to Mexican law
enforcement officials. No formal allegations have been made by any of the
organizations and no charges have been filed against Villanueva.

"Knowing and proving are two different things," said a U.S. official
familiar with the ongoing investigations.

Mexican authorities are investigating bank accounts in the Cayman Islands,
the Bahamas and Mexico that authorities believe are controlled by
Villanueva and may have links to drug proceeds, according to an internal
Mexican law enforcement document obtained by The Washington Post.

"We're getting the feeling that delivering Villanueva's head on a platter
may be a prerequisite for certification," said one Mexican official.

U.S. and Mexican investigators are focusing on allegations that Villanueva
was paid to protect trafficking operations. Last month, federal authorities
dismissed the entire private security force at Cancun's international
airport for allegedly allowing cocaine shipments from South America to
transit the airport.

U.S. and Mexican officials said that state police as well as military
troops assigned to Quintana Roo routinely permit passage of drug shipments
that arrive on the beaches by boat, at clandestine airstrips and overland
though neighboring Belize and Guatemala.

"Everyone there is bought and paid for," said a U.S. official familiar with
the Yucatan operations. "The state police guard the drugs and put it into
trucks filled with chemicals or acid that is hard to check. It is protected
by the highway patrol and the military all the way up."

Said another U.S. official, "It's President Vicente Carrillo Fuentes in
Quintana Roo."

Vicente Carrillo Fuentes is believed to have taken over the operations of
the Juarez cartel since his brother, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, died after
complications from plastic surgery 18 months ago.

With the Yucatan peninsula the gateway of least resistance for drugs
transitting Mexico en route to the United States, the Juarez cartel's
Quintana Roo-based senior lieutenant, Alcides Magana, has become
increasingly powerful within the mafia, according to Mexican and U.S. law
enforcement officials.

Alcides Magana, a former federal policeman and Mexican army officer, began
his drug career as a bodyguard for Amado Carrillo Fuentes and reportedly
was given the Cancun region as a reward after saving Carrillo Fuentes from
a much-publicized assassination attempt in a Mexico City restaurant several
years ago, according to U.S. authorities.

Alcides Magana has wooed dozens of former police and military officers and
soldiers onto his payroll. They include a former senior federal prosecutor
from Quintana Roo, according to Mexican authorities.

In recent weeks, the federal attorney general's office has seized four
five-star hotels and two dozen houses, condominiums and other properties
allegedly owned by members of the cartel in Cancun. Several multi-ton
cocaine seizures also have been highly promoted by the attorney general's
office as evidence that Mexican authorities are cracking down on drug
operations in Cancun.

But U.S. authorities, particularly anti-narcotics officials involved in
making recommendations on the drug certification of Mexico, say they are
dismayed by the impunity with which the cartel and its leaders operate in
the Cancun area.

One U.S. official recounted a disturbing incident just days before the
CIA-trained lieutenant was kidnapped in June.

Three U.S. officials were dining at a Cancun restaurant when Alcides Magana
and two other major Yucatan drug traffickers were seated at the next table.
One of the Americans slipped out of the dining room and telephoned his
contact in the Mexican military in the hope they would arrest the
traffickers. He was told the military unit was tied up on another case and
could not respond, according to the U.S. official's account.

The traffickers, their bodyguards spread strategically inside and outside
the restaurant, finished their meal and departed quietly, the U.S. official
said.

"Seizing hotels and houses doesn't do much for anyone," a U.S. official
said. "They knew where [the traffickers] were, and knew that we knew that
they knew where the traffickers were. So all this is just going through the
motions."

Another U.S. official noted, "What is worrisome is that after the
[kidnapped lieutenant] was released, enforcement against Alcides Magana
virtually ceased."

Molly Moore reported from Mexico City and Farah from Washington.

Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company