Continued from WORMSCAN.& byter@mcimail.com @@@ 960120, Philadelphia, PA, Reuters. Police Officer Louis Maiier Date: Sun Jan 21, 1996 12:38 am CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Philly Cop Sentenced Posted by Bob Witanek 1/20/96 Officer Gets 5 Years PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 19 (Reuters) - One of six police officers who pleaded guilty in a corruption investigation was sentenced today to 5 years in prison, an unusually long term that the judge said was intended to serve as a deterrent. "Criminal conduct such as you will not be tolerated and will be dealt with severely," Judge Harvey Bartle of Federal District Court said sentencing the officer, Louis Maiier. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy in violating the civil rights of defendants by framing them on drug charges. Federal guidelines call for a sentence of 24 to 30 months. 5 other officers pleaded guilty to similar charges and are awaiting sentencing. As a result of the inquiry, 60 criminal cases have been dismissed or overturned. ========== COMMENT: While the NYT reported that the sentence was stiff, I have to chuckle. These cops knowingly fabricated evidence that could have sent suspects away for decades. A fitting sentence for such criminal acts committed by cops would be, IMHO, at least 2 years for every one year sentencing potential of the framing victim. Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org 960126, Philadelphia, PA, Philadelphia Inquirer. Former Date: Sat Jan 27, 1996 12:31 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Philly's Dirty Thirty-9th - Saga Continues From: Bob Witanek Subject: Philly's Dirty Thirty-9th - Saga Continues Posted dadoner@chesco.com Fri Jan 26 22:33:46 1996 From: Ronnie Dadone Subject: more on the Dirty Thirty-9th Date: Sat, 27 Jan 96 02:04:36 -0800 From: Ronnie Dadone To: dadoner@chesco.com Subject: Philadelphia Inquirer: City & Region http://www.phillynews.com/inq/city/COPS26.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] City & Region > > Friday, January 26, 1996 > > 5 officers' sentencing off again > The reason for this 3d postponement: The probe may touch even more > 39th District officers. > > By Joseph A. Slobodzian > INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > > The sentencing of five former Philadelphia police officers in the > 39th District corruption probe has been postponed a third time, and > a defense lawyer yesterday said the reason was that the > investigation was expanding. > > Assistant U.S. Attorney William B. Carr Jr. confirmed that U.S. > District Judge Robert S. Gawthrop 3d had postponed Monday's > sentencing of former officers Thomas DeGovanni, Thomas Ryan and > James Ryan. > > Attorneys for the two other former officers, John Baird and Steven > Brown, said they, too, expect the judge to postpone their clients' > sentencing, which is set for Tuesday. > > All five officers pleaded guilty to framing drug defendants and > lying on police reports in a series of cases between 1988 and 1991. > > Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Goldstein, who is prosecuting the case > with Carr, said he could not comment on the reason for the > postponement. > > A. Charles Peruto Jr., the attorney for Brown, said the postponement > was necessary because James Ryan's continuing cooperation had caused > prosecutors to begin looking at other police officers. > > ``My client helped lead them to Ryan, and James then turned them > onto something big,'' Peruto said. ``And Brown is now entitled to > some benefit for that.'' > > Other than ``more officers,'' Peruto declined to say into what area > the probe was expanding. > > Lawyers for James Ryan and Thomas Ryan, who are not related, could > be reached for comment, but Peruto's remarks were echoed in the > statements of two other defense attorneys. > > ``There is still ongoing cooperation that has not borne fruit, as > they say,'' said Elizabeth K. Ainslie, the attorney for Baird, whom > prosecutors have called the mastermind of the group of corrupt > officers who preyed on suspected drug dealers in the North > Philadelphia district. > > The officers arrested or searched more than 40 individuals between > 1988 and 1991, stealing more than $100,000 in cash and property. > > Baird was the first target of the federal probe, and it was his > reluctant decision to become an informant that led to last > February's indictment of the five officers. > > The fluid nature of the continuing investigation was further > suggested by a memo filed Monday by Gerald Stein, attorney for > DeGovanni. Stein also said DeGovanni's cooperation had helped lead > prosecutors to James Ryan, and that it would be unfair for the judge > to sentence the former police sergeant without knowing the results > of Ryan's -- and, by extension, DeGovanni's -- cooperation. > > All three defense attorneys contacted said their requests for > postponement had nothing to do with the five-year prison term meted > out last Friday by U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle 3d to former > 39th District officer Louis J. Maier 3d. > > Sources, however, said at least some of the five were shocked by the > severity of that sentence. Maier was charged separately after the > original five were indicted last year. > > Bartle's sentence was twice as long as that recommended for Maier > under federal sentencing guidelines. One reason was that federal > prosecutors said the decorated veteran officer had breached his > agreement to cooperate fully in the ongoing corruption probe. > > Moreover, Maier's sentence came despite Assistant U.S. Attorney > Carr's comments that Maier was among the least culpable of the six > officers charged thus far. > > Yesterday Maier's attorney, L. Felipe Restrepo, appealed the > sentence to the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Date: Sun Mar 17, 1996 9:08 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Philly Dirty Thirty-9th. - More Releases Posted: Ronnie Dadone http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Mar/16/front_page/COPS16.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Page One > > Saturday, March 16, 1996 > > More falsely convicted to be released > In the 39th District mess, the tainted cases have reached 110. > > [Image] By Mark Fazlollah > INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > > Now it's 110, and counting. > > The biggest, most expensive police scandal in Philadelphia history > has reached a new benchmark for notoriety. Eleven more > drug-conviction cases are about to be overturned, bringing the total > to 110 as the massive review of damage done by corrupt cops > continues. > The church-going grandmother who was framed and sent to prison for > three years, the restaurant manager who was put away for two years, > and the 18-year-old nursing student who was snatched from her > relatives' house by police and falsely arrested. > > These were some of the 110. > The 11 new cases include two defendants who are on probation for > their 39th District drug convictions. Another has finished his > two-year prison term and is on parole. > > William Davol, a spokesman for District Attorney Lynne Abraham, said > yesterday the 11 convictions would be overturned as soon as a judge > approved the prosecutors' motions for reversing the cases. > > When five former 39th District officers were indicted on Feb. 28, > 1995, on federal corruption charges, Abraham said that any case that > was tainted by their involvement would be reversed. > > All five have pleaded guilty, as has one other 39th District officer > indicted later in the year. > > A year into the review of the officers' arrests, defense attorneys > continue to send Abraham stacks of cases for reconsideration. In > all, the six corrupt 39th District officers made about 1,400 arrests > between 1988 and 1995. > > Among the cases overturned so far is the drug conviction of Betty > Patterson, the grandmother who was arrested in July 1989. Former > 39th District Officers Thomas Ryan, John Baird and Steven Brown told > prosecutors that she was framed. > > Baird, now in a federal prison, said the only reason Patterson was > arrested was to gather evidence against her three sons for a murder > case that the District Attorney's Office later lost. > > Baird said he believed Ryan or Brown planted the drugs that were > used to send Patterson to prison for three years. > > And the 110 cases includes Andre Bonaparte, who walked out of jail > Aug. 8 after his conviction was reversed. And George Porchea, a > restaurant manager who was released from prison July 24. > > And there was Denise Patterson (not related to Betty Patterson), who > was arrested in November 1988 by Baird. She was then an 18- year-old > nursing student who just happened to be at her relatives' house > caring for her sick mother when the police burst in and decided that > she was a drug dealer. > > The case review has become a legal nightmare for the city. As cases > are reversed because of corrupt officers, lawsuits pile up. > Betty Patterson has sued for $20 million. Denise Patterson and > Bonaparte have also sued, and Porchea has told the city he is ready > to sue. > > Public Defender Bradley S. Bridge said he was disappointed by the > pace of the dismissals. > > Though Bridge's office and prosecutors have agreed on dropping the > 11 cases -- and 43 other convictions that the District Attorney's > Office last month said should be overturned -- it is unclear when > they can be officially reversed. > > Last year, Common Pleas Court Judge Legrome D. Davis was assigned to > handle all 39th District cases. He handled most of the 56 > convictions that have been overturned. > > Recently, Davis moved off the 39th District beat because of > scheduling changes. Another judge was supposed to be assigned to the > cases. > > That has not happened yet, though prosecutors and defense attorneys > said the glitch probably would be resolved quickly. Court officials > did not respond to requests for comment yesterday. > > Bridge said none of the 11 defendants, nor anyone from the 43 other > cases, is currently in jail because of 39th District arrests. But he > said the courts should quickly overturn the convictions. > > ``Everyone is in agreement about getting this done,'' Bridge said. > ``We just can't find anyone to do it.'' Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordom@igc.apc.org Date: Wed Mar 20, 1996 11:36 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Dirty 39th. - 60 More Tossed Convictions Posted: Ronnie Dadone http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Mar/20/city/COPS20.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] City & Region > > Wednesday, March 20, 1996 > > 60 more drug convictions are to be reversed today > The arrests involved corrupt police officers. 56 convictions have > been thrown out already. > > By Mark Fazlollah > INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > > A court today will throw out 60 tainted drug convictions in which > corrupt 39th District officers were involved in the arrests -- more > than doubling the number of cases overturned in the ever- widening > probe. > > Already, 56 convictions have been tossed out because of the > involvement of six former 39th District officers who have pleaded > guilty to federal corruption charges. > > That will bring to 116 the number of cases reversed in the year- old > scandal. That number is certain to grow. > > ``It just keeps going. There's no end to it,'' said William Davol, > spokesman for District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham. > > Davol said 54 cases had been scheduled to be overturned by Common > Pleas Court Judge Legrome D. Davis today, but six more were added > earlier this week. > > And, as more officers are indicted, more cases will need to be > overturned. > > Last fall, for example, Mayor Rendell confirmed that a police- FBI > investigation has expanded into the elite Highway Patrol unit. Law > enforcement officials have said several patrol officers stole drugs > from pushers and resold them to other pushers. > > ``It's incredible the damage that has been done to the system,'' > Davol said. > > Lawyers who have specialized in police corruption cases say there > has never been an investigation as deep into police wrongdoing as > the current effort. > > ``The feds have been very successful in spreading'' the > investigation to include other officers, including members of the > Highway Patrol, said L. George Parry, a private attorney who once > headed the now-defunct police corruption unit of the District > Attorney's Office. > > ``I've never heard of 60 separate cases being overturned,'' said > Parry, who was a federal strike force prosecutor in Buffalo before > then-District Attorney Edward G. Rendell lured him to Philadelphia > in 1978 to head the police corruption unit. Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org Date: Thu Apr 04, 1996 11:18 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: 4 More Philly Cops to be Charged From: Bob Witanek From dadoner@chesco.com Thu Apr 4 08:58:13 1996 Return-Path: dadoner@chesco.com Received: from carriage.chesco.com (carriage.chesco.com [205.164.157.2]) by igc3.igc.apc.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id IAA10175 for ; Thu, 4 Apr 1996 08:58:09 -0800 (PST) Received: from pm1x2.chesco.com (pm1x27.chesco.com [205.164.157.56]) by carriage.chesco.com (8.6.12/8.6.9) with SMTP id LAA26835 for ; Thu, 4 Apr 1996 11:52:04 -0500 Message-Id: <199604041652.LAA26835@carriage.chesco.com> Date: Thu, 04 Apr 96 12:59:12 -0800 From: Ronnie Dadone X-Mailer: Mozilla 1.22 (Windows; I; 16bit) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: bwitanek@igc.apc.org Subject: Philadelphia Inquirer: Page One Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Status: RO http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Apr/04/front_page/COP04.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Page One > > Thursday, April 4, 1996 > > 4 more Phila. officers face federal charges > > By Joseph A. Slobodzian > and Mark Fazlollah > INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS > > Guns drawn, they ordered about 100 people to their knees and rifled > through their pockets, taking all their money. > > Once the money was bagged, about $28,000, the thieves began to > party, drinking the beer, eating the food. > > This remarkably brazen heist was the work of four Philadelphia > police officers, law enforcement officials said yesterday in > announcing another indictment in the city's police corruption > scandal. > > The new charges stem from a Feb. 19, 1994, police raid on a > cockfight in the basement of a North Philadelphia store -- a raid to > cover what prosecutors called an armed robbery by the four officers, > not an attempt to stop the illegal gambling on fighting roosters. > > A total of 10 officers have now been charged in the federal probe of > police corruption that began last year with the arrest of five > officers from the 39th District in North Philadelphia. > > Yesterday's indictment expanded the probe into the adjacent 25th > District as well as the department's vaunted Highway Patrol, an > elite spit-and-polish unit long considered beyond reproach. > > The two officers from the 25th District are Julio C. Aponte, 42, an > 11-year veteran of the force, and Edward A. Greene, 38, a > third-generation police officer who was a city prison guard before > joining the force in 1980. Indicted with them were Highway Patrol > officers Lester F. Johnson, 35, a 14-year veteran, and John P. > O'Hanlon, 32, a 10-year veteran. > > It was a Saturday night cockfight in the basement of a store in the > 3200 block of North Fifth Street. Booze was flowing. There was a vat > filled with beer and bottles of rum. > > Soon after the fights started, the four officers barged in, weapons > drawn. > > In an interview last night, store owner Ramon Nu nez, 48, said the > officers yelled: ``Everyone freeze. Police.'' > > The officers ordered everyone to get on the floor. Nu nez said > Greene and O'Hanlon then went to each man and reached into his > pockets searching for money. > > The two then piled the money in the center of the ring, Nu nez said. > One of the men was ordered to pack it in a large bag that had been > used for carrying roosters. > > ``When the bag was filled with money, it was two feet high,'' Nu nez > said. ``And this wasn't loose bills. Almost everyone had the money > bundled up with rubber bands. They didn't leave one cent. They took > everything.'' > > Nu nez thinks as much as $75,000 was taken that night. > > Hours later, at the 25th District station, Nu nez said he asked > Aponte about the money. > > ``He said they were counting it,'' Nu nez said. ``But they never > brought it back.'' > > The four officers were charged in a 21-count indictment with federal > robbery and attempted robbery, use of a firearm in a crime of > violence, and conspiracy to violate civil rights. > > All four entered pleas of not guilty yesterday before U.S. > Magistrate Judge Peter B. Scuderi. > > Attorneys for Johnson and Greene told Scuderi that they intended to > strongly contest the charges. > > ``You can bet on it,'' said Johnson's attorney, Jack McMahon. > > The lawyer added that his client had made about 150 arrests since he > joined the Highway Patrol in 1985 and had received ``30 to 40 > commendations and merit awards from the police commissioner and the > mayor.'' > > Police Commissioner Richard Neal said Aponte retired from the force > several weeks ago; the three others were suspended yesterday with > intent to dismiss in 30 days. > > Assistant U.S. Attorney William B. Carr Jr. said each man faces a > likely prison term of 14 years without parole if convicted on all > charges because of the mandatory jail terms that accompany firearms > convictions. > > Yesterday's indictment was the long-expected sequel to the Feb. 28, > 1995, indictment of the five 39th District officers. > > All five pleaded guilty and are to be sentenced April 15. A sixth > officer was later charged, pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to > five years in prison. > > The ongoing federal probe has become a public dissection of the > city's criminal justice system. The admissions by the officers > indicted a year ago that they created bogus search and arrest > warrants so they could shake down suspected drug dealers has > resulted in the dismissal of charges against 116 people arrested by > the officers. > > Thirteen federal civil rights suits have been filed against the city > and the convicted 39th District officers, and more filings are > expected. > > Bradley S. Bridge, a lawyer coordinating the review of the corrupt > officers' cases for the Public Defender's Office, said he would > review all arrests made by Officers Aponte, Greene, O'Hanlon and > Johnson. > > ``The corruption of these police officers has mortgaged our > future,'' Bridge said. ``The indictments today are a down payment, > albeit small, toward the redemption of our future. In the months to > come, there will be more mortgage payments in the form of more > indictments.'' > > All four officers charged yesterday were ordered released by Scuderi > after their attorneys assured him that they would post personal and > family properties to secure bail of $100,000 to $150,000. > > The judge denied a motion by prosecutors to have Aponte held without > bail for allegedly trying to persuade a witness to lie to federal > investigators in another case. > > Prosecutor Carr said Aponte was secretly recorded Jan. 19 by Damian > Padilla, a suspect with Aponte and two other men in a 1991 attempted > home burglary in Port Richmond, telling Padilla not to cooperate > with the FBI. In a transcript of the conversation made available > yesterday, Aponte tells the informant to tell the FBI that the two > had not seen each other for 1-1/2 years. > > ``Now they're going to ask you if you talked to me,'' Aponte is > quoted as saying in the transcript. ``If you say yes, you talked to > me . . . you sunked me, then you buried me.'' > > Although Scuderi said he did not believe the audiotape warranted > Aponte's pretrial detention, he raised Aponte's bail to $150,000 and > warned him not to contact any witnesses. > > All four officers have checkered histories. Johnson is a defendant > in a federal civil rights suit that also names five officers who > have pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges. > > In the last two years, the city has paid a total of at least $85,000 > to settle federal lawsuits against O'Hanlon, Aponte and Greene. > > The indictment -- announced at a news conference attended by U.S. > Attorney Michael R. Stiles, District Attorney Lynne Abraham, Neal > and Bob C. Reutter, head of the Philadelphia office of the FBI -- > alleges that the four officers signed a police property receipt > putting the amount at $2,404, and kept the rest for themselves. > > To make their raid seem legal, the indictment alleges, the four also > arrested five people from the cockfight, including store owner Nu > nez, for cruelty to animals and conspiracy. The indictment also > alleges that the officers later sabotaged their testimony against > the five -- who had been complaining about the theft of the money -- > to ensure that the charges against them were dismissed. > > Nu nez's attorney, Harry Rubin, said Nu nez had told the FBI about > how police stole the money and then ate the victims' refreshments. > ``It was like a party,'' Rubin said. > > Federal officials were tight-lipped yesterday about the status of > the federal probe and how many more current of former officers might > be indicted. They also took pains to put the corruption probe into > perspective, noting that most Philadelphia police officers are > honest ``and deserve the public's respect.'' > > ``In my view this does not mean that the Philadelphia Police > Department has more corruption than other police departments,'' said > Stiles. ``It does mean that we are more determined to do something > about it.'' > > That view was also taken by Mayor Rendell, who told reporters: ``We > ought to get a grip on reality.'' > > ``There's always a problem, if it was one officer that committed a > corrupt act,'' Rendell said. ``But so far, in years of > investigation, we have a very small number of police, all acting on > their own, all doing things that are not part of a pattern.'' > > Neal said he remains ``prepared to go wherever the investigation > takes us'' and said the probe ``should send a very clear message to > anyone who would have any thoughts in terms of engaging in any form > of corruption that we're committed to come after them, we're > committed to identify them. We will fire them and they will be > arrested.'' > > District Attorney Abraham also said she wanted the probe to continue > and urged ``as many police officers as possible who do deserve and > earn the right to wear those badges and uniforms with honor'' to > report any police corruption they discover. > > Four weeks after the raid, the five men arrested in the search > appeared at a hearing before Municipal Court Judge Michael J. > Conroy. > > Three of the arresting officers testified -- Aponte, Greene and > O'Hanlon. > > O'Hanlon was questioned the most extensively about money that he and > his partner -- Johnson -- had seized. He said 40 to 50 men attending > the cockfight were searched, but no money was taken from anyone. > > Question: How much money was confiscated? > > O'Hanlon: ``There was $2,400, $2,404 I believe is the exact > number.'' > > Question: From where was this money confiscated? > > O'Hanlon: ``Inside the ring. . . . Off to the side in the ring. Just > a big pile of money.'' > > All that was a lie, federal prosecutors now say. > > [Image] > Inquirer staff writers Richard Jones and Vanessa Williams > contributed to this article. Date: Tue Apr 09, 1996 2:15 am CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Venting 'Bout Bad Cops From: Bob Witanek Posted nattyreb@ix.netcom.com Sat Apr 6 09:01:33 1996 From: nattyreb@ix.netcom.com (Marpessa Kupendua) A RARE AND COURAGEOUS BREED - A BLACK MAINSTREAM JOURNALIST WHO DARES TO SPEAK THE TRUTH FROM HIS HEART! THERE'S HOPE FOR US YET! --------------------------------------------------------------------- YES, LET US VENT ABOUT BAD COPS - by Elmer Smith, Columnist - The Philadelphia Daily News 4/5/96 You may be pleased to know that our cops are no more corrupt than cops elsewhere. No? Well try this one: There are no more bad cops than bad lawyers, bad bankers or bad reporters. That one doesn't do much for you? Didn't do it for me either. But the federal prosecutor probing Philadelphia police corruption and the mayor of this typically corrupt town seemed to think these revelations would be quite a load off your mind. And maybe they will be, if you're into turning your dark clouds inside out in search of silver linings. After all, cops are reading Miranda warnings to each other in every big city in America. I guess it's good to know that ours are no worse then theirs. So maybe this is just a timing thing with me. But on a day when four cops get busted, this time for pulling a stickup at a cockfight, I'm not trying to hear that armed robbery by people we armed is just one of those things. "In my personal view," said U.S. Attorney Michael Stiles "the men and women of the Philadelphia Police Department are certainly no more corrupt than... any other police department." The mayor took it a step further. "So, let's get a grip and understand that there are bad policemen, bad bankers, bad politicians and maybe bad reporters," Rendell said. Hey, get a grip on this, guys: When cops crash through someone's door with guns drawn, rob 21 people of $28,000 and sit around drinking beer while their victims lie face down on the floor, I'm not trying to understand. I think I do understand what the mayor and Stiles are trying to do. They just don't want us to panic. They want to let us know that we can stop worrying because they're on this. And since both of them have better-than-average track records for fighting police corruption, it seems fair to say that their official response is a lot less casual than their public shrug. But I don't want to be calmed down when I'm paying people who may beat me up, lock me up and now, stick me up with the gun I bought them. So I reserve the right to be outraged. Because, even though I know they're doing it from Dubuque to Dallas, this is a sore spot that never gets numb for me. Wednesday's indictment bowl raises to 10 the number of Philly cops busted in Mike Stiles' federal probe. The other six were into robbing drug dealers, planting drugs on innocent people and keeping a stash of illegal drugs for fun and profit. Which brings to mind the old joke about Philadelphia being a town where a kid can play cops and robbers alone. But I ain't laughing. And I ain't buying that tired old refrain about how cops get corrupted by all the corruption they see around them. That's an excuse, and a sorry one at that. If 950 cops of 1,000 can go from rookies to retirees without sticking up a craps game or collecting on both ends from the local hooker, the others have a problem more basic than workplace atmosphere. Sure, some of us do have trouble keeping our hands off other people's money. But it's the job of the police to help us. Instead, we've got this greedy monitory out here helping themselves. There's no excuse for it. It is outrageous. And *that* is what I want to hear from my mayor and federal prosecutor. Instead I'm hearing how police are under such pressure, it's no wonder they stray off the reservation every once in a while. Which is what we're hearing from California this week in the aftermath of the beating of two disarmed Mexican Americans who were caught smuggling illegal aliens across the border. This week's episode of roadside justice features some nifty stick work by the Riverside County sheriff's department. It follows a familiar script: Police signal a driver to stop. The driver continues, picking up speed until he is leading the police cruiser on a high-speed chase over the highway or through city streets. Finally, after a long chase, he overtakes the fleeing motorist. What follows is a scene that has been repeated so often it's not just predictable; it's almost inevitable. The scene is in continuous showing this week because a TV crew in a helicopter chronicled the chase and the beating on their overhead cameras. They should have pulled over. But they sped off. Cops hate that. It's what made half a dozen L.A. cops form a circle and whip Rodney King like a runaway slave. That's what pissed off a cop in an unmarked car who dragged a woman from her car, jumped on her back, and bludgeoned her on a South Carolina highway a few months ago. We saw that one replayed on a TV news magazine segment last month after the irate trooper was caught on camera by his own police cruiser as he administered roadside justice to this woman. In California, where most American trends have their roots, this tendency is called high-speed pursuit syndrome. For once, I wish someone would call it what it is, beating the hell out of people. And stop trying to cool us off about it. Don't hose me down. Let me burn. ============================== Submitted by: Sis. Marpessa http://www.webcom.com/nattyreb Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 21:46:59 -0700 From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen ) To: DRCTalk@drcnet.org Subject: corrupt cops chronology Message-ID: <199604110446.VAA08528@dfw-ix2.ix.netcom.com> The Philadelphia Inquirer Thursday, April 4, 1996 Some major events of corruption probe By Richard Jones and Mark Fazlollah INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Yesterday's indictment of four Philadelphia police officers was the latest blow to a department already reeling from 13 months of scandal. Here is a chronology of key events in the corruption probe: Feb. 28, 1995 -- A federal grand jury indicts five former officers in the 39th District in North Philadelphia -- John Baird, 40; Thomas DeGovanni, 44; Steven Brown, 48; James Ryan, 39; and Thomas Ryan, 38. They are charged with planting drugs on suspects, stealing more than $100,000 in cash and property, and falsifying police reports. They and a sixth former officer, Louis J. Maier 3d, later plead guilty. March 15, 1995 -- Joe Morris, 53, in prison for a 1988 drug conviction, is freed at the request of the District Attorney's Office. His is the first of more than 100 convictions overturned by the courts because of misconduct by the six former officers. April 7, 1995 -- Two former 19th District officers -- Derrick Mayes, 31, and Kevin Daniels, 33 -- are convicted of stealing cash, planting drugs and making false arrests of young men in West Philadelphia. Each is sentenced to five to 10 years. June 8, 1995 -- A former 35th District officer, Sgt. Gene Lomazoff, 39, is convicted of stopping motorists for minor infractions, then shaking them down for cash. He is sentenced to seven to 22 years. July 26, 1995 -- Two former 39th District officers -- Brown, named in the February indictment, and Robert Miller, 47 -- are charged with running a lucrative fencing operation out of a North Philadelphia variety store. Aug. 14, 1995 -- In the first of a series of mass transfers, Police Commissioner Richard Neal guts the 39th District's command, shifting the captain and 11 other supervisors to new assignments. In the 35th District, 11 supervisors are moved to new posts. Aug. 15, 1995 -- City Councilman Michael Nutter criticizes Mayor Rendell's response to the widening scandal and calls for an independent commission with broad powers to investigate police misconduct. An existing commission is purely advisory. Aug. 30, 1995 -- Federal investigators subpoena arrest logs in the 22d, 23d, 24th, 25th and 26th Districts and the Highway Patrol. The logs cover up to 100,000 arrests over 10 years. Aug. 31, 1995 -- Neal announces a 10-step plan to fight police corruption, including beefing up the department's Internal Affairs Division, expanding ethics training, and instituting random drug testing. Three men who claim they were falsely arrested by corrupt officers file the first federal class-action suit stemming from the scandal. Sept. 19, 1995 -- Before a packed City Council chamber, the Police Advisory Commission opens public hearings into the case of Moises DeJesus, a North Philadelphia man who died in 1994, three days after struggling with arresting officers. ``He was hit, then handcuffed, then hit again, and again, and again,'' said one witness. ``He was thrown in [ the police van ] like a dog. That's when I said, `He's dead. He's dead.' '' At the close of the hearing, about 200 off-duty officers chant: ``Kangaroo, kangaroo!'' Sept. 26, 1995 -- Breaking with a traditional code of silence, the president of the group representing the city's black officers calls on all police to turn in corrupt colleagues and report misconduct, past or present. ``The credibility of this police department is at stake,'' says David E. Fisher, president of the Guardian Civic League. ``These rogue cops are . . . tarnishing the badge.'' Nov. 16, 1995 -- The Inquirer reports that the Rendell administration paid $20 million over the preceding 28 months to settle more than 225 lawsuits alleging police misconduct. A spokesman for the mayor calls the upsurge ``a statistical anomaly.'' Dec. 21, 1995 -- In its report on the death of Moises DeJesus, the Police Advisory Commission calls for the suspension of six officers. The report says that one officer struck DeJesus with a flashlight or nightstick and that five others ``were not truthful in reporting what they observed.'' April 3 -- Four more officers -- Julio C. Aponte and Edward A. Greene of the 25th District and Lester F. Johnson and John P. O'Hanlon of the Highway Patrol -- surrender for booking on federal corruption charges. --- > April 8 -- After waiting 111 days for action, the Police Advisory > Commission calls on Rendell and Neal to punish the six officers > cited in its report. ``Any further delay,'' panel members wrote, ``. > . . does an injustice to the citizens of Philadelphia.'' > April 15 -- A federal judge sentences the five officers indicted in > February 1995 -- Baird, DeGovanni, Brown and the two Ryans -- to > prison terms ranging from 10 months to 13 years. http://www2.phillynews.com/daily_news/96/Apr/16/local/KOPS16.htm > Local > [Philadelphia Online] THE PHILADELPHIA Tuesday, April 16, > DAILY NEWS > 1996 > > > Ex-cops get little pity > > by Jim Smith > Daily News Staff Writer > > The four ex-39th District cops said they were sorry for robbing and > assaulting dozens of suspected drug dealers and for trumping up > reasons to search and arrest victims. > > One even cried. > > But the apologies and the tears and the ratting -- mostly on each > other -- didn't do them much good. > > With stunning severity, all four were sentenced to long prison terms > yesterday by U.S. District Judge Robert S. Gawthrop III. > > The judge, for the most part, refused entreaties of prosecutors and > defense attorneys to significantly reward three of the four > defendants for squealing on each other and, in some cases, on other > corrupt cops. > > The judge, however, did show mercy on a fifth defendant, Thomas > Ryan, the first to turn informant and the least involved, sending > Ryan to jail for only 10 months. > > The leader of the corrupt officers, John Baird, whom fellow officers > called ``Wacky Jacky'' -- a man who liked to play a sadistic form of > Russian roulette with victims, putting a gun to their heads and > pulling the trigger on an empty chamber -- was sentenced to 13 years > in jail without chance of parole. > > The punishment was four years longer than that required by Baird's > sentencing guidelines. > > If it withstands an appeal, it would be one of the stiffest > sentences in modern times in a Philadelphia police corruption case. > > ``The governmental functions in this town have been disrupted > immeasurably,'' the judge said, referring to the overturning of more > than 100 drug convictions as a result of wrongdoing by Baird and his > three main associates over a three-year period. > > Baird, 41, a trim, square-jawed man with long graying blond hair > parted in the middle, has been in jail for several months and came > to court in a khaki prison uniform. > > He showed no emotion as deputy U.S. marshals hauled him from the > courtroom in handcuffs to begin his sentence.A jail has yet to be > designated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. > > While it was important to ``loosen tongues'' of potential witnesses > by rewarding those who inform on others, the judge said his primary > purpose in dealing harshly with the ex-cops was ``to deter other > police officers from committing . . . crimes in the first place.'' > > Baird, who stole more than $100,000 for his corrupt crew, would get > no ``silver platter'' from him, Gawthrop added, rejecting requests > for leniency from Assistant U.S. Attorneys William B. Carr Jr. and > Joel Goldstein, and from Baird's defense attorney, Elizabeth > Ainslie. > > At one point the judge suggested that Baird's request for mercy > ``smacked of blackmail.'' The judge noted that Baird had told a > court probation officer, Thomas Wolfe, that other corruption cases > ``would dry up'' if he was dealt a harsh sentence. > > ``Of course,'' Ainslie said, when asked if she'd appeal the stiff > sentence. > > Ex-cop Steven Brown, 49, who bawled over the shame he brought to his > family, drew 10 years from the judge, the maximum required by > Brown's sentencing guidelines. > > ``I locked up drug dealers. They were drug dealers. I went about it > the wrong way,'' Brown told the judge. ``I became a thief . . . I > needed the money. > > ``Seeing the money the drug dealers had and the way they were > living, I took it upon myself'' to steal. ``I admit it. I hope they > know I am sorry,'' Brown added, before being returned to prison. > > Ex-Sgt. Thomas DeGovanni, 45, drew seven years in prison, but was > given a week to spend with his wife and three children before the > term begins. > > ``My behavior was . . . immoral,'' DeGovanni admitted. > > ``We all start out with good intentions. Too often we fail. I > failed.'' > > James Ryan, whose ongoing cooperation recently led to the > indictments of four other cops for stealing about $30,000 from a > cockfight -- and to other still-secret investigations involving > members of the Highway Patrol -- was sentenced to six years. > > Ryan, 40, asked for 30 days to report to prison. But the judge gave > him only about seven minutes to surrender. > > Gawthrop told James Ryan he had had ``enough free will'' to resist a > cancer in the ranks of the Police Department. > > ``Tragically for you, you took the path of corruption,'' the judge > added. > > ``I cannot factor out the ugliness with which his case abounds,'' > the judge told prosecutors, rejecting a plea for more leniency. > > James Ryan's sentence was two years less than the minimum required > by his guidelines, but two years more than the four-year term the > prosecutors had recommended. > > The 10-month sentence went to Thomas Ryan, who was the least > involved and the first to inform on Baird. > > Prosecutors said Thomas Ryan was involved criminally with Baird only > one time, more than five years ago in 1991, the night he and Baird > illegally detained and roughed up a college student who had the > misfortune of getting lost on their beat. The student, Arthur > Colbert, resembled a drug dealer Baird wanted to roust. > > Baird also broke into Colbert's apartment in Cheltenham searching > for drugs or money while the student was kept in a 39th District > cell. > > In a letter to the judge, Thomas Ryan said he didn't have the > courage that night to stand up to Baird. > > Baird ``had friends throughout the ranks of the Police Department,'' > Thomas Ryan told the judge. > > The student's complaint the next day eventually got Baird, Thomas > Ryan and DeGovanni fired and brought in the FBI to help investigate > corruption in the 39th District.Thomas Ryan's prison sentence was 14 > months less than the minimum required by his guidelines. > > Defense attorney Frank DeSimone noted that Thomas Ryan, who now > works as a ``residential counselor'' in a group home for abused boys > in North Philadelphia, had letters of support and a signed petition > seeking mercy on his behalf from residents and businesspeople in the > 39th District. > > One admirer, Joan Downs, a reformed crack addict, testified > yesterday that Thomas Ryan helped convince her to get treatment. > > ``Tom is still there for me. He's my knight in shining armor,'' > Downs told the judge.The judge called her testimony ``gripping'' and > said it ``drives home the particular tragedy'' of Thomas Ryan's > case. > > ``You bore every hallmark of being a wonderful police officer,'' the > judge said. ``I think this was an aberration, but it happened and > that fact is ineradicable.'' > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > > [---] http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Apr/16/front_page/SENT16.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Page One > > Tuesday, April 16, 1996 > > Corrupt Officers Get Harsh Terms > 5 from 39th District given up to 13 years > > By Joseph A. Slobodzian > and Mark Fazlollah > INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS > > Philadelphia's most notorious policeman, who blazed a trail of > outrageous misconduct for 10 years and left the city with one of the > biggest police scandals in its history, was sentenced yesterday to > 13 years in prison without parole. > > Looking more like a wraith than like the flamboyant officer who > routinely beat, framed and stole from citizens, John ``Wacky Jack'' > Baird was led away stone-faced and silent. > > Four other officers who helped make the 39th District a home for > scandal received sentences ranging from 10 years to 10 months. > > Citing the legacy of the corrupt officers -- 116 of their criminal > cases overturned and more coming, millions of dollars in civil suits > filed and more coming, a justice system shaken to its roots -- U.S. > District Judge Robert Gawthrop 3d did not just sentence the five > officers. > > He knocked them out of the park. > > Gawthrop, 53, a former county prosecutor and a veteran of nine years > on the federal bench, told Baird that he had ``squashed the Bill of > Rights into the mud'' and that in his 14 years on the city police > force he had ``erred badly, grievously and repeatedly.'' > > He then sentenced the 41-year-old officer to almost twice what > federal prosecutors recommended. > > Federal prosecutors pleaded for leniency, praising the way Baird had > helped them root out corruption by helping expand the FBI probe. > > Gawthrop bristled at a prosecution suggestion that ``police > corruption in this city is inexorable'' and said he felt the need to > ``to deter other police officers from committing these crimes in the > first place.'' > > Several of the five former officers and their attorneys spoke and > acted as if they had been betrayed by the severity of the sentences. > > Baird, for one, will appeal his sentence to the Third U.S. Circuit > Court of Appeals, said his attorney, Elizabeth K. Ainslie, who told > Gawthrop that Baird's extensive cooperation and ``prodigious > memory'' had worked against him at sentencing. > > ``I think the message that this sends [ to other corrupt officers ] > ,'' Ainslie told Gawthrop, ``is don't tell them anything they don't > already know. . . . The message will be: Either fight it, or take > your medicine and shut up.'' > > Baird, whose swashbuckling style and high arrest record earned him a > reputation as a cop's cop, showed no emotion as the judge sternly > imposed the sentence. Baird has been in jail awaiting sentencing > since October, and the time away seemed to have drained the officer > once known on the streets of North Philly as Blondie for his thick > blond hair. The Baird who faced the judge yesterday stood in an > olive prison jumpsuit, tall, gaunt and pale, his head listing > slightly to the right. > > Federal prosecutors sidestepped questions about whether the > sentences might deter other police officers from disclosing > corruption. > > ``The sentencing would have been harsher if there had not been > cooperation,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney William B. Carr Jr., > adding that strong sentences might deter future misconduct. Carr > declined to say whether more indictments were imminent. > > With yesterday's sentencings, the first chapter in the continuing > federal probe of city police ended. > > It began in February 1995 with the indictment of the five former > officers from North Philadelphia's 39th District on charges that > they stole more than $100,000 from suspected drug dealers, who were > usually searched or arrested with bogus warrants. It has grown, as > Gawthrop described it, like ``a cancer.'' > > Last August a sixth former 39th District officer was charged, > pleaded guilty and sentenced to five years in prison. And on April 3 > four more officers were indicted on corruption charges: two from the > adjacent 25th District and two from the Highway Patrol, all accused > of stealing $28,000 from the participants in a cockfight they > raided. All four are awaiting trial. > > The probe has resulted in a wholesale review of 1,800 arrests > involving the five original officers, and the District Attorney's > Office has since pressed for the dismissal of charges against 116. > > And the case review may be about to go much higher. > > A sentencing memo filed by federal prosecutors for yesterday's > hearings stated that Baird's ``pattern of similar corrupt activity'' > began in 1984 -- four years earlier than alleged in the indictment. > > Bradley S. Bridge of the Public Defender's Office said yesterday > that ``if the sentence reports are correct that these officers' > corruption extends back to the early '80s, we must go back and > extend our search for people whose lives were devastated by the > police officers to the early '80s.'' > > The proceedings began at 9:30 a.m. with the sentencing of James > Ryan, 40, the officer who first protested his innocence and then > cooperated, expanding the scope of the federal probe. > > Ryan's attorney, Brian J. McMonagle, urged a sentence below the > eight-to-10-year range recommended under the federal sentencing > guidelines, and Carr said Ryan's cooperation was so important he > deserved no more than four years. > > ``He never wanted to go to that unit,'' McMonagle said of the 39th > District, ``and when he got there he made a ton of mistakes and > begged to get out of there.'' > > Ryan, who boasts a series of commendations, insisted that all but > seven months of his 17-year career were exemplary and told Gawthrop: > ``I took a lot of pride in being a police officer. It was basically > my life.'' > > ``You are a grown man,'' Gawthrop told Ryan, standing ramrod > straight below the judge. ``You could take it or leave it. . . . > Tragically for you you took the path of corruption, and now is > judgment day.'' > > The sentence -- six years in prison and a $4,000 fine -- stunned > Ryan. So did what came next. McMonagle asked that Ryan be given 20 > days to report for prison. > > ``I'll give you to quarter of 11 to report,'' Gawthrop said. ``Until > then you're a free man . . .'' > > That gave Ryan eight minutes of freedom. > > Ryan whirled among a contingent of family and friends, making > hurried goodbyes. As marshals began to escort him into custody, he > turned to one federal investigator and said he was sorry he had > cooperated. > > Next up was Thomas Ryan, 39, whose criminal conduct was limited to > the Feb. 24, 1991, incident in which he and Baird stopped and took > into custody Temple University college student Arthur Colbert. > > Colbert was taken into a vacant crack house, where Baird stuck a gun > in his face and threatened to shoot him. The pair later went to > Colbert's Cheltenham apartment, which Baird entered and searched > illegally, before they returned and released the shaken student. > > Thomas Ryan, who retired after injuring his back and now counsels > teens in the 39th District, yesterday told Gawthrop that night was > his first pairing with Baird and was ``like a roller-coaster.'' Ryan > said that he reported the incident to his supervisor but that > supervisor was Sgt. Thomas DeGovanni -- a Baird ally -- and the > probe went nowhere. > > ``I have to apologize again to Arthur Colbert,'' he told the judge. > ``What he experienced that day should not happen in this country.'' > > Ryan's case was ``distinct from the others,'' the judge said, and he > sentenced him to 10 months -- significantly below the 24- to > 30-month guideline -- and fined him $1,000. > > Ryan declined comment after the sentencing. Gawthrop gave him 20 > days to surrender to authorities. > > It was the Colbert incident, and Colbert's dogged persistence in > pressing for an investigation of what happened to him, that > triggered the federal probe in 1992. > > Colbert, reached in Detroit, where he now works with juvenile > delinquents, said he was pleased that ``justice is finally done.'' > > ``Everybody did a good job. The FBI, the police, Internal Affairs, > they all worked together,'' Colbert said. > > After Thomas Ryan, DeGovanni, 45, the 39th District supervisor who > admitted letting Baird's crimes continue unimpeded, was next and got > seven years. > > ``I'm not going to stand here and make any excuses,'' DeGovanni told > Gawthrop. ``We all start out with good intentions, and sometimes we > fail. I failed.'' > > While Gawthrop acknowledged that Baird was the ``prime mover in this > ugly chain of misery that you have visited upon a lot of people,'' > he told DeGovanni he bore much of the blame. > > ``It may be trite and perhaps a bit Trumanesque,'' Gawthrop added, > ``but the buck stops with you. You could have stopped the whole > thing if you hadn't been on the take . . . You went along with it, > gladly lining your pockets and crumpling the Constitution in your > fist.'' > > The last to be sentenced was Steven Brown, 49, Baird's frequent > partner on his late-night cruises of North Philadelphia in search of > suspected drug dealers to shake down. He was sentenced to 10 years. > > Brown said he had realized that he was doing wrong and even warned > the other corrupt 39th District officers they should stop: ``I told > all of those guys, `You're going to bet banged.' '' > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Page One > > Tuesday, April 16, 1996 > > > By Jeff Gammage > INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > > The damage shows in the eyes of jurors who cast a wary eye on police > testimony. > > It shows in the way the top police command has tightened control > over some field units, slowing the move toward a decentralized, > community police force. > > And it shows in the anger of street officers and detectives, who say > they have been unjustly tarred by the villainous actions of a few. > > ``Those guys, what they did was unconscionable -- unconscionable,'' > said Homicide Detective Joseph Fischer, a 25-year veteran. > > ``Those guys'' are five corrupt 39th District officers who have > admitted robbing suspects, planting drugs and lying about it in > court. Yesterday, in a daylong series of sentencing hearings before > a dour federal judge, several were given lengthy sentences. > > The unhappy results of their actions have been far-reaching: About > 110 drug-conviction cases have been or are being overturned by the > District Attorney's Office. Some of those people have sued, > demanding millions of dollars in damages. > > Yesterday, people inside and outside the Police Department said that > was only part of the cost of corruption, and that there were other, > hidden costs, some of which will take years to remedy. > > Maybe the most serious penalty is the one that honest police > officers are paying every day, on the street and in the courtroom -- > the loss of public confidence. > > ``The lawyers are having a field day on cops in court,'' complained > one high-ranking police official. ``Every time a cop goes into > court, they think he's lying. . . . With O.J., officers were accused > of lying. Now here you have these guys admit they lied.'' > > Federal and city investigators are looking into a pattern of police > abuse, primarily against poor African American and Latino residents. > Police have been charged with framing people, lying to obtain search > warrants, stealing money, false arrest, and beating and threatening > citizens. > > It's not just that a few Philadelphia officers have been convicted > of corruption, several criminal justice authorities said. It's that > the Mollen Commission uncovered very similar wrongdoing in New York. > And that a police scandal has erupted in New Orleans. And that, on > the other side of the country, a racist police officer named Mark > Fuhrman lied on the witness stand in the double-murder trial of O.J. > Simpson. > > Those events have hurt police in the larger public view. > > The five corrupt 39th District officers have hurt them locally. > Fischer says he has felt that sting in court. ``These guys have > damaged our credibility,'' he said. ``Anybody who says otherwise is > kidding themselves.'' > > Fischer said that a few years back, police testimony was invariably > accepted as truthful. But now he says he has noticed the way some > jurors eye him on the witness stand. > > ``It's almost like if you say something out of the ordinary, there's > this automatic feeling of disbelief,'' he said. ``You have a good > case, and then you sit there and wonder why the jury didn't believe > you.'' > > Some police commanders say they have noticed that headquarters has > tightened its grip on various field units, fearful that too much > freedom may breed corruption. Some see the department taking an > uneasy, uncertain step away from community policing, toward a more > centralized decision-making process. And they worry that process may > accelerate if more officers are indicted. ``If it's just this, we'll > be OK,'' said one supervisor. ``But how much more of this is to > come, and how bad is it going to get? Is this the end, the middle or > the beginning? That's the real issue, and only the people doing the > investigation really know.'' > > Those people aren't telling. > > But U.S. District Judge Robert Gawthrop 3d sent his own message to > corrupt officers yesterday, pounding former Officer Jack Baird, who > has been described as a ringleader, with a 13-year prison term -- > four years more than called for under federal guidelines. > > ``The primary purpose of today's sentence,'' the judge said, ``is to > deter other police officers from committing those crimes in the > first place.'' > > Police Commissioner Richard Neal said he fully supported that. ``One > corrupt cop is one corrupt cop too many,'' he said yesterday. > > There's no question that police credibility has suffered, he said. > But people need to realize, he said, that the actions of a few > corrupt officers are not representative of the entire force. > > ``You have so many honest police officers who come to work each day, > and all they want to do is serve,'' Neal said. ``We know the vast > majority of our police officers are honest. They need to hold their > heads up and be proud of this organization.'' > > Neal was not the only officer upset about Baird and the others. At > the Police Administration Building yesterday, some officers were > nearly gleeful when they heard about some of the lengthy sentences. > ``That's great. That's great,'' said one former Highway Patrol > officer. Another said he hoped Baird would be raped in prison. > > But they and others acknowledged that putting five corrupt officers > in jail does not solve the Police Department's problem. > > ``There are many people in Philadelphia now, not only in the African > American community but throughout the city, who believe there has > been significant corruption in the department,'' said David > Rudovsky, a veteran civil-rights lawyer. ``My sense is, across the > city, there is distrust now of police testimony and credibility.'' > > Regaining that trust is no small task, he said. It will require > significant changes in police training, supervision and > accountability, he said. Rudovsky said he expects that under the > best circumstances, it could take years for the department to regain > its standing. > > Fischer, who spends his days chasing people wanted for murder, > thinks that time frame is about right. And he holds Baird and the > others directly responsible. > > ``Those guys, what they did, it's a disgrace,'' he said. ``What they > did is going to be here for a long, long time.'' Date: Wed Apr 24, 1996 2:52 am CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Re: Philly Cop News Posted: Ronnie Dadone http://www2.phillynews.com/daily_news/96/Apr/15/local/KOPS15.htm Local > [Philadelphia Online] THE PHILADELPHIA Monday, April 15, DAILY NEWS 1996 > > Leniency sought for dirty cops > by Jim Smith Daily News Staff Writer > > Federal prosecutors are recommending leniency for five former 39th > District police officers who are to be sentenced today for > conspiring to rob and violate the civil rights of dozens of > suspected drug dealers. > > While acknowledging that the defendants' crimes have had ``a > devastating effect upon local law enforcement,'' prosecutors say the > five deserve to be rewarded for squealing on each other and, in some > cases, on other corrupt cops. > > ``In practical terms, the incentive to cooperate will be crushed . . > . by . . . imposition of a sentence which does not adequately reward > meaningful cooperation,'' the prosecutors wrote in a memorandum to > U.S. District Judge Robert S. Gawthrop III. > > ``The government urges the court to send the message, to all police > officers under scrutiny, that while their corruption warrants > substantial punishment, their cooperation will be meaningfully > recognized at sentencing,'' the prosecutors added. > > The memorandum was signed by assistant U.S. attorneys Joel D. > Goldstein and William B. Carr Jr. and their boss, U.S. Attorney > Michael R. Stiles, the area's top federal lawman. > > The prosecutors say the corrupt cops stole more than $100,000 from > suspected drug dealers and routinely made false statements to get > search warrants or to justify illegal searches and arrests. > > The leader of the crooked cops, John Baird, turned informant and > told authorities how he had falsified probable cause and sometimes > added drugs to what was seized. > > Baird's ``candor'' and ``prodigious recall'' enabled local > prosecutors to reverse convictions in tainted cases, the prosecutors > noted. > > Baird, they say, gave ``firsthand evidence of the practice of > systemically manufacturing legal justification to investigate, > detain, enter premises, search and arrest.'' > > The prosecutors disputed news accounts that suggested some of the > defendants had admitted framing innocent people. > > Under federal sentencing guidelines, two ex-cops, Stephen Brown, 49, > and James Ryan, 40, face eight to 10 years, according to > calculations by the prosecutors and by the U.S. Probation Office. > > James Ryan is now the government's star witness in ongoing police > corruption probes targeting members of the Highway Patrol. > > Two highway cops were indicted recently along with two 25th District > officers for allegedly stealing about $30,000 at a North > Philadelphia cockfight. > > While James Ryan contributed no new information to the investigation > of corrupt 39th District cops, he provided ``valuable information'' > about Highway Patrol, the prosecutors said. > > ``Indeed, there are other substantial matters which have already > resulted from James Ryan's cooperation which we are not yet in a > position to disclose,'' the prosecutors added. > > Baird, 41, the admitted leader of the pack, one who at times pointed > a gun at suspects' heads to force them to tell where money and drugs > were hidden, faces sentencing guidelines of seven to nine years, > primarily because he squealed more and negotiated a better plea > bargain. > > Ex-Sgt. Thomas DeGovanni, 45, is facing 6-1/2 to 8 years. > > Thomas Ryan, 39, the first to cooperate and the least involved in > the scheme, faces only 2 to 2-1/2 years because he was not part of > the February 1988 to April 1991 conspiracy with the four other 39th > District crooks. > > The prosecutors are asking the judge to go below the minimum > sentences for all five defendants. > > But the judge also has the option of going higher and imposing > stiffer prison terms. > > This option is based on matters not taken into account by the > sentencing guidelines, including ``the magnitude of harm'' caused by > the ex-cops' conduct and how they ``significantly disrupted'' the > local criminal-justice system. > > So far, 116 drug convictions have been overturned, and more are > under review by the district attorney's office. > > U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III doubled the maximum guideline > sentence earlier this year for a sixth 39th District > thief-with-a-badge, Louis Maier, 38. > > Bartle sentenced Maier to five years in prison when Maier's > guidelines called for 24 to 30 months. > > Maier, a second-generation cop and nephew of a city judge, is > appealing the sentence. Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org Date: Wed Apr 24, 1996 9:42 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Philly Cops Posted: Ronnie Dadone http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Apr/17/city/PHA17.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] City & Region > Wednesday, April 17, 1996 > > Ex-officer's trial focuses on graft in another agency > One PHA officer has pleaded guilty to robbing suspects. The case is likened to the 39th District's. > By Mark Fazlollah > > INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > > Officers Ricardo Leon and Edward Malveiro used their badges to rob, > planted drugs on suspects and perjured themselves on the witness > stand, authorities said. > > But Leon and Malveiro were not from the 39th District. They weren't > even from the Philadelphia Police Department. The two Philadelphia > Housing Authority police officers were fired after an internal > investigation concluded that they had robbed and framed suspects. > > Malveiro pleaded guilty last year to robbery, perjury, theft and > other charges. Leon is on trial in Common Pleas Court. > > William Drummond, deputy chief of the PHA police, testified > yesterday that suspicions focused on the two when a North > Philadelphia woman, Theresa Brown, complained in August 1992 that > two PHA officers had stolen $400 from her. > > Drummond said in an interview later that the charges against Leon > and Malveiro sketched a pattern of misconduct similar to that in the > 39th District, where crooked officers robbed and framed suspects and > falsified police reports. > > ``It was the same thing,'' Drummond said. > > Leon's trial started Monday, the same day a federal judge sentenced > five former 39th District officers to prison terms ranging from 10 > months to 13 years. > > Drummond testified yesterday that on the day Brown lodged her > complaint, she identified Leon from a photograph as one of the > officers who had robbed her. > > The next day, Aug. 27, 1992, Brown returned to the PHA headquarters > and said she had seen one of the officers who had robbed her. She > had spotted him in a car at Sixth and Norris Streets. Police deter > mined that it was registered to Leon, who lives in the 300 block of > East Sheldon Street. > > The two officers were charged with planting drugs on three other > people. Idella Johnson testified yesterday that Leon planted ``16 > bundles'' -- about 350 vials -- of crack cocaine on her while > arresting her Oct. 21, 1992. > > Johnson, who was arrested near her home at Damien and Somerset > Streets, said she had only about 30 vials of crack that she was > taking to a party. > > After the arrest, Johnson pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine and > was sentenced to 3-1/2 years in prison. After the misconduct charges > against Malveiro and Leon came to light, her sentence was reduced to > 11 months. > > Drummond said it was hard to build a case against Leon and Malveiro > because the witnesses were drug dealers with long rap sheets. He > said the two officers targeted dealers because they were ``the most > vulnerable'' and were unlikely to complain to police -- the same > pattern found in the 39th District. > > Malveiro, of the 6300 block of Sylvester Street, is scheduled to > testify against Leon today. > > Leon was fired from the PHA police force in 1992, after the > allegations against him first surfaced. An arbitrator reinstated him > in September 1993 and ordered PHA to give him $19,028 in back pay. > He was fired again a year ago after he was formally charged with > robbery and other offenses. > > Leon's attorney, Jeremy Gonzalez Ibrahim, said the arbitrator's > action indicated that the case against his client was flawed. > > ``Ricardo Leon got his job back, and the investigation by PHA was > flawed from the start and fraught with corrupt witnesses,'' he said. ============== http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Apr/17/opinion/COPS17.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Opinion > Wednesday, April 17, 1996 > > Throwing the book A federal judge made no mistake in showing no mercy to the 39th District's bad cops. > > ``Tell us the truth!'' Officer John Baird shouted at Temple > University student Arthur Colbert. > > Then Baird and Officer John Ryan began whacking Mr. Colbert with > their long-handled black flashlights. > > ``You stupid nigger! Stop bulls -- ing us, you pea-brained . . . !'' > > Baird pulled his gun. Ryan stood alongside Mr. Colbert with a long > two-by-four, then pushed it into Mr. Colbert's head. > > After terrorizing Mr. Colbert for denying (truthfully) that he was a > drug dealer, Baird squatted in front of the student. > > ``We're going to give you a few seconds,'' Baird said. Then he > pointed a gun at Mr. Colbert's head and began the countdown. > > ``If you don't tell us what we want to know, I'm going to blow your > head away,'' threatened Baird, according to the account given by Mr. > Colbert to Inquirer reporters. > > It was Feb. 24, 1991. > > Just imagine that Arthur Colbert, who had no police record and had > committed no crime, was your son. How would you feel about what > these officers in blue did? > > And how would you feel if prosecutors had made a deal to go easy on > the two officers -- who faced a slew of serious charges -- in > exchange for ratting on other crooked pals? > > Would you feel outraged? > > Well, U.S. District Judge Robert Gawthrop 3d just made your day. > > He properly sent a strong message to all police officers tempted to > cross the line into a life of crime that they will get big time > behind bars. > > And even if that does make it more difficult for federal prosecutors > to make fast cases against other crooked cops, this federal judge > may scare a few cops straight. > > He made it clear to Baird that police officers should not expect to > bargain for short jail time after they've ``squashed the Bill of > Rights in the mud.'' > > He gave Baird the maximum 13 years without parole and gave six years > to Ryan, who could have gotten 10, though he felt he deserved about > four in light of his cooperation with prosecutors. Former Sgt. > Thomas DeGovanni, who was involved in covering up several crimes, > including the Colbert case, got seven years. Ex- Officer Steven Brown > got the maximum 10 years for his crimes. > > Retired Officer Thomas Ryan, who was the first in the 39th District > to begin talking to prosecutors, did get off mildly, with 10 months > in prison. Crimes committed by the five officers from the 39th > caused 116 tainted convictions to be thrown out. These cases > triggered lawsuits it's costing the city millions to settle. > > The case of the blond, swashbuckling, rights-smashing Baird is not > over just because he is in jail. > > The city still needs to commission the special panel it has promised > the citizens of Philadelphia. The panel will look into comprehensive > changes in a police department that handed Baird 15 commendations > over the same years he was racking up 23 formal citizen complaints. Date: Wed Apr 24, 1996 11:35 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Philly Cops News Posted: dadoner@chesco.com Thu Apr 18 07:14:38 1996 From: Ronnie Dadone http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Apr/18/front_page/WILL18.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Page One > Thursday, April 18, 1996 > Police Sting Undercut by Ex-Chief Williams' moves in '88 focus of probe > By Mark Fazlollah INQUIRER STAFF WRITER ?1996 The Philadelphia Inquirer > A sting aimed at four Philadelphia police officers suspected of > pocketing money from a drug raid was scotched when then-Police > Commissioner Willie L. Williams transferred the officers the day > before they were to be lured into a motel room and tempted with a > pile of cash. > > Now, eight years later, city and federal investigators are looking > into both the alleged theft of drug money and the sudden transfers, > which puzzled and infuriated investigators trying to ferret out > evidence of police misconduct. > > The 1988 sting, planned by the Police Department's elite > anti-corruption team, the Ethics Accountability Division (EAD), was > called off after Williams moved the four officers from the Major > Crimes Unit to street patrols in districts around the city. None of > the four was ever charged with misconduct. > > Williams, now chief of police in Los Angeles, said through a > spokeswoman that he would have no comment. Williams served 28 years > on the Philadelphia force. > > Two former EAD officials, both of whom asked not to be named, said > Williams had been briefed in advance on the planned sting and was > told that one of the four officers had been surreptitiously recorded > talking about stolen drug money. > > The former officials said Williams gave no indication that he was > about to shift the officers to new assignments. > > A former assistant Philadelphia district attorney who worked on the > case said the transfers stunned investigators. > > ``You never have a situation where everybody gets transferred,'' > said the former official, who asked not to be identified. ``That > just blew the possibility of having video surveillance. I still > remember we were all pretty disappointed.'' > > Philadelphia police officials said the incident is being examined by > the joint city-federal task force that has been probing police > corruption for the last five years. They would not elaborate. > > Asked about the case yesterday, Police Commissioner Richard Neal, > Williams' successor, said: ``I can't respond to why Willie Williams > transferred somebody.'' In an earlier interview, Neal said he could > not comment because the matter was under investigation. > > The four officers targeted for the 1988 sting came under suspicion > because of information supplied by Officer John ``Jack'' Baird, who > would later become a key figure in the 39th District scandal. Baird > pleaded guilty last year to beating, framing and robbing civilians > and was sentenced Monday to 13 years in federal prison. > > Confidential EAD documents released by the city in civil lawsuits > over police misconduct show that long before he was implicated in > the city-federal probe, Baird was an informant and occasional > undercover operative for EAD. > > In one 1988 case, Baird helped convict a drug dealer who had tried > to bribe him and an undercover EAD officer. Baird was publicly > praised by an assistant district attorney for his role in the case. > > Fred Westerman, a retired EAD sergeant now living in Florida, said > in a recent interview that Baird approached the anti- corruption unit > in April 1988 with potentially incriminating information about > several members of the Major Crimes Unit. > > Westerman said he was skeptical of Baird at first. Though Baird had > not yet been charged with corruption, he was facing dismissal from > the force for vandalizing the cars of his ex-wife and several of her > relatives. But, Westerman said, Baird appeared to have good > information. Baird told EAD investigators that police had taken up > to $50,000 from the North Philadelphia home of Gregory Tutt on March > 22, 1988. They turned in only $7,220, police records show. Tutt, a > one-time boxer who police say was involved in the Junior Black > Mafia, was later slain by rival drug dealers. > > With Baird's help, EAD began gathering information on Officer Leslie > Gunter, who participated in the raid on Tutt's home in the 1500 > block of West Cayuga Street. > > Outfitted with a tiny, hidden, Swiss-made Narga tape recorder, Baird > secretly recorded a conversation with Gunter on May 12, 1988. Baird > talked about raiding the home of another drug suspect -- and > complained about not getting any of the money stolen from Tutt's > house. > > Baird told Gunter that he did not intend to let that happen again, > according to a transcript of the conversation included in an EAD > case report. > > ``We don't want no surprises like Cayuga Street,'' Baird said. ``We > want to whack the . . . money up in the house, and then we're out of > there . . . So, like, the lieutenant's not going to grab all the > money and disappear.'' > > Later in the conversation, Gunter said that ``if there is any whack, > you'll be calling the whack.'' > > In a recent interview, Gunter, now a University of Pennsylvania > security officer, rejected Baird's allegations that officers stole > money found in Tutt's house. > > ``I don't know what Baird is talking about,'' said Gunter, who said > he received numerous commendations while on the Philadelphia force. > ``Whatever Baird says has to be taken with a grain of salt. Anything > he says is tainted.'' > > When told that Baird's tape recorder had picked him up talking about > how to ``whack'' money, Gunter said he had no recollection of the > conversation. He said that if he had made comments about money, they > were misinterpreted by EAD investigators. > > Gunter said police officials never confronted him with evidence of > misconduct. ``If that were true, it seems like the Police Department > would say something to me,'' he said. ``I don't recall'' Baird > ``saying anything like that.'' > > In a written summary of the Baird-Gunter conversation included in > the EAD case report, Joseph Murphy, then a corporal in the > anti-corruption unit, wrote that ``the officers discussed stealing > money from these locations and splitting it up.'' > > Westerman, the former sergeant, said the tape recording ``showed > some form of intent,'' but that investigators would need more > evidence. > > So a trap was laid. > > The four officers were to be lured to a motel room on Oct. 13, 1988. > EAD officials planned to leak them a phony tip that they would find > drug money there. A stack of cash would be left in plain sight. A > concealed camera would capture everything. > > On Oct. 12, Commissioner Williams issued an order, transmitted to > police districts by teletype at 4:42 p.m., saying that 11 officers > had been transferred to new assignments, effective immediately. > Among them were Gunter and the three other officers (one has since > retired; the two others are still on the force). > > Gunter said that he, too, was baffled by his sudden transfer from > the Major Crimes Unit. He said he thought it was ``something a > little strange.'' > Inquirer staff writers Thomas J. Gibbons Jr. and Jeff Gammage > contributed to this article. ==================== http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Apr/18/front_page/COPS18.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Page One > Thursday, April 18, 1996 > City seeks to seal police ethics files > Lawyers for victims say the documents could establish a pattern of corruption. Snippets have been made public. > By Joseph A. Slobodzian INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > > The 39 pages, bare-bones excerpts from files that city officials > want to keep secret, describe 658 city police-corruption > investigations dating back 12 years. > > ``Police officer is a drug dealer and frequents drug locations,'' > reads the description of one open case from this year. > > ``Police officers are selling heroin,'' says another file. > > And from the 1995 case files: ``Police officer perjuring himself > during a deposition. . . . Police officer taking bribes from a > speakeasy.'' > > These summaries catalogue the case files of the Police Department's > most secretive anti-corruption unit, the Ethics Accountability > Division. The files have become the latest battleground between > lawyers for the city and those representing victims of police > corruption. > > Lawyers for the victims want the entire contents of the files opened > in order to prove the city has done little to stifle police > misconduct and has therefore knowingly allowed ``a pattern and > practice'' of corruption. > > Lawyers for the city yesterday filed a motion asking that the files > be sealed, citing the need to protect sources, shield innocent > officers and preserve the integrity of ongoing investigations. > > Yet in trying to keep the files secret, the department supplied > spare synopses that afford a rare glimpse into its most closely > guarded anti-corruption activities. > > The EAD summaries show that: > [ * ] There are more than 161 active investigations into alleged > corruption. > [ * ] More than a third of all the EAD investigations since the unit > was founded in 1984 -- 236 cases -- have involved alleged police > involvement with drugs. > [ * ] The drug investigations centered on police allegedly selling > narcotics, using drugs, stealing from pushers or simply associating > with known dealers. > Police Commissioner Richard Neal said the list represents every EAD > investigation of a police officer, regardless of the quality of the > evidence or its source. > > ``What you have there is a list of allegations,'' he said. ``People > do call in, and we conduct investigations regarding that > information. In many instances that information that is provided may > not be substantiated.'' > > One veteran civil rights lawyer said the files could be a municipal > nightmare. > > ``These could be the police Watergate files: What did they know, and > when did they know it?'' said the lawyer, who asked not to be > identified. One of the most startling disclosures in the city's > motion divulges that John ``Jack'' Baird, who was sentenced this > week to 13 years in prison on federal corruption charges, was at one > time working both sides of the legal fence. > > He wore a wire for EAD in 1988 when he volunteered to help nail the > dirty officer. Yet, while working for EAD, he was also beating up > and framing citizens from the 39th District. > > The EAD documents do not make clear whether EAD officials knew of > Baird's 39th District illegal activities at the time he was > cooperating with them, or whether they were working with Baird > because they knew he had an inside line to police corruption. > > Legal sources say disclosure of the EAD information -- a rare > occurrence -- would be a windfall for the plaintiffs in 13 federal > civil rights suits growing from the 39th District scandal. > > They say the files might disclose more information about the > officers being sued, that they could demonstrate how city and police > officials responded -- or failed to respond -- to reports of > corruption among the city's 6,000-member police force. > > City officials say they have already given lawyers involved in the > suits the EAD files for the officers involved in those cases as well > as 85,000 other documents. > > ``The massive disclosure of all EAD files on misconduct cases would > paralyze the anti-corruption efforts of the police department at a > time when the eradication of police corruption is of paramount > public importance,'' said the motion filed yesterday in U.S. > District Court by Jeffrey M. Scott, the deputy city solicitor in > charge of the Civil Rights Division. > > Alan L. Yatvin, who is acting as the liaison for the group of > lawyers representing individuals wrongly arrested or imprisoned > because of the actions of a group of 39th District officers, > declined to comment on the city move for a protection order. > > It was an earlier motion by Yatvin and the plaintiffs' attorneys to > compel release of the EAD files that triggered the city's motion. > > The motion contends Yatvin and the other plaintiffs' attorneys > cannot be trusted with such confidential information and, as an > example, includes part of an EAD file on Baird that the city says > the plaintiffs leaked to Inquirer reporter Mark Fazlollah. > > The Baird file starts with his telephone call to the EAD on April 8, > 1988, to discuss police corruption and ends Oct. 14, 1988, after the > probe of four officers fingered by Baird collapsed when they were > suddenly transferred to different police districts. > > The document says Baird also wore a hidden tape recorder on several > occasions while he was stalking allegedly corrupt police for the > EAD. > > One source familiar with the file said Baird apparently knew he was > the subject of a criminal investigation and decided to try to avoid > prosecution by making himself invaluable to EAD by naming other > corrupt officers. > > Baird, 41, and four others indicted with him in February 1995 on > federal conspiracy and criminal civil rights charges, were sentenced > to prison Monday in a federal corruption probe that has so far > resulted in the prosecution of 10 current and former officers. > > Unlike the police Internal Affairs Division, which investigates > public complaints against police officers and makes its findings > available to the public, the EAD has always operated secretly. EAD > findings are not available to rank-and-file police or to the public, > and the unit reports directly to a deputy police commissioner who > reports directly to Neal. ``These files contain all sorts of > information,'' said Jeffrey M. Lindy, a lawyer who represents a 39th > District officer who has been named in some documents involving the > corruption scandal but who Lindy says is not a target of the probe. > > ``These files can contain interview notes from when you were hired, > psychological writeups, somebody's marital problems -- all sorts of > things that are inherently very personal and have nothing to do with > the job,'' Lindy said. > > Inquirer staff writer Jeff Gammage contributed to this article. ======================== http://www2.phillynews.com/daily_news/96/Apr/18/local/LEAK18.htm Local > [Philadelphia Online] THE PHILADELPHIA Thursday, April 18, DAILY NEWS 1996 > > City fights disclosure of cop files > by Jim Smith Daily News Staff Writer > > City lawyers say the Police Department's own anti-corruption efforts > would be ``paralyzed'' by public disclosure and press leaks of > confidential investigative files covering more than a decade. > > And that's why they oppose a request by private attorneys for all > files from the department's Ethics Accountability Division back to > 1984. > > The request goes beyond files pertaining to the former 39th District > officers who pleaded guilty to robbing and violating the civil > rights of dozens of suspected drug dealers. > > Although the private lawyers' civil rights complaints involve only > misconduct in the 39th District, they contend they need the complete > files to pursue a claim that the city fails to adequately > investigate police wrongdoing. > > The private attorneys represent more than 14 individuals who are > suing the city and several former 39th District officers for alleged > civil rights violations. > > City lawyers say reporters are getting information from secret > Ethics Accountability Division files that the city had voluntarily > disclosed to private attorneys. > > The city lawyers also noted that targets of investigations would be > ``unfairly stigmatized'' since the many files were closed without > charges being filed, and contain ``unproven allegations.'' > > If the court requires production of all files, the city says it > needs a ``protective order'' to prevent the private attorneys, their > clients and anyone else from leaking their contents to the media. > > Deputy City Solicitor Jeffrey M. Scott and Assistant City Solicitor > Marcia Berman said the secret files contained the names of > informants and police officers who have told of police corruption, > and of methods such as electronic surveillance and ``sting'' > operations that have been used by investigators to gather evidence > against corrupt cops. > > Public disclosure of such sensitive information ``would paralyze the > anti-corruption efforts of the Police Department at a time when the > eradication of police corruption is of paramount public > importance,'' city lawyers told U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell > in a memorandum. > > In a sworn statement filed with the court, Capt. Albert Harris, the > commander of the Ethics Accountability Division, wrote, ``The > protection of confidential information and police officers who > report corruption is of the highest concern.'' > > Nine Ethics Accountability Division investigations have been opened > this year and are still active, and there are many cases still open > from earlier years, the city lawyers noted. > > The city lawyers provided thumbnail descriptions of hundreds of the > investigative files. > > The more recent allegations include taking money to protect drug > corners, visiting drug houses, selling heroin, moonlighting as > security guards, living out of state, working for a bookmaker, > disclosing computer information, taking money from gypsies, lying > during a deposition, and driving prostitutes in a ``call-girl'' > operation. > Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org Date: Thu Apr 25, 1996 7:49 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Re: Philly Cops News Posted: Ronnie Dadone http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Apr/19/front_page/COPS19.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Page One > Friday, April 19, 1996 > Williams denies being told of sting > The ex-police chief had transferred four officers, foiling a 1988 probe. > By Mark Fazlollah INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > > Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Willie L. Williams yesterday > denied any knowledge of a 1988 anti-corruption sting that collapsed > when he transferred the four targeted officers 24 hours before the > trap was to be sprung. > > Williams, now chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, said that > if he had known a sting was planned, he never would have authorized > the transfers of four members of the police Major Crimes Unit on > Oct. 12, 1988. The transfers effectively killed the investigation. > > ``I have no knowledge whatsoever of ever being informed by the then > first deputy of the Philadelphia Police Department or other senior > police officials of a pending sting or other actions on or about > 10-13-88. If I had been so informed of such a plan, no movement of > the targeted personnel would have been made,'' Williams said in a > statement. > > ``I find the Philadelphia Inquirer's innuendos, including the > headline of 4-18-96, an example of reckless journalism,'' the > statement said. > > The Inquirer reported yesterday that the department planned to lure > the officers into a motel room to tempt them into stealing a pile of > cash that had been placed there. > > The sting, planned by the department's Ethics Accountability > Division, was called off after Williams moved all four to street > patrols in districts around the city. > > None of the four was ever charged with misconduct. > > The FBI-police task force began investigating the transfers last > year after two corrupt 39th District officers -- Steven Brown and > John Baird -- provided them with details of the 1988 case. > > Two former EAD officials said Williams was informed in advance of > the planned sting and did not tell EAD before the four officers were > transferred. > > Ranking police officials say it would be highly unusual for a > commissioner not to be informed about a planned sting, especially an > operation in which an officer wore a wire to ensnare another > officer, as was the case in this EAD investigation. > > The deputy commissioner to whom Williams' statement referred was > Robert F. Armstrong, who died in February 1994 of a brain tumor. > Armstrong served as the department's first deputy from 1986 to 1989. > In the 1988 investigation, EAD tape-recorded conversations between > Baird and Officer Leslie Gunter, then with the Major Crimes Unit. > > Baird, who this week was sentenced to 13 years in prison on federal > corruption charges, had volunteered to help EAD ferret out crooked > officers in 1988. Sources say Baird volunteered his services in > order to prevent the department from firing him after he had > vandalized his wife's property. > > During his work with EAD, Baird told investigators that Gunter was > involved in a raid in which money was stolen from a suspected drug > dealer. > > In an interview last month, Gunter denied that he was involved in > wrongdoing. He said EAD's 1988 investigation was ``tainted'' because > information came from Baird, an acknowledged perjurer and thief. > > In his statement, Williams said he was ``open and eager to > participate in any discussion about this issue should the > appropriate authorities in Philadelphia ever decide to request my > assistance.'' > > For the last month, The Inquirer has repeatedly requested interviews > with Williams about the 1988 case and sent him a copy of EAD's > detailed summary of its investigation. Through a spokeswoman, > Williams has declined to discuss the case. > > Williams' spokesman said that no further statements would be issued > about the 1988 investigation, and that Williams would not agree to > an interview. > > Williams' boss, Los Angeles Police Commission President Deirde Hill, > said in a statement yesterday that it ``would be premature and > inappropriate for the board to comment at this time'' because of the > current investigation. > > Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Neal also has said he could > not comment because of the investigation. > > Fraternal Order of Police president Richard Costello, meanwhile, > called for federal investigators to ferret out why Williams > transferred the officers. > > Costello said he believed the transfers were ``a case of clear- cut > obstruction.'' He said the focus of the investigation should shift > from street-level cops to the leadership of the department. > > ``Corruption doesn't start at the street level,'' Costello said. > ``Let's follow the corruption probe at the top.'' > > The union president also questioned why both the U.S. Attorney's > Office and the District Attorney's Office apparently had ignored the > case for years, though prosecutors had worked closely with the 1988 > investigation until it collapsed. > > ``When a corruption investigation reaches to a political > appointment,'' Costello said, ``it disappears. . . . Here's a case > where something happened in 1988 and nothing was done.'' > > U.S. Attorney Michael R. Stiles could not be reached for comment > yesterday. > > District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham's spokesman said she would not > comment on any case that was under investigation. = ======================== http://www2.phillynews.com/daily_news/96/Apr/19/local/KOPP19.htm Local > [Philadelphia Online] THE PHILADELPHIA Friday, April 19, DAILY NEWS 1996 > > Cop's lies cited by Jim Smith, Daily News Staff Writer > > Lying on the witness stand seven years ago by a now-convicted 39th > District police officer in a federal drug case ``does not cast doubt > on the guilt'' of the nine defendants in that case, prosecutors > contend. > > At least one defense attorney, however, insists the admitted perjury > by the former cop, John Baird, ``casts doubt on the government's > entire case.'' > > Defense attorney Sidney Kine said yesterday he would seek a new > trial for his client, Derrick Howell, who is serving a long prison > sentence. > > In a letter dated March 29 to U.S. District Judge Robert S. Gawthrop > III, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Eicher disclosed Baird's perjury > so the judge could consider it in sentencing Baird on corruption > charges. > > Baird is one of several former 39th District officers who admitted > robbing suspected drug dealers over a three-year period. > > The prosecutors also notified the nine defendants who were convicted > of federal drug conspiracy charges in 1989 that Baird has admitted > lying during their trial. > > In the drug case, Baird falsely claimed he had probable cause to > raid and arrest a drug dealer inside a house on Sterner Street near > 27th. > > In his letter to the judge, Eicher wrote, ``Baird's testimony did > not directly relate to any of the defendants on trial. > > Rather, it was simply presented to corroborate the testimony of > other witnesses that drugs were being sold out of 2715 W. Sterner > St. > > And, in order to win a new trial, Howell and his eight codefendants > would have to prove that the government knowingly used perjured > testimony -- something the government didn't know until recently, > Eicher noted. > > This week Baird was jailed for 13 years -- four more than required > by sentencing guidelines.The judge cited the disruption that Baird's > conduct caused in city courts, where more than 100 drug convictions > have been overturned so far. ====================> http://www2.phillynews.com/sunearly/city/COPS21.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] City & Region > Sunday, April 21, 1996 > Flawed reviews give top ratings to rogues > The weak job-evaluation system in the Philadelphia Police Department > feeds corruption, experts say. It allows bad officers to go unchecked. > By Mark Fazlollah INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > > From 1990 to 1995, the Philadelphia Police Department fired 82 > officers it found had committed robbery, rape, extortion, drug > trafficking and other offenses. One was convicted of murder. > > But almost until the moment it fired them, the department gave those > officers top performance ratings -- including the murderer. > > Gene Lomazoff, a sergeant in the 35th Police District in Olney, was > convicted of pulling over motorists for traffic infractions, then > shaking them down for cash between November 1990 and June 1993. He > was sentenced last year to seven years in prison. > > Throughout the period when he was abusing his badge, Lomazoff got > glowing job evaluations from his superiors. > > In 1990, Lt. Joseph Kelly of the 17th District received a perfect > rating. That same year, he and his wife ran a high-priced > prostitution ring in Center City. Both later pleaded guilty. > > Officer Terri Joell Harper, also of the 17th District, was a model > officer, to judge from her performance ratings. In 1992, she pleaded > guilty to second-degree murder in the death of a Northern Liberties > man whom she had been robbing. > > Of the 82 officers fired during the five years ending Jan. 1, 1995, > 79 consistently received top ratings until the time they were > dismissed, city records show. > > Experts on police conduct blame a flawed system that places little > emphasis on honest appraisals and gives supervisors little training > or motivation to do the job right. It is a system, they say, that > lets rogue cops operate unchecked, often for many years. > > ``It is a very detrimental system,'' said Thomas Seamon, a former > Philadelphia deputy police commissioner who is head of the > University of Pennsylvania security force. ``Certainly there needs > to be a more viable system.'' > > Job evaluations are done at varying intervals, usually at least once > a year. Officers are reviewed by their immediate superiors and given > a rating of satisfactory or unsatisfactory. There are no other > choices. The scores are often accompanied by glowing written > tributes. > > The evaluations are supposed to be confidential. The city has > released some in response to civil lawsuits alleging police > misconduct. Additional information was obtained through city > personnel records. The material could prove costly to taxpayers > because it may aid plaintiffs' lawyers in their efforts to show that > the department does not police itself. > > John Baird, the former 39th District officer at the center of the > latest corruption scandal, got perfect job ratings for 14 years - - a > period during which he robbed suspects, planted drugs and gave > perjured testimony at criminal trials. > > In Baird's annual evaluation in 1988, his boss wrote that he had > ``demonstrated dedication, integrity, as well as a willingness to > perform his duties without any supervision necessary.'' > > The Police Department did not respond to requests for comment on the > evaluation system. The City Solicitor's Office said officials would > not discuss the issue because it was part of civil-rights lawsuits > against the city. > > Superficial job reviews for police are a problem in many cities. > There is even a name for it -- ``the halo effect.'' > > Hubert Williams, president of the Police Foundation, a nonprofit > research group in Washington, said supervisors routinely give their > subordinates ``halos'' -- flawless performance ratings. Sometimes, > Williams said, the halos stay in place up to the moment an officer > is fired or jailed for misconduct. > > Milton Mollen, a former New York State Supreme Court judge who > headed a task force on police corruption in New York City, said an > ineffective rating system is a sign of weak supervision. His task > force cited that as the major cause of police corruption in New > York. > > ``Ratings, of course, are part of effective supervision,'' said > Mollen, whose task force held hearings on corruption and recommended > sweeping changes, many of which were implemented over the last two > years. > > Seamon, the former deputy commissioner, said the lack of an > effective rating system and police corruption ``are all > interlocked.'' Seamon said the Philadelphia department's current > evaluation system has not functioned properly since it was begun > about 15 years ago. > > Seamon, who left the force last year after 26 years, estimated that > 98 percent of the city's 6,000 officers receive sterling ratings. He > said most supervisors simply were unwilling to give an officer an > unsatisfactory rating. > > Most of the ratings are done by sergeants, the direct supervisors > for the line officers. Seamon said the department gives sergeants > little training in how to do ratings, or in their importance. > > ``A lot of sergeants can't separate themselves from being one of the > boys,'' said Seamon. > > Before the current system was implemented, the department had a more > sophisticated program with five possible ratings. If officers > received ratings of ``superior'' or ``exceptional,'' it helped them > win promotions. Today, laudatory evaluations are so common they have > little meaning. > > Seamon said the previous system was diluted during contract > negotiations between the city and the Fraternal Order of Police. > > FOP spokesman Dale Wilcox said the union would not comment on > performance ratings because the issue was part of its current > contract talks with the city -- and was thus covered by a secrecy > agreement between the two sides. > > At times, the rating system has weakened the city's position in > lawsuits. > > Officer Rodney Hunt had perfect performance ratings until he was > charged with first-degree murder in the off-duty slaying of Sean > Wilson in a West Philadelphia bar in November 1990. Hunt was > acquitted of the charge. Wilson's mother filed a civil suit against > the city and got a $900,000 settlement. > > Attorney Teri B. Himebaugh, who represented Wilson's family, said > the lack of an effective rating system made her case stronger, > because it bolstered her contention that the department had allowed > a ``pattern and practice'' of misconduct to persist. > > Such a claim is key to prevailing under federal civil-rights laws. > > ``In civil-rights suits, that's what we call deliberate indifference > and reckless disregard'' of civil rights, Himebaugh said. > > Civil liability isn't the only problem. The lack of rigorous job > evaluations also makes it harder to get rid of bad cops. > > When officers are fired, the FOP routinely asks arbitrators to > reinstate them -- and almost always cites the perfect performance > ratings they received before they were discharged. > > An arbitrator ordered Hunt restored to the force and granted him > $100,000 in back pay. He now works in the Second District. > > Baird, the former 39th District officer, was trying to get back on > the force until the day in 1994 when the FBI secretly recorded him > paying an informant to lie for him at an arbitration proceeding. > > Other cities have begun to develop more rigorous rating systems to > screen problem officers. > > Los Angeles attorney Merrick Bobb, who was counsel to two > commissions that investigated abuse among Los Angeles police and > sheriff's officers, said a pass-fail system like Philadelphia's is > inherently weak. > > Bobb said the Los Angeles police union initially resisted changes in > that city's rating system but agreed to accept a more sophisticated > one in exchange for pay raises. > > William Geller, associate director of the Police Executive Research > Forum in Washington, said cities must stop blaming corruption on ``a > few bad apples.'' > > ``We have to see these as not solely individual officers' problems, > but as systemic problems,'' he said. ``Bad systems cause people to > perform in ways we wouldn't want.'' Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org Date: Fri Apr 26, 1996 7:58 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Re: Philly Cops News Posted: Ronnie Dadone http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Apr/24/front_page/COPS24.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Page One > > Wednesday, April 24, 1996 > > U.S. and city reject cases of Pa. drug unit > Dozens of suspects have gone free since doubts were raised about the > credibility of the task force here. Police-corruption investigators > are now involved. > > By Mark Fazlollah > INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > > ?1996, The Philadelphia Inquirer > In a move that already has let dozens of drug suspects walk free > without standing trial, city and federal prosecutors are refusing to > go forward with drug cases prepared by the state attorney general's > narcotics task force in Philadelphia. > > The U.S. Attorney's Office stopped accepting cases from the attorney > general's Bureau of Narcotics Investigation several months ago after > defense lawyers raised doubts about the credibility of BNI agents > and after a federal judge said he found ``a lot of aspects'' of one > BNI case ``totally incredible.'' > > The District Attorney's Office told Philadelphia police two weeks > ago that it, too, would no longer prosecute cases from the BNI > office in Southwest Philadelphia. The decision prompted the Police > Department to withdraw five officers it had lent to the task force. > > A city-FBI team that has been investigating police corruption in > Philadelphia has now turned its attention to the BNI as well and has > been interviewing drug suspects arrested by the state agents, law > enforcement officials said. > > The collapse of confidence in the BNI is part of a nationwide > pattern in which the veracity of police has increasingly been called > into question by judges, juries and the public. In Philadelphia, > misconduct by officers in the 39th Police District has led judges to > overturn 116 criminal convictions. > > The BNI works with state police, and until recently worked with city > police, on major drug cases in Philadelphia and the city's suburbs > in Pennsylvania. Since 1990, BNI agents have reported seizing 1,000 > pounds of cocaine, 73 pounds of crack, and $13 million in cash and > assets. > > Allegations about the task force's office at 7800 Essington Ave. > center on a pattern of cases in which BNI agents said they arrested > alleged drug traffickers after seeing narcotics lying in plain view. > Defense lawyers said the agents searched their clients without > probable cause and fabricated their accounts of the arrests. > > Concerns were further heightened when a BNI agent, in recent court > testimony, admitted that he had made false statements on a search > warrant in a 1994 drug arrest. > > State Attorney General Thomas W. Corbett Jr., who took office in > October, confirmed yesterday that city and federal prosecutors > wanted no part of BNI cases from the Essington Avenue office. In an > interview, Corbett said he planned a shakeup of the task force and > would transfer some of the 25 agents. > > Corbett said he was reviewing complaints against the BNI that date > back ``many years.'' He said he could not provide any details of the > allegations. > > ``Almost from the point that I came in, we had heard complaints > about the Essington Avenue office from the U.S. attorney and the > D.A.'s Office,'' he said. ``We are taking every action we can.'' > > Corbett said the problems in the BNI could lead to a cascade of > challenges to drug convictions, similar to what has happened in the > 39th Police District. Corbett said that any lawyer who had > represented someone convicted on the basis of BNI evidence would now > be ``obligated'' to seek reversals. > > District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham and U.S. Attorney Michael Stiles > declined to comment on why they had stopped handling BNI cases. > > In recent months, dozens of BNI cases have been jettisoned by > prosecutors unwilling to proceed with what they regarded as suspect > evidence. > > Philadelphia lawyer Louis T. Savino Jr. said yesterday that in the > last week alone, the District Attorney's Office had dropped charges > against four accused drug dealers arrested by BNI agents. > > Savino said that in one case, three Dominican men were allegedly > caught in Philadelphia with three ounces of crack cocaine and > charged with drug trafficking. All three were released after the > District Attorney's Office refused to present evidence against them > at a court hearing. > > ``It made my job easier. I don't know about the general public,'' > Savino said. ``They're just letting people skate. . . . These are > allegations of significant amounts of drugs.'' > > In another recent case, a Common Pleas Court judge dismissed charges > against a man allegedly caught with three pounds of cocaine. Again, > prosecutors said they would not present evidence. They provided no > explanation. > > The U.S. Attorney's Office stopped prosecuting BNI cases after > defense lawyers pointed to a pattern of drug arrests in which the > state agents reported finding incriminating evidence in identical > circumstances. > > In those cases, BNI agents arrested suspects after supposedly > receiving information from confidential informants. Typically, the > agents said they searched suspects' cars and made arrests after > seeing packages of cocaine or heroin in plain sight, such as on a > car seat. > > Isla A. Fruchter, a Center City lawyer, said she found 11 drug cases > in which a BNI agent described the same set of circumstances > surrounding the arrests. > > ``It's exactly the same background,'' Fruchter said. ``We think > there's a problem.'' > > At a May 17 postconviction hearing for convicted drug dealer Miguel > Tapia, U.S. District Judge John P. Fullam sharply questioned a BNI > agent's account of how Tapia was arrested. The agent had testified > that he saw drugs in Tapia's car across the street from a drug > house. > > ``I find it almost inconceivable,'' Fullam said, ``that in what is > alleged to be a store which was a hotbed for narcotics trafficking, > that anyone would park a car, unlocked, catercorner across an > intersection, with $20,000 worth of drugs in plain view. > > ``I find a lot of aspects of this case totally incredible and not > understandable,'' the judge said. > > Fullam is weighing a motion by Tapia's lawyer to toss out the > conviction and grant his client a new trial. > > The allegations about the BNI bear striking similarities to the > unfolding 39th District scandal, in which rogue officers robbed and > planted evidence on drug suspects, falsified police reports, and > gave perjured testimony that helped send the suspects to prison. Six > former officers have pleaded guilty and been sent to federal prison. > Four others are awaiting trial. > > George Craig, a deputy Philadelphia police commissioner, said in an > interview that the Police Department had halted all cooperation with > the BNI as of Friday because the District Attorney's Office told him > that BNI cases would not be prosecuted. > > Craig said five Philadelphia officers who were on loan to the BNI > had been reassigned to the department's Highway Patrol. He said > there were no allegations of wrongdoing against those officers. > > A state police spokesman, Charles Tocci, said several state police > agents still were working with the BNI. Tocci said the agents try to > get around prosecutors' misgivings by omitting any reference to the > BNI's Essington Avenue address in their arrest reports. > > Tocci said an assistant Philadelphia district attorney threw out a > state police case last week solely because the arrest report listed > the Essington Avenue address. He said the state police officers > working with the BNI now list the address of the state police's > Belmont Avenue barracks on their reports. > > Corbett was critical yesterday of the decision to stop prosecuting > BNI cases, saying prosecutors were being indiscriminate. Other law > enforcement officials, who asked not to be named, expressed the same > sentiment. > > ``Let's look at this a little more intelligently,'' Corbett said. > ``This broad-brush approach is not appropriate. . . . To cut them > off all of a sudden doesn't make sense.'' > Inquirer staff writers Thomas Gibbons and Richard Jones contributed > to this article. Date: Thu May 02, 1996 8:38 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: More PA Cases Dropped Posted: Ronnie Dadone http://www2.phillynews.com/daily_news/96/May/01/local/DROP01.htm > Local > [Philadelphia Online] THE PHILADELPHIA Wednesday, May 1, > DAILY NEWS > 1996 > > > DA considers the source: Drug cases dropped > > by Dave Racher > Daily News Staff Writer > > For the second straight day, the district attorney's office has > dropped drug charges against a man arrested by cops working with the > state attorney general's drug task force. > > Yesterday, Common Pleas Judge Murray C. Goldman granted a request by > the district attorney's office to drop drug charges against Karl > Hawkins, 30, of Sterner Street near 9th. > > Hawkins was accused of possessing 100 packets of crack, worth about > $2,000, after being chased into a house on Sterner Street near 9th, > on Aug. 7, 1994. > > When Goldman asked Assistant District Attorney Harry Speath why he > was dropping charges, the prosecutor said it was because the case > was related to the state's drug task force. > > Goldman didn't ask for a futher explanation, commenting, ``Well, > your credibility is fine with me.'' > > Defense lawyer James Lyons praised the DA's office for ``seeking > justice and not a conviction'' in a retrial of the case. > > Lyons pointed out that last year, a jury heard the case and couldn't > agree on a verdict. > > He said people inside the house testified that Hawkins was not > chased into the house, but was sitting on a couch when police > entered without a warrant and seized drugs. > > On Monday, the charges against two men allegedly arrested in > possession of $80,000 were withdrawn by the DA's office. Agents of > the state task force were in on that arrest. > > Sources in the DA's office said a probe of drug arrests made by > state agents is underway to detemine whether they bypassed > regulations by making seizures without warrants. > > Federal authorities are also said to be investigating the unit as > part of an on-going probe of police corruption that began after > officers of the 39th District were arrested for wrongdoing. > > -------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat May 04, 1996 10:33 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: PA State Narcs Lying? Posted: Ronnie Dadone Subject: PA Drug Agents Lied http://www2.phillynews.com/daily_news/96/May/04/local/BNII04.htm > Local > [Philadelphia Online] THE PHILADELPHIA Saturday, May 4, > DAILY NEWS > 1996 > > > Pa. drug agents targeted > Defense lawyer cites repeated lies in court about city cases > by Jim Smith, Daily News Staff Writer > > A defense attorney claims there are compelling reasons to believe as > many as seven members of a state narcotics unit have been lying in > court in recent years about how they came to search and arrest > Philadelphia drug suspects. > > In a motion filed in federal court, defense attorney Guy Sciolla is > seeking to overturn the conviction of Miguel Tapia, 26, formerly of > Fisher Street near 15th, who was jailed for 63 months for > trafficking in 2.2 pounds of cocaine. > > Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Goldstein, who prosecuted Tapia, said > he could not comment on the motion. > > The seven agents named in the motion have been assigned in recent > years to the Pennsylvania Bureau of Narcotics Investigations, also > known as BNI, a 25-agent unit headquartered in Southwest > Philadelphia. > > Some 16 state prosecutions and one federal prosecution already have > been scrapped as the result of questionable conduct on the part of > the BNI agents, Sciolla said. > > Sciolla also noted in his motion that the Philadelphia district > attorney's office and the U.S. attorney's office recently stopped > prosecuting cases that the unit develops. > > A spokesman for state Attorney General Tom Corbett yesterday said > that Corbett has been meeting with federal and local prosecutors to > resolve any problems with the unit. > > Corbett also is conducting an internal investigation ``to find out > what changes need to be made,'' the spokesman, Jack Lewis, said. > > Corbett ``feels the office, overall, has been doing good work. He's > disturbed that the district attorney and the U.S. attorney are not > taking cases,'' Lewis said. > > Sciolla, meanwhile, contends that BNI agents working in Philadelphia > have a long history of concocting ``probable cause'' to search and > arrest suspects, then lying in court when questioned about their > reasons for making arrests. > > In seeking a hearing, Sciolla cited in his motion ``the background > and ongoing uncertainties of BNI investigators, the remarkable and > repeated fact patterns of BNI arrest reports, the findings of > various judges, of, at the least, testimonial inconsistencies and > contradictions, and at the worst, outright fraud and deceit.'' > > Sciolla has succeeded once before in getting what seemed like an > airtight federal drug case tossed out based on alleged wrongdoing by > BNI agents. > > In September 1994, U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody dismissed an > indictment against two reputed heroin traffickers, but not before > both men spent a year in jail awaiting trial. > > In the 1994 case, BNI agents claimed they saw heroin packets spill > from a paper bag that one suspect tossed into a car before fleeing > into the building, where the pursuing agents found even more drugs. > > Witness accounts, however, indicated that the two suspects were > arrested some distance from the apartment, and that the agents > didn't chase anyone into the apartment but entered it on their own. > > --------------------------------------------------------------- -----> > [---] Date: Tue May 14, 1996 1:37 pm CST From: Matthew Gaylor EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: freematt@coil.com TO: Matthew Gaylor EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: freematt@coil.com BCC: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Philadelphia Ex-Cops Call Offenses Routine ACLU News *From Prison, Ex-Cops Call Offenses Routine* PHILADELPHIA -- In a front-page copywritten report, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday detailed the stories of three police officers involved in the biggest police scandal in Philadelphia's history. All three officers readily admit that they committed serious misdeeds in stealing an estimated $100,000 from suspected drug dealers. the Inquirer said. But they also say that much of their illegal activity -- including perjury and fabricating evidence -- was part of the system that police everywhere use in the war on drugs. "Its the system, they say -- they only did what they believed their commanders, politicians and yes -- you the public wanted," Inquirer reporter Mark Fazlollah wrote. He quoted one of the former officers, John Baird: "We didn't own and operate the system. We didn't invent it. We were just some of the many thousands of custodians. We inherited it." The ex-officers made a series of serious allegations, the Inquirer said, including: -- Hundreds of arrests were "bad." Baird told the Inquirer that he never saw a legal drug arrest. -- Groups of black youths hanging out on corners were routinely searched illegally. When drugs were found, the Inquirer said, police reports were fabricated to indicate that a drug sale had been witnessed. The Inquirer said that the ex-officers allegations are likely to add fuel to charges by civil rights lawyers that the Police Department has failed to police itself. David Rudovsky, a lawyer who is leading negotiations between city officials and civil rights groups -- and a member of the ACLU National Board -- told the Inquirer that what the ex-officers have said "reflects a pattern that we have seen independently." Rudovsky told the Inquirer that what the ex-officers said "rings true." "It's not only individual officers," he said. "It was a department that was indifferent to those facts." The Philadelphia Inquirer can be found on the Web at http://www.phillynews.com/inq/front_page/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- For general information about the ACLU, write to info@aclu.org ### **************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor,1933 E. Dublin-Granville Rd.,#176, Columbus, OH 43229 **************************************************************************** @@@ 960130, Mexico City, Mexico, Reuters. Jose Armando Cruz Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 13:22:08 GMT From: adbryan@onramp.net (Alan Bryan) To: drctalk@drcnet.org Subject: Re: Mexican ``policeman of the year'' held with drugs Message-ID: <199601311224.GAA11361@mailhost.onramp.net> It happens to the best of 'em. Tue, 30 Jan 1996 12:00:13 PST: > > MEXICO CITY (Reuter) - An agent who was voted ``Policeman of >the Year'' in a northern Mexican state has been arrested on >suspicion of drug trafficking after being detained with 436 >pounds of marijuana, the Televisa television network reported >Tuesday. > It said Jose Armando Cruz Gutierrez was voted policeman of >the year just two months ago by colleagues in the Chihuahua >state detective force who gave him a new car as a prize. > The attorney-general's office confirmed Cruz's arrest, >adding in a statement that three other policemen were detained >with him including Chihuahua state detective police commander >Gerardo Maximiliano Coronel and his wife. > The group were traveling in two official cars and were armed >with pistols and AR-15 assault rifles. They claimed they had >seized the drugs as part of their police duties but were unable >to prove that, the statement said. @@@ 960201, New York City, NY, NY Times. Police Officer Randolf Date: Thu Feb 01, 1996 9:50 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: NYPD - Dirty Thirty - Cop Dope Pusher Posted: Bob Witanek 2/1/96 NYPD - COP DOPE PUSHER - DIRTY THIRTY 6 MONTHS INSTEAD OF 25 YEARS TO LIFE! (NY Times, 2/1/96) By GEORGE JAMES A police officer accused of attempting to sell drugs pleaded guilty yesterday to lesser charges of conspiracy to sell drugs in the second degree and second-degree assault. Under the terms of a plea agreement in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Officer Randolf Vazquez, 39, accused in the 30th Precinct corruption scandal, will be sentenced to six months in prison and four and a half years probation. Had Officer Vazquez been convicted of the original charge of attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree, he would have faced 25 years to life in prison. Officer Vazquez acknowledged in court that between October 1991 and April 1992 he engaged in a conspiracy with his partner, Officer Jorge Alvarez, to steal narcotics while on duty and sell them to dealers. He admitted to taking crack from an apartment in October and selling it. He also admitted to assaulting Paul Stevens while in a police car at West 150th Street and Broadway on Jan. 27, 1994. Mr. Stevens had been arrested for obstruction of government administration, but when he became verbally abusive, Officer Vazquez hit him in the face several times with a police radio, the authorities said. Officer Alvarez, who cooperated with the authorities, pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny and faces up to seven years in prison. Of 33 officers arrested on corruption charges since March 1994, 20 have pleaded guilty, 3 have been convicted and 2 have been acquitted. Two cases were dismissed and six are pending. Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org @@@ 960210, Mexico City, Mexico, Reuter. Up to 30 tons of cocaine Date: Sat, 10 Feb 1996 19:41:33 -0800 From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen ) To: DRCTalk@drcnet.org Subject: Tons of cocaine have disappeared in Mexico (Reuter) Message-ID: <199602110341.TAA29385@ix2.ix.netcom.com> Sat, 10 Feb 1996 MEXICO CITY (Reuter) - Up to 30 tons of cocaine have disappeared into the hands of Mexican federal police over the last two years, the Mexico City newspaper El Financiero reported Saturday. The newspaper said that in the last two years more than 100 tons of cocaine has entered Mexico by air, but police have seized and declared just a tenth of that amount. It said much of the drug comes from Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador before being shipped through Mexico. Earlier this week, the Mexican Attorney-General's office accused 19 Mexican police officers of helping Colombia's Cali drug cartel smuggle cocaine into the United Sates. The officers were accused of helping to unload cocaine from a jetliner that crashed landed in Baja California in 1994 when the airplane exploded, injuring three of the officers. @@@ 960212, Baja California Sur, Mexico, LA Times. 19 Mexican state Date: Tue Feb 13, 1996 8:57 am CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Mexi-Cops and Cartels From: Bob Witanek Posted mnovickttt Mon Feb 12 23:46:37 1996 From: Michael Novick In the L.A. Times of Feb 12, MARK FINEMAN, Times Staff Writer reports that Mexican prosecutors have linked an air shipment of at least 10 tons of South American cocaine smuggled through the Baja Peninsula into the U.S., discovered last November, to police officials allegedly working for one of Mexico's powerful drug cartels. 19 Mexican state and federal police officers, including the deputy federal police chief in the state of Baja California Sur at the time of the shipment, were ordered arrested, according to the Mexican attorney general's office. The former commander of the state judicial police in the Todos Santos region and one of his agents have already been taken into custody. Eyewitnesses said that in the November incident police met, unloaded and then destroyed a French-made Caravelle jet that was carrying cocaine for Colombia's Cali cartel when it broke its nose wheel landing on a clandestine airstrip at the tip of Baja California Sur. The top prosecutor's office there said the officials had ties to the Tijuana cartel, one of five major Mexican drug mafias that supply up to three-fourths of the cocaine sold in the United States. President Ernesto Zedillo's attorney general, Antonio Lozano Gracia, has declared it will take years to separate his federal police and prosecutors from a smuggling industry that earns billions of dollars each year, according to the Times. The attorney general's office stated that the jet was traced to a Colombian company reportedly owned by Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, the alleged leaders of the Cali cartel now jailed in Colombia. Copyright Los Angeles Times @@@ 960213, Daytona Beach, FL, Philadelphia Inquirer. Francis Date: Wed Feb 14, 1996 2:36 am CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Daytona, FL - Cop Dope Deals From: Bob Witanek Posted dadoner@chesco.com Tue Feb 13 10:30:49 1996 From: Ronnie Dadone Subject: Philadelphia Inquirer: Suburban North http://www.phillynews.com/inq/pa_north/NTHOM13.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Suburban North > > Tuesday, February 13, 1996 > > Ex-officer guilty of drug deals > He ran the police evidence room in Daytona Beach, Fla. He stole > drugs and guns and sent them to a nephew. > > By Julia C. Martinez > INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > > A retired Florida police officer was found guilty by a federal jury > yesterday of stealing cocaine and guns from his department's > evidence room over seven years and giving them to a nephew in > Philadelphia for sale on the streets. > > Francis ``Frank'' Thompson, 52, of Ormond Beach, a veteran of the > Daytona Beach Police Department, however, was cleared of two counts > of distributing cocaine. > > Judge Thomas N. O'Neill Jr. of U.S. District Court in Philadelphia > scheduled sentencing for May 21 and released Thompson on bail. > > Thompson and his nephew, Timothy Wardle, 35, were indicted by a > federal grand jury last May on charges of conspiring to distribute > 10 kilograms of cocaine in Philadelphia between 1987 and 1994, > distribution of cocaine, and sending and receiving stolen firearms > across state lines. > > Wardle, a bookbinder from the 500 block of Tyson Avenue in the > city's Burholme section, pleaded guilty to the charges and is > awaiting sentencing. > > The conspiracy count, for which Thompson was convicted and to which > Wardle pleaded guilty, carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 > years. > > Thompson's attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, said that since his client > was acquitted of two of the distribution counts, a mandatory > sentence might not be warranted. Bergstrom said more than five > kilograms of cocaine must be involved in the crime before a > mandatory minimum sentence is imposed. > > Thompson retired from active duty in September, after 22 years with > the department. By then, a joint investigation by federal and > Daytona Beach authorities had been started. > > Thompson supervised the department's evidence and property room, > where seized drugs and guns were stored. One of his jobs was to > destroy narcotics and firearms no longer needed for evidence or > other purposes. > > In August 1994, Wardle was arrested in Philadelphia on drugs and > weapons charges. Police confiscated 2.2 pounds of cocaine, 12 > firearms, a bullet-resistant vest and $1,035 in cash. > > The indictment said Thompson began pilfering drugs and guns from > materials to be destroyed in 1987, a year after he became supervisor > of the evidence and property division. @@@ 960213, San Jose, CA, LA Times. Joseph D. McNamara, 35 year Date: Fri Feb 16, 1996 11:48 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Why Cops Lie in Dope War From: Bob Witanek Posted dadoner@chesco.com Tue Feb 13 13:42:42 1996 http://www.phillynews.com/inq/opinion/MCN13.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Opinion > > Tuesday, February 13, 1996 > > Why cops lie about drug evidence > They don't feel lying under oath is wrong because politicians tell > them they are engaged in a ``holy war'' fighting evil. > > By Joseph D. McNamara > Are the United States' police officers a bunch of congenital liars? > > Not many people took defense attorney Alan M. Dershowitz seriously > when he charged that Los Angeles cops are taught to lie at the birth > of their careers at the Police Academy. But as someone who spent 35 > years wearing a police uniform, I've come to believe that hundreds > of thousands of law-enforcement officers commit felony perjury every > year testifying about drug arrests. > > These are not cops who take bribes or commit other crimes. Other > than routinely lying, they are law-abiding and dedicated. They don't > feel lying under oath is wrong because politicians tell them they > are engaged in a ``holy war'' fighting evil. Then, too, the > ``enemy'' these mostly white cops are testifying against are poor > blacks and Latinos. > > The federal government reports that more than 1.3 million drug > arrests were made in 1994, 480,000 of which involved marijuana. > About 1 million of the total drug arrests were for possession, not > selling. > > Despite government drug-war propaganda that big-time dealers are its > targets, only 24 percent of the total drug arrests were for selling. > Almost all those arrested for selling are small-timers, in large > part supporting their own drug use. Often they are inveigled by > undercover police to up the ante. Many of the arrests for selling > are made without search warrants and almost all the possession > arrests are without warrants. > > In other words, hundreds of thousands of police officers swear under > oath that the drugs were in plain view or that the defendant gave > consent to a search. This may happen occasionally, but it defies > belief that so many drug users are careless enough to leave illegal > drugs where the police can see them or so dumb as to give cops > consent to search them when they possess drugs. But without this > kind of police testimony, the evidence would be excluded under a > 1961 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Mapp vs. Ohio. > > I became a New York City policeman five years before the Mapp > decision. We were trained to search people who appeared suspicious. > I questioned the apparent contradiction posed by the Fourth > Amendment, which guaranteed that people would be secure in their > person and house from a search without a warrant. The instructor > said not to worry. A suspect could sue in a civil action but no jury > would find against a cop trying to stop dope from being sold. He > went on to say that if the courts really meant it, they wouldn't > allow such evidence into a criminal trial. > > In its Mapp decision, the Supreme Court cited this police attitude > and the routine violations of the Fourth Amendment as reasons enough > to establish a national rule to exclude illegally obtained evidence. > > Gradually, as police professionalization increased, police testimony > became more honest. But the trend reversed in 1972, when President > Nixon declared a war against drugs and promised the nation that drug > abuse would soon vanish. Succeeding presidents and Congresses > repeated this false pledge despite evidence that drug use, drug > profits and drug violence increased regardless of expanded > enforcement and harsher penalties. Because the political rhetoric > described a holy war in which evil had to be defeated, questioning > police tactics was equivalent to supporting drug abuse. > > Leaders of the drug war dehumanize their ``enemy'' -- not just > foreign drug traffickers but also American users. This mentality > pushes the police into making ever more arrests, arrests that can > only survive in court because of perjured police testimony. The fact > that enforcement falls most heavily on people of color also > encourages illegal police tactics. Non-whites are arrested at four > to five times the rates whites are arrested for drug crimes, > regardless of the fact that 80 percent of drug crimes are committed > by whites. The ``war'' dehumanizes the cops as well as those they > pursue. > > The eroding integrity of law enforcement officers and the resulting > decrease in public credibility are costs of the drug war yet to be > acknowledged. Within the last few years, police departments in > Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, New Orleans, San Francisco, > Denver, New York and in other large cities have suffered scandals > involving police personnel lying under oath about drug evidence. > > Some officers in the New York City police and New York State police > departments were convicted of falsifying drug evidence. Yet, > President Clinton appointed the heads of those agencies to be drug > czar and chief of the Drug Enforcement Agency, respectively, and > they were confirmed in the Senate. The message that politicians seem > to be sending to the nation's police chiefs is that we understand > that police perjury is a part of the drug war. > > But recently a number of police leaders have conceded that racially > disparate arrest rates and illegal police searches and testimony are > a problem. Last year, for example, New York Police Commissioner > William J. Bratton warned his officers not to lie about how they > obtained evidence, saying that he would rather they lose the case > than commit perjury. Last month, Baltimore Police Commissioner > Thomas C. Frazier ordered his cops to stop arresting drug users and > to concentrate on criminals committing gun crimes and other > violence. > > The vast majority of police forces are still being pushed into > waging a war against drugs by politicians who ignore history and > mislead the public into believing such a war can be won. > Consequently, hundreds of thousands of illegal police searches take > place and are lied about in court while drug-war hawks pontificate > about the immorality of people putting certain kinds of chemicals > into their bloodstream. > > [Image] > Joseph D. McNamara, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at > Stanford University and the former police chief of San Jose, wrote > this article for the Los Angeles Times. @@@ 960221, New York City, NY, NY Times. Two United States Customs Date: Sun Feb 25, 1996 10:19 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: 2 US Customs Agents Face Kidnap Charges Posted: Bob Witanek 2/25/96 2 US CUSTOMS AGENTS FACING KIDNAPPING CHARGES (NY Times, 2/21/96) BYDAVIDKOCIENIEWSKI Two United States Customs inspectors have been charged with kidnapping and beating a suspected drug dealer last year while trying tg rob him of cash and cocaine, Federal prosecutors said. Richard Ramos and Gerasimos Kapsaskis, who worked as inspectors at Kennedy and Newark airports, were arrested on Friday and charged in the kidnapping of a man on Sept. 23, 1995, on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, said Mary Jo White, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in an announcement issued yesterday. Law enforcement officials said the inspectors conspired in the plot with Jose (Tito) Aleman, who directed them to a man who was believed to have received 220 pounds of cocaine in September, and then received cash for selling 22 pounds. Mr. Ramos, Mr. Kapsaskis and a 3rd man, Fernando Ramirez, put on bullet proof vests and police badgesm according to the complaint, and stopped the victim after identifying themselves as Federal agents. Two witnesses identified Mr. Ramos and Mr. Kapsaskis as the kidnappers. Mr. Ramos and Mr. Kapsaskis then beat the man, handcuffed him, forced him into their car and drove off, witnesses said. The victim, whom Federal officials refused to identify, dashed from the car when it stopped at an intersection and persuaded a motorist to take him to a Police station. Michael E. Gertzman, an assistant United States Attorney, said investigators traced the license number of the vehicle used in the incident and found that the car had been rented by Mr. Ramos. All three suspects face possible life imprisonment if convicted. Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org @@@ 960224, Mexico, PNS, by Beatriz Johnston Hernandez. Accused drug Date: Sat, 24 Feb 1996 07:01:50 -0800 From: Annette French To: drctalk@drcnet.org Subject: #237 corrupt officials Message-ID: <199602241619.LAA17735@mojo.calyx.com> --=====================_825173836==_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Well it certainly feels like the 237th attempt. Just as I had given up, I noticed this little button on the toolbar that said 'text + doc. It works when I send it to myself, so here goes. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on the car. Most of you were right, it was the alternator. It is now running, alternator and something that is attached to the battery cable having been replaced. Hopefully attached better than my first 236 tries on this article. --=====================_825173836==_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" U.S. Officials joined Mexican Drug Smugglers by Beatriz Johnston Hernandez Accused drug trafficker Juan Garcia Abrego, now awaiting trial in Houston, is notorious for bribing high-level Mexican officials to help turn Mexico into a major transshipment point for Colombian cocaine. Less known is his role in bribing federal officials on the U.S. side of the border. Information gleaned from drug trials and gang insiders reveals that Abrego paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to Immigration and Naturalization Service agents and National Guardsmen to drive cocaine and marijuana in their buses past U.S. customs checkpoints on the road between McAllen and Houston. But Peter Lupsha, a political scientist at the University of New Mexico who has studied drug trafficking on the border for two decades, says he believes the true extent of Abrego's bribery of U.S. officials may remain hidden behind a "conspiracy of silence" aimed at preventing a meltdown of public trust. Abrego is being held without bond in the Harris County jail on a 1993 indictment on charges of cocaine trafficking, money laundering and racketeering. His arrest and deportation to the U.S. by Mexican anti-drug agents last month caused an uproar among Mexico's reform-minded elites who want him tried first in Mexico in the hopes of gleaning information on bribed Mexican officials. Abrego's trial in federal court, due to open on March 11, will focus little attention on corruption in Mexico and still less on corruption in the U.S. On the contrary, at least one star witness for the prosecution - FBI special agent Claudio se la O - will testify how he accepted $100,000 and a gold watch from Abrego in September 1987 as part of an undercover scheme to gain the defendant's trust and information on drug dealings. Transcripts of he 1993 federal trials in Brownsville and Houston of four Abrego underlings, however, reveal how INS drivers would transport undocumented agents (aliens?) caught in Houston south to INS detention centers close to the border. On their way back north, the agents would load the empty buses with Abrego's marijuana and cocaine loads worth millions of dollars. "Agents were corrupted for brief periods. Once they got enough money, they decided it wasn't worth the risk, so they would stop doing it, but others came in to take their place," Peter Hanna, an FBI agent out of Houston who has focused on Abrego for the last seven years, told PNS in a telephone interview. INS bus transfers weren't the only incidence of bribery revealed under oath. Jaime Rivas, a cocaine mule for the Abrego organization, was in charge of delivering coke to a safehouse in Harlingen and from there on a convoluted route through Houston and on to New York. Testifying at a 1991 trial in Corpus Christi of accused Abrego hitman Miguel Botello and again in the 1993 money laundering trial of Maria Lourdes Reategui and Antonio Giraldi in Brownsville , Rivas explained how the gang was able to transport between 1,000 and 1,400 kilos of cocaine each week past U.S. Customs checkpoints. In the 1993 trial he recalled how one delivery went awry at the Sarita checkpoint between McAllen and Houston. "Graciel Contreras and Juan Bananas were in the truck. The one (agent) at the checkpoint had been paid off, and Juan Bananas was the one who knew him, so he was the one to give the signal so the truck with the coke could pass." But something went wrong and the shipment was confiscated, said Rivas, who was watching from another car behind the truck. Although the Houston FBI investigators knew that INS agents were involved in the drug trade since early 1991, only one agent has since been tried and sentenced to 10 years without parole. Another, according to a spokesperson at the U.S. attorney's office in Houston, "failed to appear in federal court to stand trial on charges of drug conspiracy, money laundering and bribery." Abrego's corruption of U.S.officials "goes beyond INS," Lupsha says. "Custom officials are very sensitive about the Abrego trial because some major corruption schemes could surface implicating former Customs officials. And it might go higher than local regional INS agents." Lupsha surmises many INS agents may have been seduced by women on the Abrego payroll who would then ask the agents to "do a favor for my uncle, or my cousin." Many agents avoided getting caught by applying for early retirement. "Clearly," Lupsha says, "there is a reluctance within the United States, as in any system, to let the dirty laundry hang out publicly. To do so would mean the drug war has not only failed in the supply side, it's failed on the demand side and in the interdiction side as well. That's very bad for public confidence." --=====================_825173836==_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Annette French mercury@gvn.net 10460 El Mercado Dr. #29 Rancho Cordova, Calif. 95670 (916) 361-4510 --=====================_825173836==_-- ------------------------------ @@@ 960224, New York City, NY, NY Times. Police officer in the c.1996 N.Y. Times News Service By CHRISTOPHER S. WREN c.1996 N.Y. Times News Service NEW YORK - It was one of those modest but bustling family businesses, investigators said, in which the owner's mother minded the shop and a brother-in-law, a New York City police officer, made deliveries on his days off. An acquaintance pitched in, they said, dressed in his Army National Guard uniform. Their merchandise, the authorities said, was cocaine from Colombia. In indictments unsealed on Friday, a Manhattan grand jury charged that Pedro Perez, 31, of the Unionport section of the Bronx, led a drug distribution business based in upper Manhattan, assisted by his 59-year-old mother, Aurea Amaya, and four others. The charges, which included conspiracy to distribute narcotics and criminal possession and sale of illegal drugs, carry mandatory life sentences for those convicted. The case prompted related arrests of 85 people in recent weeks in Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, and Newark, N.J., and the seizure of more than 5 tons of cocaine, a half-ton of marijuana, and nearly $12.5 million in drug proceeds, law enforcement officials said. In New York City alone, the authorities seized more than 457 pounds of cocaine and $240,000 in cash. ``This is the dismantling of a nationwide, well-organized cocaine operation that operated in major cities in the United States,'' said Robert H. Silbering, New York City's special narcotics prosecutor. ``It shows that these organizations go beyond city and state boundaries,'' said Silbering, whose office joined in the investigation, which began last October. ``They're national in scope.'' The task force included agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration and New York City and state police. The police officer arrested in the sweep, Antonio Camacho, 22, of Unionport, who according to the indictment flashed his badge to beat a traffic infraction while carrying cocaine, was assigned to the 48th Precinct in the Bronx. He is the brother of Brenda Pacheco, the wife of Perez, who was also sometimes known as Piruli, officials said. Camacho was arrested on Dec. 10 while driving his sister's Cadillac, and the police said that there was six and a half pounds of cocaine packed inside the airbag. After Camacho's arrest, Silbering said, Ms. Amaya hired a witch doctor to put a curse on Judge Leslie Snyder, who ordered him held without bail. Ms. Amaya was arrested early on Friday in front of her home at 45 Thayer Street in upper Manhattan. Another accused courier, Edward Vasquez, arrested on Friday in Pennsylvania, spent 14 years in the National Guard and transported drugs in his Army sergeant's uniform to reduce the odds of getting caught, officials said. Others indicted on Friday were Jose Cancel, 31, of the Belmont section of the Bronx, and Noel Valentine, 23, of the Soundview section of the Bronx. A seventh alleged ring member, Robinson Chalas, 36, was arrested a month ago in Washington Heights, Manhattan, with a .357 Magnum pistol, a sawed-off shotgun, and 13 pounds of cocaine, officials said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another example of our brave drug warriors at work on our behalf. Notice the byline. Christopher Wren seems to be a reporter specializing in drug stories for the Times. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- @@@ 960226, FBI, Wash DC, Star Ledger. US attoney's offices Date: Sun Feb 25, 1996 10:48 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: FBI - All Lab Cases Under Review Posted: Bob Witanek 2/25/96 SEARCH UNDER WAY FOR TAINTED ANALYSIS AND INCOMPETENCE IN FBI CRIME LAB (Star Ledger, 2/22/96 - Excerpted) By ROBERT RUDOLPH US attoney's offices throughout the nation have been directed by the Justice Department to weed through cases in their files in an effort to identify cases that could be tainted by allegations of misconduct involving the FBI crime lab in Washington. The allegations - which involve charges of slanted results, incompe tence and improper testing procedures could have an impact on a number of criminal prosecutions throughout the country in which FBI lab results were used, including cases that already have been closed. The charges were made by a veteran employee of the crime lab, long regarded as the top forensic law enforcement facility in the country. A memorandum, issued by acting Assistant U.S. Attomey General John C. Keeney and obtained by The Star Ledger, reveals that a special Justice Department task force has been established to review the allegations. "As this memorandum makes apparent." the document states, the legal issues raised by the allegations are "nationwide in scope, affecting a substantial number of criminal cases in districts throughout the country." Federal authorities in New Jersey said yesterday that a preliminary review indicates only a few cases that have a potential of being tainted. According to the memo, US attomev's offtces across the nation have been asked to supply information relating to such cases. The memo was sent to all U.S. attorneys in the country last month. US authorities in New Jersey said tey are conducting their own independent, in-house review as well. "The review has not been completed," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Cleary. Cleary said yesterday that although New Jersey has a large number of cases in wrilch the FBI lab has performed services, it has "very few cases handled by those people" named or working in units specified in allegations by Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, a supervisory special agent who has served as an examiner in the FBI crime lab. Cleary also said it doesn't appear that any of the specific cases cited by Whitehurst involve New Jersey prosecutions. The existence of Whitehurst's allegations were first spotlighted during the trial of O.J. Simpson, when a defense attorney unsuccessfully sought to have Whitehurst testify. The Justice Department memo outlines the nature of Whitehurst's charges. Specifically, the memo states, Whitehurst contends that certain FBI. lab examiners have slanted their conclusions to favor the prosecution; that certain FBI examiners who testify in criminal proceedings are not qualified to analyze the evidence involved in those cases; and that certain key units within the lab maintain insufficient scientific controls over the testing procedures. The memo states that the Justice' Department "is in the process of evaluating the validity of the wide-ranging allegations raised by Dr. Whitehurst." At the same time, Justice Department spokesman Carl Stem confirmed yesterday, the department is "attempting to survey what cases are,out there" that could be affected. Stem said the survey is part of an effort to determine if legal obligations will require the department to notify defense attorneys of the fact that Whitehurst's charges could affect their cases. "While the scope of this may be unusual," Stem said, he called the inquiry "fairly routine." To date, he said, some one-third of the nation's 93 U.S. Attomey's offices have responded to the survey. The results, however, were not immediately available. The Justice Department official stressed, however, that the survey is independent of the separate investigation into the validity of Whitehurst's charges. According to the Justice Department memo, "that evaluation will be timne-consuming and will require substantial legal and scientific resources." The memo revealed that among the charges made by Wlttehurst are allegations relating to specific criminal investigations in which he alleged improprieties may have occurred in the presentation or analysis of evidence. The memo said it plans to notify the U.S. Attomey's ofrices directly involved about those charges and has requested that those offices assign an attorney to review written materials provided by Whitehurst. The memo says the individual U.S. Attomey's offices will be asked to analyze the significance of the laboratory evidence used in those cases to determine whether it will be necessary to alert defense attorneys in those matters. In addition, the memo contains a list of 20 employees who Whitehurst contends lack the proper qualifications, are not competent to perform required procedures or who slant opinions to favor the prosecution. The U.S. Attorney's offices have been asked to determine if any of the 20 employees were involved in ongoing cases in their districts - either pending trial, on appeal or in the grand jury stages. The memo notes that Whitehurst has made specific allegations involving the FBI lab's Explosives Unit and Chemistry and, Toxicology Units in which he says these units slant results to favor the prsecution. As a result, the Justice Department has asked U.S. Attorney's offices to identify any pending cases that could have been affected by those allegations. The FBI crime lab is involved in thousands of cases each year. FBI analysts often wind up in court, and spent 1,470 days testifying in various trials nationwide last year alone. One Justice Department official noted that if Whitehurst's charges are upheld, not only could pending and closed cases be affected, but even cases in which defendants have pleaded guilty. According to the Justice Department official, some 90 percent of all federal cases result in guilty pleas, but Whitehurst's allegations could raise questions whether those pleas were induced as a result of tainted test results. The Washington-based FBI lab has 557 employees and operates on a budget of $63.6 million. In addition to its work in federal prosecutions, the lab spends about half its time performing studies for state & local law enforcement agencies that lack their own labs or need additional expertise. It has experts in chemistry and toxicology, hair and fiber, explosives, documents, photography, paint, tire tracks, ballistics and even feathers, among other specialties. As a result of Whitehurst's allegations, the FBI already has reviewed 250 cases in search of any rigged or slanted testimony. "To date, no evidence tampering, evidence fabrication or failure to report exculpatory evidence have been found," the FBI said in a statement issued last year. ============ COMMENT - It would appear to me that the approach of asking US Attorneys to look through their own cases, which they were involved in prosecuting, to see if any of their own posecutions were tainted by this misconduct is a sham. This situation screams for an INDEPENDENT review. There should be no question that information about Whitehurst's charges, the names of the 20 employees he fingers, the list of cases he cites, and EVERYTHING about this situation MUST be made available to defense attorneys universally! Do we really expect that US Attorneys will voluntarily throw out their successful convictions if they inspect and find that the evidence, its presentation and analysis were tainted? Yeah right! - Bob Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org @@@ 960226, Guamuchilito, Mexico, SF Chronicle. Amado Carrillo, Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 19:12:18 -0800 From: tjeffoc@ix.netcom.com (Tom O'Connell) To: drctalk@drcnet.org Subject: SF Chronicle Drug Series. 1st article, 1/1 Message-ID: The Chron revealed the reason behind yesterday's schizophrenia. Here's the 1st part of today's article, which appeared on 1st page with 2 full pages inside, complete with color pictures. Mexico's New Emperor of Narcotics Amado Carillo's rise shows growing clout of drug lords. Traffickers' Power Grows In Mexican HeartIand By Robert Collier Chronicle Staff Writer Guamuchilito, Mexico Mexico's biggest drug trafficker may be a wanted man north of the border, but back home he walks tall and unafraid. In the dirt streets of this tiny farming village, residents' eyes glaze over with a mix of admiration, gratitude and fear when Amado Carrillo's name is mentioned. From the two-story church that he built four years ago to his family's fortresslike two-acre compound at the other end of town the man believed to be responsible for smuggling more than one-third of the cocaine found on U.S. streets would be unopposed in any popularity contest. i "He's a good man, not at all like you say he is," says Guadalupe Garcia as she rocked quickly back and forth in a chair in her front yard. "If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have our church." Clasping his hands tightly and twisting them back and forth, the town priest, the Rev. Pedro Coronado , said: "He and his family are good, quiet, Christian people, just like anyone else here." He refused to say more. As Carrillo has consolidated his position as Mexico's No. 1 drug lord, the nation's i n tersecine drug war has become_ an increasingly silent one. Largely gone are the shootouts and chaos that had brought un' wanted headlines and police attention Even the capture last month of Carrillo's main rival, Juan Garcia Abrego, was strangely anticlimacticThe capo - formerly feared for his violent, gun slinging ways-was caught , with alone-with no bodyguards and no retinue, as if a deal had been cut with his captors. The nation's recent economic and political troubles have al lowed Carrillo and a new breed of allied traffickers to sink deep roots into the power structure and the fabric of daily life. And these roots,U.S . drug enforeement officials say, may have made Carrillo an untouchable enemy. Aside from the strange looks given visitors when Carrillo's name is mentioned, nothing is out of the ordinary in Guamuchilito- Located in the hot, irrigated plains of the northwestern state of Sinaloa, the village is much like any other in Mexico - the same whitewashed walls, the same dogs barking at passidg vehicles, the same girls walking hand in hand and giggling. The normality of Guamuchilito is the normality of Mexico's new narcotics status quo. In the past two years, Carrillo has taken the lead over rival traffickers by changing the business. Known as "],ord of the Skies" because of his fleet of smuggling planes, Carrillo has integrated his cocaine and marijuana distribution networks to include heroin and methamphetamine, whose popularity is surging in the United States. Feuds between drug organizations usually are solved with negotiations, not bullets. And shipments from Colombia now are brought into Mexico on large cargo jets rather than light planes. For example, in a single week end in November, Carrillo's organization reportedly imported 20 tons of South American cocaine destined for the United States in two clandestine cargo-jet shipments. The U.S.-orchestrated crackdown on the cartels inside Colombia in recent years has pushed the center of drug trafficking operations northward, closer to the U.S. border. Carrillo, according to U.S officials, is the first Mexican trafficker to become an equal partner of the Colombian cartels. "Instead of playing their traditional role of "mules," or trans porters for the Colombians, Carrilo and other Mexican capos now take as payment half of the South American cocaine they transport. Experts say they have created their own distribution networks in the United States, which now compete directly with the Colombians sales networks. And with the capture of Garcia Abrego, Carrillo is expected to increase his share of the trade."Amado Carrillo is clearly the most powerful trafficker in Mexico ... with resources and connections that mark a major shift on our southern border," Drug Enforcement chief Thomas Constantine said recently. In Mexico, Carrillo has little to fear from the law. Although he is wanted on cocaine charges in Texas and Florida and is the subject of more than a dozen U.S. federal investigations, south of the border he faces only a weapons charge-"the equivalent of jaywalking," said one U.S. official. That charge reportedly was suspended recently when Carrillo's lawyers obtained a restraining order against the police. In their fight against drug trafficking, Mexican authorities appear to focus most of their efforts on eradicating marijuana grown by poor farmers. Military-style search-and-destroy operations swoop down constantly on the rocky canyons of the Sierra Madre. But the officials seem less enthusiastic about netting the cocaine octopus in their midst. "I'm not aware of any problems with Mr. Carrillo," said Commander Jose Barragan, federal police chief for Sinaloa. "There are no major trafficking organizations "It is clear that his money has penetrated high into the ranks of politicians, police and anti-drug officials." The attitude of the Mexican public toward drug corruption has gone from ho-hum to scandalized in recent months, as it has become apparent that traffickers have enjoyed protection from the nation's highest officials. A web of revelations, allegations and speculation has implicated Garcia Abrego in a conspiracy involving the brother of former President Carlos Salinas and the 1994 assassinations of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio and ruling-party chief Francisco Ruiz Massieu. But many analysts believe that no matter what dirt is dug up about Garcia Abrego's connections, none of it will touch Carril1o. Unlike his erratic and violent ' rival, Garcia Abrego, who ordered a bungled hit on him in 1993, Carrillo is known-and respected, even by U.S. agents who track him -as a cool player U.S. agents admit they know little about him. According to various DEA accounts, the 40ish Carrillo is either a third-grade dropout or a law school graduate, heavyset I or skinny, and was born in one of I three towns (DEA officials in Mexico City and the United States claimed they had never heard of Guamuchilito. But according to government officials and journalists in Culiacan, as well as Guamuchilito residents, there are no doubts about Carrillo's formative years. He was one of 12 children of farming parents, and as he grew up he impressed townspeople as quiet and hard-working. "Amado used to take care of his parents' cattle, and he often tended ours," said Garcia, smiling as she rocked more slowly in her chair. "He sure liked milking the cows. He did it very fast. And he liked to drink milk, too. Sometimes he would drink milk right from the udder, like this." She tilted her head, making a slurping sound and laughing. When Carrillo was growing up, Sinaloa state was North America's center for marijuana and opium poppy cultivation, and gunfire was ~heard in Culiacan every night. According to DEA accounts, Carrillo's uncle, Ernesto Fonseca, was one of the country's biggest traffickers. The young Amado started at the bottom, loading and driving marijuana to safe houses. Eventually he made contacts with Pablo Acosta, a trafficker from the neighboring state of Chihuahua. Acosta was the link between Mexico's old-time smugglers and the new. His grandfather was a bootlegger who switched to smuggling marijuana after Prohibition. By the 1980s, Acosta was moving marijuana, heroin and cocaine across the border into Texas. But the volatile Acosta flaunted his wealth and killed too many of his enemies and friends, and by 1987 he had burned so many bridges that Mexican police felt emboldened enough to ambush and kill him. After Acosta's death, Carrillo moved to Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, and gradually assumed the role of peacemaker between rival Mexican traffickers from Tijuana to Matamoros. U.S. officials say Carrillo's style was so effective that he became the coordinator of a loosely knit empire of traffickers-a white collar cooperative whose members do business with Lear jets, Boeing 727s and French Caravelles rather than bullets. According to DEA informants, Carrillo never uses drugs or carries guns. He has served only eight months in jail on cocaine trafficking charges, and the Mexican government has never made public any information it may have gleaned from him during his incarceration. He was set free in April 1990 by a Mexico City judge, who ruled that there was "insufficient evidence" to hold him. The ruling brought only muted protests from U.S. officials, who at the time did not view Carrillo as a major trafficker. Carrillo has not spoken publicly about any of the charges against him. U.S. officials who track Carrillo say he lives in no one location, protection," said EduardoValle, a constantly moving between safe former Mexican government anti-drug official. houses in central and northern Mexico Guamuchilito residents said that Carrillo occasionally returns home to visit his mother, two sisters and a brother. But Barragan, the state police commander, said Carrillo's family is "not a matter for attention or investigation," adding: "In Mexico, we have a great respect for families." In Guamuchilito, the Carrillo compound is ringed by high walls and concertina wire. Four-wheel drive vehicles and pickups with darkened wmdows come and go, giving the casual passer-by a tantalizing glimpse of colonial-style arches, lush greenery and spraying water as the heavy, black gatesopen and shut I vously warned a reporter not to linger near the compound, guards at the entrance responded to repeated inquiries for Carrillo's mother, Aurora, by politely saying no one was home. After the visitor left a letter asking for an interview with Mrs. Carrillo, he received a series of cryptic phone calls at his hotel in Culiacan from a man describing himself as an intermediary. On the fifth call, two days later, the man said "he has approved it" -apparently referring to Amado Carrillo himself-adding that only the final arrangements remained to be made. But the intermediary did not call back, and the compound's telephone number was unlisted. At the front gate the next day, the guards said again-grinning slightly behind their sunglasses-that no one was home. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More tomorrow. So far a pretty generic piece, but no criticism of US policy either, just a parroting of DEA comment. Tom ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Feb 1996 13:13:06 -0800 From: tjeffoc@ix.netcom.com (Tom O'Connell) To: drctalk@drcnet.org Subject: Chronicle Drugs/Mexico 2nd Installment Message-ID: Here's the second and last part of the series: Second of Two Parts U.S., Mexico Stalemated on Drugs Congress' anger has little effect south of the border BY, Robert Collier Chronicle Staff Writer Mexico City When Juan Garcia Abrego was captured by Mexican police last month, law enforcement officials on both sides of the border congratulated themselves, loudly proclaiming that the fall of the drug lord was a major victory against the narcotics cartels. But the arrest was not enough to satisfy Mexico's critics in the U.S. Congress, who said that other Mexican drug lords appear to enjoy total immunity from justice. Senator Dianne Feinstein, D.,Calif., and other lawmakers charged that Mexico has dawdled in taking concrete steps to fight the traffickers, and they proposed legislation to cut off U.S. economic and diplomatic support for its southern neighbor. Mexican officials, in turn, reacted angrily, hinting that any congressional retaliation against Mexico would result in less, not more, cooperation on law enforcement. As the war of words heats up on both sides of the border, many experts say the rhetoric is simply irrelevant; Whether by using praise or taking a hard line, the United States can do little to make Mexico's fight against drugs more effective. "The problem with U.S. pressure about drugs is knowing where to stop," said Jorge G. Castaneda, a political analyst at the Nation Autonomous University of Mexico "The corruption is so huge and. deep that if you keep digging, you will undermine this government -and that's something the Clinton administration clearly has no interest in doing." The stakes for the Unite States are high: An estimated, percent of the cocaine and 40 per cent of the heroin that reach American streets are smuggled through Mexico. Indeed, Mexico drug lords have risen rapidly to be come just as powerful as those who head Colombia's cartels, and the, are now reported to spend as much as $500 million a year to bribe Mexican government officials. Recent setbacks in the U.S. Mexican war on drugs have been striking: Days after Garcia Abrego capture, the drug corruption case against Raul Salinas, brother of former President Carlos Salinas was severely damaged when several top businessmen said they had given him most of the $100 million found in his Swiss bank accounts -money that was suspected of being drug-related. Although Raul Salinas still faces charges relating to the 1994 assassination of a key ruling-party official, many observers say the whole issue of drug corruption in the Salinas administration may be swept under the rug. * Another major graft case, against former government prosecutor Mario Ruiz Massieu, also has crumbled. A U.S. federal magistrate in New Jersey, where Ruiz Massieu has been jailed since last March, has rejected repeated attempts to extradite him to Mexico to face trial on drug corruption charges. U.S. diplomats now admit , that both governments have botched the case. * A broad package of legislation to reform Mexico's notoriously lax laws on money laundering, , government corruption and the sale of so-called precursor chemicals used in processing drugs has stalled in Mexico's Congress since it was introduced in November. In the past year, the widening scandal linking the former Salinas administration with drug traffickers has left Washington and Mexico City in a bind, experts say. Hoping that Mexico will emerge from its 14-month old economic crisis with no damage to NAFTA, President Clinton has thrown the economic and diplomatic weight of the United States behind President Ernesto Zedillo's attempts to fight corruption in the traditional Mexican way-quietly, behind the scenes and without hurting the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). "Because of the whole drug scandal about the Salinas brothers, there is enormous public pressure to find the guilty," said Agustin Basave, a leading PRI reformer and president of the Luis Donaldo Colosio Foundation, a PRI think tank. "But we're not going to try to stop this political disaster by carrying out a witch hunt or a lynching to satisfy the public. We must let the legal process work . . . and that is going to be slow." Just how slow depends, in part, on the Mexican public, which has long been accustomed to official corruption. In recent local elections, the PR1 escaped the scandal largely unscathed. Even among Mexico's upper class, "everyone complains about corruption, but we all dream about getting the local narcopolitician to come to our daughter's wedding," said Guadalupe Loaeza, a novelist whose sardonic chronicles of high society are best-sellers. "Almost any of them-well, anyone except maybe Raul Salinas now-would get seated at the head table." Getting to the bottom of what Mexicans call "narcopolitics" has proved virtually impossible because of the code of secrecy that politicians and drug lords obey. When Garcia Abrego was arrested and abruptly sent to the United States, many Mexicans angrily asked why the government id not question him about his many alleged crimes in Mexico, including dozens of killings and his apparent ties with the former Salinas administration. Skeptics suggested that he was expelled so fast to keep him quiet. U.S. officials say the drug kingpin, now jailed in Houston, has refused to cooperate with his American interrogators. Back in Mexico, the govern, ment does its best to keep those in the know from talking. The Interior Secretariat refused to answer repeated Chronicle requests to interview Miguel Felix Gallardo and Rafael Caro Quintero, two former top drug lords now serving long sentences in a high security prison near Mexico City. When a reporter passed a written questionnaire to Felix Gallardo through the drug lord's lawyer, he gave only evasive replies, concluding, "Going public would not change things." The lawyer said Felix Gallardo had noted privately that authorities would punish him if he talked more freely. The interview was the first he had ever given to the press. Last month, when a pro-government newspaper published five long essays written by Raul Salinas, the result was virtually the same. Amid 5,000 words of eloquent philosophizing about prison existence, Salinas alluded only vaguely to the charges against him, including those tied to politics, corruption and drugs. With no one willing to talk and with little hard evidence, many experts assume the worst. A recent study by the National Autonomous University of Mexico noted that the annual budget of he Mexican federal attorney general-including the federal police l agencies that fight drugs - is about $200 million, less than half he total of annual bribes the university's researchers estimate are paid to govern ment officials. The Clinton administration has placed high hopes on an omnibus organized crime bill championed by Attorney General Antonio Lozano, a member of Mexico's conservative National Action Party who is seen as crucial to the reform process. The bill would impose tough controls on money laundering through banks and exchange houses, create new rules on financial disclosure and conflict of interest by government officials, and crack down on the sale of precursor chemicals, which are used to make methamphetamine-a drug that has been flooding the California narcotics market recently. The package was proposed with great fanfare by Zedillo's administration in November. But since then, businessmen have opposed it because it would increase government control of the economy. The Mexican Congress has placed the bill on a back burner and no action is expected before this fall. The apparent lack of progress against drug smugglers has helped produce an atmosphere in the U.S. Congress that is clearly hostile to Mexico. Earlier this month, Feinstein and New York Republican Senator Alphonse D'Amato proposed legislation to block the extension of the $20 billion U.S. bailout of the Mexican economy. Feinstein charged that "Mexico's actions do not match their words in the war on drugs" and noted that major drug lords such as Amado Carrillo enjoy apparent immunity from justice. ln addition to Feinstein's bill other pending legislation ranges from anti-immigration proposals to a bill to drastically renegotiate NAFTA. sponsored by Representative Marcy Kaptur, D Ohio, the NAFTA Accountability Act has gathered 77 co-sponsors from the far left to the far right. And with GOP presidential contender Pat Buchanan bashing Mexico and NAFTA at nearly every campaign appearance, the antipathy is likely to grow. Feeling the pressure, the administration has said it may deny certification later this week of Mexican cooperation in anti-drug efforts-thus blocking a wide variety of international loans to Mexico. In December, the administration ceded to similar pressure by blocking implementation of a NAFTA provision allowing Mexican truckers free access to the highways of California and the Southwest. In fact, drug enforcement officials admit that most of the narcotics crossing the border do not come by plane, tunnel or mule across the desert, but are hidden in truck cargo that passes openly through U.S. Customs. Although plans have been announced to tighten up loopholes in customs procedures that allow many high-volume importers to avoid inspection at the border U.S. officials say ruefully that there are limits to what they can do to intercept drugs. "To understand this, you have to look at the reality of the border and what our function here is," said George McNenney, the special agent in charge of the Customs Service office in El Paso, one of the border's busiest crossing points. "On one hand, we're a law enforcement agency. But on the other, we have to facilitate trade. If we checked every vehicle, there would be lines backed up clear to Mexico City." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There's anothe related story in today's paper. I'll post it later. Tom O'Connell ------------------------------ @@@ 960321, New York City, NY, AP. Harlem police officer Barry Brown Date: Sun Mar 31, 1996 10:54 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: NYPD Testilying Posted: pinknoiz@ccnet.com (Bob Gonsalves) 3/21/96 NEW YORK (AP) - When Officer Barry Brown took the stand against a suspected drug dealer in 1991, he raised his right hand and swore to tell the truth. Then he lied. "It was part of everyday police work, unfortunately," the former Harlem policeman said of the falsified testimony, which helped send Samuel Victor to prison. [Article goes on to say that NYPD has instituted 'reforms' to combat this. And, it's a natural growth of an environment where 'crooks' (suspects, really) are seen to have an 'unfair' advantage.] ... Police perjury "is not as widespread as people think," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. "It's a perception. But the danger is that perception could find its way into the jury room." Others contend the problem is pervasive. The Mollen Commission, a mayoral panel that investigated police corruption, concluded in a 1994 report that perjury "is not uncommon, even among those who do not engage in other kinds of misconduct." A quiet conspiracy to subvert the Constitution's search-and-seizure protections begins when an arresting officer and a prosecutor meet to review a case, said Norman Siegal, head of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "When a cop sits down with a D.A., there's kind of sense of what needs to be said, of what the magic words are," Siegal said. "The cop understands that unless he uses them, the case won't succeed." [Among the proposed changes are increased "class time on courtroom testimony" for new recruits, which will undoubtedly include training in the 'magic words'.] ... Brown - a secret informant for the Mollen Commission who used the code name "Otto" - was forced to resign last year after being threatened with prosecution for perjury. Only two weeks earlier, "60 Minutes" likened Brown to Frank Serpico, the New York officer who helped uncover a 1970s corruption scandal. Brown testified that he saw Victor drop some drugs on the street, then run into an apartment. He later admitted he made up the story after searching the apartment without a legal reason. Victor was released from prison after serving three years of a 15- year sentence. [Poster's comments in brackets. My reading of the article is that Brown will not be prosecuted, in spite of the fact that Victor was unlawfully incarcerated for three years.] @@@ 960323, San Francisco, CA, San Francisco Chronicle. Three cops S.F. Cop in Theft Trial Unlikely to Face Agency Charges Saturday, March 23, 1996 Page A15 copyright San Francisco Chronicle Susan Sward, Bill Wallace, Chronicle Staff Writers San Francisco's police watchdog agency has made a preliminary decision not to file theft charges against one of three officers indicted by the grand jury for stealing from drug dealers and other citizens, but a lawyer for two of the alleged victims is appealing. Lance Bayer, director of the Office of Citizen Complaints, told the alleged victims in a February 28 letter that his agency's investigation failed to sustain the theft charges that the two women made against officer James Acevedo. The watchdog agency's handling of the case is separate from the Superior Court trial that Acevedo and two other officers, Gary Fagundes and Steven Landi, face in connection with the theft charges. All three officers have entered not guilty pleas in that case. The three were indicted by the grand jury for stealing money and personal property from drug dealers and others. They also face disciplinary charges before the police commission in connection with the case. No hearing date has been set. Acevedo, Fagundes and Landi were suspended after the indictment. In his letter, Bayer told Lisa Strain, 29, and Desiree Smith, 25, that the Office of Citizen Complaints' investigation ``failed to disclose sufficient evidence to enable us to determine the validity of the allegation'' that police failed to book property taken after officers entered the women's apartment. Strain and Smith have said they had no idea why the police picked on them. Neither woman has a criminal record. The two women, who have filed a suit seeking $4 million in damages against the city, said they had four nightmarish encounters with police over a 14-month period that ended one year ago. Jeffrey Sloan, a lawyer who represents the women, said he has written a letter appealing the Office of Citizen Complaints' preliminary decision, asking for a hearing. He plans to write another letter detailing evidence that he believes was ignored. ``This is outrageous,'' Sloan said. ``Ms. Strain and Ms. Smith have been victimized more than once by the very officers who are hired to protect them. Now they turn to the agency that is supposed to protect them, and Mr. Bayer and his agency have once again slapped my clients. ``It is embarrassing that in light of a mountain of evidence that leads to an indictment, the OCC somehow can't find any evidence. It just stinks of a coverup.'' If the Office of Citizen Complaints were to hold a hearing and decide to file charges, it could recommend to Police Chief Fred Lau that he or the police commission hear the charges. In a related action, the office also declined to sustain charges against Sergeant Johnny Velasquez for allegedly dressing Smith in her jeans in a suggestive fashion before taking both women to the police department one night. Smith said she felt demeaned by his behavior. The Office of Citizen Complaints also reportedly sustained a charge against Fagundes of failure to cooperate with investigators. Fagundes' lawyer was not available for comment. Landi was not named in the complaint filed with the office by Strain and Smith. Bayer told The Chronicle that he has not yet decided whether to hold a hearing to consider further evidence in the case before any final decision is issued. The preliminary decision in the Acevedo case follows another controversial call by the Office of Citizen Complaints, which decided earlier this month not to sustain charges against officer William Wohler in connection with the 1993 shooting death of Brian Sullivan. Lawyers for Sullivan's family have asked for a hearing, and Bayer has not yet decided what to do. Sullivan, who lived in the Excelsior district, was shot and killed by Wohler after Sullivan allegedly pointed a gun at him and ran into his garage. The city later paid almost $300,000 in damages in connection with that shooting. Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org @@@ 960326, Philadelphia, PA,. The Civil Rights Committee of the Date: Mon Feb 26, 1996 9:08 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Philly Bar: Forum on Police Accountability From: Bob Witanek Subject: Philly Bar: Forum on Police Accountability Posted: Barrio215@aol.com Please let your subscribers know about this great forum POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY: PROBLEMS, SOLUTIONS AND THE ROLE OF SPECIAL COMMISSIONS The Civil Rights Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association will host a forum titled "Police Accountability: Problems, Solutions, and the Role of Special Commissions." The forum will be held from 5:30PM to 8:00PM on March 26, 1996, in Philadelphia at the Wanamaker Conference Center, Suite 1010 of the Wanamaker Building. The entrance is on Juniper Street between Market and Chestnut Streets. The panel for the forum will consist of four nationally recognized experts on the issue of police accountability. The four speakers are: Judge Milton Mollen, Merrick Bobb, Esq., Charles Bowser, Esq., and Leslie Seymore. The moderator for the forum will be Prof. James Fyfe. Judge Milton Mollen was the chair of the distinguished Mollen Commission. The Mollen Commission investigated police corruption in NYC in 1994 and devised extensive recommendations to reform the New York Police Department. The Mollen Commission report and its recommendations were lauded by experts around the country. It was before this commission that Officer Dowd testified with graphic frankness of the depth and breadth of police corruption in the city. His description of the brashness of some officers, included testimony describing how he snorted cocaine off the dash board of his patrol car. Merrick Bobb, Esq. serves as special counsel to the Kolts Commission. The Kolts Commission investigated corruption and misconduct in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Mr. Bobb's remarkable work at implementing the Kolts Commission's recommendations with a team of pro-bono attorneys has earned him national attention. Mr. Bobb was also the Deputy General Counsel to the Christopher Commission. The Christopher Commission was created to probe the Los Angeles Police Department in the aftermath of the Rodney King incident. It was headed by Warren Christopher, currently the Secretary of State in the Clinton Administration. Charles Bowser, Esq. was a member of the Commission that investigated the police bombing of the MOVE compound and the resulting fire that killed 11 people and destroyed 61 homes. Mr. Bowser was appointed to the country's first Civilian Review Board in 1961 by Mayor Dilworth. He has also served as Deputy Mayor for the city of Philadelphia, and Special Counsel to the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus. Leslie Seymore is a twenty three year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department. She is the past National Chairperson of the National Black Police Association. She has a long history of working to secure institutional improvements in the Philadelphia Police Department. Her efforts started before she became a police officer. She was one of the plaintiffs that successfully challenged the Department's policy to exclude candidates for such things as being a single parent, and holding more than one job. She is currently assigned to the Community Relations Division of the Philadelphia Police Department. The forum's moderator is Professor James Fyfe of the Criminal Justice Department of Temple University. Prof. Fyfe is a commissioner of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. He has published 6 books and more than 75 articles on police accountability. Prof. Fyfe served as a police officer for 16 years with the NYPD where he rose to the rank of lieutenant. Police misconduct is the primary civil rights issue facing American urban communities today. In Los Angeles, the tape recorded conversations of Mark Fuhrman exposed a police department that routinely looks the other way while citizens are abused and racially insulted by rogue police officers. In New York, nearly 50 police officers have been arrested since March 1994 on charges of drug trafficking, extortion, brutality and civil rights violations. In New Orleans, more than 50 police officers have been arrested, indicted or convicted since 1993 on charges including rape, aggravated battery, drug trafficking and murder. In Atlanta, six police officers were arrested in September of last year on drug charges and extorting money from citizens for police protection. In Philadelphia, six police officers confessed to planting drugs on suspects, lying under oath and stealing from innocent citizens. In December, Philadelphia's civilian review board concluded that police used excessive force against a North Philadelphia tow truck driver, Moises DeJesus, and then tried to cover it up. DeJesus died while in police custody. The most far reaching finding of the report however was that the investigation of the incident by the police was not adequate. In September of last year, City Councilman Michael Nutter and Council President John Street passed a resolution in City Council to create a special commission to investigate police corruption. The proposed commission will be in the style of the Mollen Commission and the Christopher Commission. It will focus on the operations of the Police Department, the District Attorney's Office and the Courts to prevent, investigate and followup police corruption and misconduct. This forum on Police Accountability is an opportune chance to tap the knowledge and experiences of a nationally renowned panel of experts in the field. The forum is co-sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, the Police Barrio Relations Project, the Criminal Justice Department of Temple University, The National Lawyers Guild, and the Center for Public Policy of Temple University. For more information about the conference call the Philadelphia Bar Assocation at 215-238-6300. @@@ 960327, St Louis, MO, UPI. Cop George DeLuca (55), 20 year UPI March.27.--.A.former.New.York.City.police officer began serving a life sentence Wednesday, after being convicted for his role in running a drug ring that imported cocaine and heroin to St. Louis. George DeLuca, 55, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. His sentencing followed Monday's sentencing in the same courtroom of his wife, Elisa DeLuca, 42. A federal jury convicted both DeLucas of drug conspiracy last December. Both husband and wife were sentenced to identical terms of life in prison without parole. Prosecutors charged the couple ran a drug ring that bought Colombian cocaine in New York and sold it in St. Louis. After Elisa DeLuca had trouble paying her cocaine suppliers, she began selling white heroin, authorities said. The jury also convicted George DeLuca of laundering the profits from the drug operation. Some of the laundered money was used to buy a $400,000 house in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, which the couple bought after George DeLuca retired in 1993 from the New York Police Department. The government has seized the couple's house, and federal marshals soon will auction it. George DeLuca served as a police officer in New York for 20 years, including a stint as a vice detective, authorities said. The couple's five-week trial featured the testimony of Elisa DeLuca's daughter, Alexandra DeLuca, 17, and the girl's boyfriend, Jorge Bustamante. Alexandra, who ran away with Bustamante in 1994, testified that she knew her mother was dealing drugs. Bustamante, a Colombian who met Elisa DeLuca when he went to New York illegally, testified that he moved to the St. Louis area with the family in 1993. Bustamante worked as a drug courier for the ring, authorities said. Federal agents arrested him at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in 1994, while he was trying to take $110,000 in cash to New York. Because they cooperated in the investigation, Bustamante and Alexandra DeLuca will be placed in the federal witness protection program, authorities said. They said the witnesses planned to marry. -- @@@ 960327, Los Angeles, CA, Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Cop admits Subject: Cop Admits Lie in R King Case Posted: : Ronnie Dadone To: bwitanek@igc.apc.org Subject: U.S. & World News http://www.phillynews.com/daily_news/96/Mar/28/national/RODN28.htm > National > [Philadelphia Online] THE PHILADELPHIA Thursday, March 28, > DAILY NEWS > 1996 > > > Cop admits lie in King case > Tipsy-driving trial under way > > Pittsburgh Post-Gazette > > NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The police officer who charged Rodney King with > drunken driving said yesterday that he lied while testifying in the > case about a memorandum he produced detailing the arrest. > > The admission came in the second day of testimony in the trial of > King, whose beating by Los Angeles police officers in 1991 was > caught on videotape and turned the national spotlight on police > misconduct. > > Clint Garver, a patrolman who charged King with drunken driving May > 21, said a memo he had prepared about the circumstances of King's > arrest in Union was typed by David Rishel, the district justice who > arraigned King on the charges. Garver said Rishel provided ``a crib > sheet'' to help Garver assemble the document. > > Garver said Rishel typed the memo, which he later incorporated into > a supplemental police report detailing events surrounding King's > arrest, on a computer at a fire hall the day after King was > arrested. > > On Tuesday, Garver testified he had typed the memo on an unnamed > friend's computer, and later threw it away. The document surfaced > when the Lawrence County district attorney's office turned it over > to defense attorney Carmen Lamancusa during pretrial discovery. > > ``You said you typed it up on a friend's computer,'' Lamancusa told > Garver in front of the jury. > > ``Yes,'' Garver replied. > > ``Now, isn't that a lie?'' Lamancusa said. > > ``Yes,'' Garver said. Asked why he lied, Garver said, ``I was a > little nervous. It was my first time up here.'' > > Garver had been an officer for two months when he arrested King, the > first person he had charged. > > Lamancusa then asked Garver why the jurors should believe anything > else he said during the trial. ``I didn't lie about nothing else,'' > Garver said. > > The admission shifted the trial's focus. Until yesterday, > Lamancusa's main strategy had been to stress that Garver had no > concrete evidence to place King behind the wheel other than Garver's > contention that King told him he was the driver of the car. King > denies it. > > During a court recess, Lamancusa said that if Judge Glenn McCracken > did not dismiss the case, he would ask McCracken to instruct jurors > to consider Garver's testimony unreliable. > > ``This is the first time in 28 years I've been trying cases where I > got a police officer to say `I lied,' '' Lamancusa told reporters. > ``I think the district attorney should look into it.'' > > But both Robert Barletta, the prosecutor, and Garver's boss, Union > Police Chief Mark Pelto, said they believed Garver's admission to > lying was simply a poor choice of words to describe a faulty memory. > > The memo in dispute is a two-page account of King's arrest and his > repeated refusals to submit to a blood alcohol test. > > Garver said he prepared it to help him in testimony. At the time he > didn't realize he would be given legal assistance by the Lawrence > County district attorney. > > Rishel's help in putting the document together came the day after > Rishel had presided at King's arraignment on drunken driving > charges. > > Pelto said it was common for district justices to help officers put > together legal papers. > > The King case is expected to wrap up testimony today and jurors > should begin deliberations tomorrow. @@@ 960330, New Castle, PA, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Rodney King http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Mar/30/city/KING30.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] City & Region > > Saturday, March 30, 1996 > > Rodney King is acquitted > A jury found him innocent of drunken driving after an officer > admitted lying in court. > > ASSOCIATED PRESS > > NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A jury yesterday found Rodney King innocent of > drunken driving. The acquittal followed a trial in which a rookie > police officer admitted lying about how he had prepared his notes. > > King made a number-one sign with his hand after the jury cleared him > of being drunk while driving a rented car that became stuck in a > muddy yard about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Several members > of King's family hugged him. > > Later, King thanked his attorney and ``the people of Pennsylvania.'' > > An amateur photographer videotaped King, who is black, being beaten > by four white police officers after being pulled over for speeding > in Los Angeles in 1991. The following year, the officers' acquittal > on state charges prompted riots in Los Angeles. Two of the officers > later were convicted on federal charges. > > Lawrence County juror Tasha Anzalone, 26, said the jury was swayed > by Union Township Police Officer Clint Garver's admission that he > had lied. Garver, 20, testified Tuesday that he had typed notes > about the May 21 arrest on a friend's computer. But he admitted > Wednesday that a judge had typed the notes for him. > > King's arrest was the first by the officer, then on the force just > two months. He admitted that he never saw King driving and never > asked what he had been drinking. > > ``The big question was: `Why did he lie about it for a year?' '' > Anzalone said, adding that she also was troubled by District Justice > David Rishel's involvement in Garver's investigation of King. > > Garver, meanwhile, said he was glad the trial was over. > > The all-white jury deliberated for 6-1/2 hours in Lawrence County > Court. Just 3 percent of the county's residents are black. > > King, then 30, was charged after refusing to allow his blood to be > tested for alcohol. He was in New Castle last spring for his > father-in-law's funeral. > > In his closing argument, defense attorney Carmen Lamancusa said the > state had not proved King had been driving or had been intoxicated. > He also said King's injuries from the 1991 beating may have made it > impossible for him to pass field sobriety tests. > > Lamancusa further suggested that there was an official conspiracy > against King. He pointed out that it had been a judge who had helped > Garver with his notes. > > Outside court, Lamancusa said the trial marked the first time that > he had been able to persuade a police officer to admit lying. > > ``If it weren't for the high profile it is, this case would have > been over in two days,'' Lamancusa said. > > At issue was King's statement to Garver that ``we'' were driving the > stuck sedan. King said he meant that he and his friends were riding > around the countryside, but Garver said he took the statement to > mean that King had been driving. Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org @@@ 960330, Louisville, KY, Courier-Journal. Louisville Police Chief Subject: Louisville, KY - x-Chief Gets 5 From: Bob Witanek Posted randy@ntr.net Sat Mar 30 12:54:04 1996 From: Randy Jarnagin Subject: Former Police Chief gets 5 yrs. Hello, Bob, Thought you might wish to inform your readers about this news event. Louisville, Kentucky's ex-police chief, Richard Frey, received a 5 years and 3 months federal prison sentence yesterday. The local newspaper, Courier-Journal, reported the following: "Appearing stoic and poised, Richard Frey, the ex-Marine who ran the Jefferson County Jail with military precision, was sentenced yesterday to five years and three months in federal prison for taking nearly $200,000 in bribes. Standing in a courtroom where he'd appeared on many occasions in his official capacity, Frey, 50, told U.S. District Judge Edward Johnstone: "Your honor, I've been before this court for 15 years and at no time has there ever been an occasion where the outcome was not a fair and impartial one. I have no doubt that will be the case today." After the hearing, Frey seemed upbeat and even joked about his chances of encountering J. Clifford Todd, 67, the former chairman of U.S. Corrections. Todd paid Frey $4,000 a month to get and keep a lucrative corrections contract- then cut a deal with federal authorities to implicate Frey and testified as the government's chief witness against him. "I don't think they're going to make us cellmates," Frey said after he left the courtroom. "Somehow, the thought of Cliff Todd lifting weights on the yard does not come to mind." In an interview, Frey, who'll be allowed to turn himself in May 15, said the ordeal of the federal investigation and his indictment was worse than going to prison. "What has gone on in the past 24 months has been far more serious," he said. The sentence handed down by Johnstone closes the curtain on the corruption scandal that erupted two years ago when Frey was fired amid allegations that he took payments from Todd, whose former company has a $3.2 million contract to house county inmates. Citing Todd's cooperation with the government, federal prosecutors recommended that he serve only 4 1/2 months in home incarceration. But Todd was shocked earlier this wek when U.S. District Judge John Heyburn rejected his deal with prosecutors and sentenced him to 15 months in prison. ______________________________________________________ _ Randy Jarnagin, President _ _ Data Services Corporation _ _ Box 921325 _ _ Louisville, KY 40292 _ ______________________________________________________ @@@ 960416, New York City, NY, NY Times. Cocaine dealing cop gets 8 years > April 16, 1996 > > Ex-Harlem Officer Draws 8 Years for Corruption > > By DON VAN NATTA Jr. > > [N] EW YORK -- In the harshest sentence yet > handed down in Harlem's 30th Precinct > corruption scandal, a former police officer who > admitted stealing drugs and then selling them > was sentenced Monday to eight years and one > month in federal prison. > > The former officer, Christopher DiLorenzo, 32, > wept as he hugged his wife before U.S. marshals > led him out of the courtroom to begin his term > immediately. "Keep the faith," DiLorenzo said to > his weeping mother and three sisters before > heading to prison. > > Until Monday, the longest sentence handed down > in the corruption case was five years, and three > of the five officers previously sentenced in > federal court were given sentences ranging from > one to two years in prison. > > But in sentencing DiLorenzo, Judge Allen G. > Schwartz of U.S. District Court in Manhattan > said the nine-year police veteran deserved the > maximum under the federal sentencing guidelines, > declaring that DiLorenzo and his fellow corrupt > officers "weren't protectors, they were > predators." > > "This was more than a serious crime," Schwartz > said, glaring down over his eyeglasses at the > defendant. "It was a horrendous crime. A police > shield is not a license to prey on others." > > The judge said he hoped the tough sentence would > send a message of deterrence to all law > enforcement officials who might be tempted to > violate the public's trust. "These crimes attack > the foundations of the criminal justice system > and the law of this country," he said. > > DiLorenzo was arraigned two years ago Monday, > and at the time it appeared unlikely that he > would get the harshest sentence, given the range > of accusations against some defendants. > > Yet his sentence reflected his position as the > first officer sentenced for conspiring to > distribute narcotics, a crime that carries a > mandatory prison sentence of five years. > > "This sentence should clearly demonstrate to all > law enforcement officers and all public > officials that they will be severely punished if > they cross the line and violate the oath that > they took to protect the public and uphold the > law," U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said Monday. > > DiLorenzo grew up in Woodside and Astoria, in > Queens. He did not begin to commit crimes until > he was teamed with Officer Alberto Vargas on the > midnight shift. > > Schwartz described a long list of crimes that > DiLorenzo confessed to having committed from > January 1991 to December 1992. Over all, > DiLorenzo took nearly $50,000 from cash payoffs, > thefts and his proceeds from the sale of more > than four pounds of cocaine. > > At least five times, DiLorenzo took money and > cocaine that he had found during his police work > in northwest Harlem. He and his partner usually > sold the cocaine, dividing the profits among > themselves and a drug dealer who worked in a > Broadway bodega. > > Several drug dealers, operating near West 146th > Street, also paid DiLorenzo $500 a week for at > least a year. The drug dealers had bought > "protection" from other corrupt officers who > might try to steal their drugs or money. The > payoffs also guaranteed that the dealers would > not be arrested themselves. > > DiLorenzo also admitted having committed perjury > while testifying in criminal court proceedings > in state court. > > In December, DiLorenzo pleaded guilty to one > federal count and was promised a reduced prison > sentence. He had faced five to six and a half > years in a Federal prison. > > But DiLorenzo tried to withdraw his guilty plea > last month. His lawyer, Cynthia W. Lobo, told > the court that DiLorenzo had hoped to take his > chances at trial and attack the credibility of > DiLorenzo's former police partner, Vargas, who > has admitted lying to investigators. > > Vargas has pleaded guilty and is to be sentenced > later this year. Eleven other former officers > from the 30th Precinct remain to be sentenced. > > Schwartz not only denied DiLorenzo's motion to > withdraw his guilty plea, but he also penalized > him, ruling that he should not receive credit > for accepting responsibility for his crimes. > > Michael E. Horowitz, an assistant U.S. attorney, > referring to DiLorenzo's motion, told the judge > Monday, "The government believes it was meant to > delay the sentencing." The judge agreed and > called it frivolous. > > Schwartz did not soften the sentence after > listening to DiLorenzo's expression of remorse, > including his love for his wife and two young > daughters. "I've lost more than I will ever be > able to explain," DiLorenzo said softly. > > Last week, he said, he explained his predicament > to his 6-year-old daughter. "Don't worry," he > said he told her. "I'll be there for you." > > "I dropped her off today at school and she told > me not to worry," DiLorenzo told the judge. In > the first four rows of the courtroom gallery, 20 > family members and friends sobbed and gasped for > breath. > > Afterward, Ms. Lobo, his defense lawyer, said > she was not surprised at the length of the > sentence. > > "Judges would be hard pressed to show any kind > of leniency to a police officer convicted of > corruption," she said. "There is a lot of > pressure on federal judges in this circuit, with > politicians calling for the heads of judges who > don't please them." > > Home | Sections | Contents | Search | Forums | Help > > Copyright 1996 The New York Times Company > > ---------------------------------------------------------- @@@ 960425, Los Angeles, CA, LA Times. SCAN. Southeast Cities [of Los Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 08:05:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Jim Rosenfield To: drctalk@drcnet.org Subject: LA Times re:Doomed Drug Strike Force Message-ID: <2.2.16.19960425080415.7fa71c7a@cinenet.net> LA Times Metro Section today: Internal Clashes Doomed Drug Strike Force Unit seized millions worth of narcotics in five cities, until members began suspecting colleagues of taking evidence. By any measure, the cops who hunted drug traffickers for SCAN -- the Southeast Cities Against Narcotics Task Force -- made a good team. With fewer than a dozen investigators, pooled from five local police departments in Southeast Los Angeles County, the special unit netted $100 million in cocaine and $14 million in cash in its best year. That also turned out to be its last year. When SCAN disbanded last spring, it was one of the premiere local narcotics "crews" in the nation: It landed blow after blow to the Los Angeles drug network. Its agents seized everything from currency to airplanes from their suspects. In the process, they collected windfalls for their cash-craving depatments with the help of the forfeiture laws that allow law enforcement agencies to keep a share of what they seize. But when SCAN cops began to doubt each others honor and that of their cheifs, it all came to a screeching halt. @@@ 960426, Norristown, PA, Phila Inq. Greaterford Prison guard Ronald Posted dadoner@chesco.com Thu Apr 25 12:35:10 1996 http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/Apr/25/city/CGARD25.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] City & Region > > Thursday, April 25, 1996 > > Guard at Graterford convicted in drug case > He claimed an official planted heroin on him during a search. > Another guard faces trial in May. > > By John Murphy > INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT > > NORRISTOWN -- A Montgomery County jury yesterday rejected a > Graterford Prison guard's claim that a prison official planted 43 > bags of heroin on him during a routine pat-down search. > > After close to five hours of deliberation, the jury found Ronald > Shepherd, 46, of Philadelphia, guilty on contraband and > drug-possession charges. > > Shepherd could face five to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine on > the contraband charge -- a second-degree felony. The drug- possession > charge carries a sentence of six months to one year. > > Authorities accused Shepherd of trying to sneak the drugs into > Graterford by concealing them in his sock. The drugs were discovered > during a pat-down search of Shepherd and three other officers > returning from a lunch break on Feb. 27, 1995. > > During testimony yesterday, Shepherd told the jury that Lt. Charles > Judge, a state corrections officer who conducted the search, had > framed him. > > Judge performed the search alone and in a room with the door closed, > Shepherd said. Prison rules require two corrections officers to be > present during all searches. > > Judge ``picked up something off the floor and said `contraband,' '' > Shepherd testified, describing the search. > > On Monday, Judge testified that he performed the search alone > because the prison was short-staffed that day. He also told jurors > that he left the door open. > > In closing arguments, Daniel Glammer, Shepherd's attorney, called > Judge a liar who was ``covering up his own crime.'' He also pointed > out that Judge gave contradictory reports of the drugs. In one > account, Judge said the heroin bags were rolled up into a ball the > size of a baseball. Later, he described the bags as about the size > of a golf ball. > > Assistant District Attorney Michael S. Munger said the > inconsistencies in Judge's testimony were minor, arguing that Judge > had no motivation to plant the drugs. > > Shepherd is one of 13 guards accused of drug violations at > Pennsylvania's largest maximum-security prison since 1989. > > In October, 650 state and federal authorities descended on > Graterford in a thorough search for evidence of drugs and > corruption. > > The three-day raid netted hundreds of handmade weapons and some > drugs. Officials believe many inmates flushed drugs down the toilets > when word of the raid began. Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org @@@ 960501, Cincinnati, OH, KNN. Christopher Kerins (39) an Officer of The http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/May/01/sj/CHAS01.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] New Jersey > > Wednesday, May 1, 1996 > > Trenton officer is charged after holdup, chase in Ohio > > By Lillian Micko > INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT > > A Trenton police officer attending a law-enforcement convention in > Cincinnati robbed a bank yesterday and then led police on a > high-speed chase, authorities said. > > Christopher Kerins, 39, is to be arraigned this morning on charges > of bank robbery, felonious assault and eluding police, said > Cincinnati Police Detective Ron Miller. Kerins was being held last > night in the Cincinnati Criminal Justice Center. > > According to Miller, Kerins entered the Kenwood Savings Bank in > street clothes about 2 p.m. He pulled out a gun and received an > undetermined amount of cash from the teller, Miller said. > > Kerins then went to the parking lot, where one of the tellers copied > down the number of his New Jersey license plate, Miller said. > Kerins' car was quickly spotted and a chase ensued, first through > suburban streets and then on Interstate 71, the detective said. > > It was not determined how many miles the 20-minute chase covered, > Miller said. > > At one point, Kerins went through the suburban town of Maderia, > where a police officer shot out his right front tire. Kerins > continued to drive, left the interstate and continued on local > highways and suburban streets. > > About a mile from the outskirts of Cincinnati, Kerins got out of his > car with his gun drawn and pointed it at an approaching city police > car, Miller said. The officer rolled his car into Kerins', knocking > over the suspect. > > Kerins got up and ran a short distance before he was caught, the > detective said. > > Kerins, of Yardville, N.J., is a 13-year veteran of the Trenton > police force. He was attending the conference with another Trenton > officer who was not involved in the incident, Miller said. Posted in pol-abuse@igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org Date: Fri May 03, 1996 4:47 am CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Trenton, NJ: Cop as Robber Posted: Thomas Dornheck http://www1.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/nation/050296/nationb_10131.ht ml#10 Undercover officer charged with drug dealing, bank robbery TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- He spent his days chasing drug dealers and lecturing youngsters about the dangers of narcotics. Now a decorated vice squad detective is charged with robbing 5 banks and trafficking in heroin. Christopher J. Kerins, an 11-year police veteran, is the long-sought "Camouflage Bandit," authorities said Wednesday. "It's bold, it's brazen, it's reprehensible and it's tragic," U.S. Attorney Faith S. Hochberg. Kerins, 39, was charged in 4 armed bank robberies in the Trenton area since November, and one in Ohio. He confessed to the New Jersey robberies, which netted about $28,000, according to a criminal complaint. If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison for each robbery. He was arrested Tuesday in Cincinnati, where police said he robbed a suburban bank and led officers on a 6-mile chase before being captured. He was in Ohio to attend a conference on fighting drugs and gangs. [sic! After the crime comes the crime fighting --how noble. 'Your tax dollars at work!' - -Th.] Police said they found $7,500 worth of heroin in Kerins' hotel room. "I won't believe it until he tells me he did it, and then I still won't believe it," Kerins' 13-year-old son, Brian, said outside the family home. The married father of two teen-age boys, Kerins has been a vice detective since 1989 and helped train his department's drug-sniffing dogs. But he was leading a double-life, "dressing up in camouflage gear and robbing banks in his own hometown," Hochberg said. Police in New Jersey and in Bucks County, Pa., are investigating whether Kerins was involved in other bank robberies, said Trenton Police Chief Ernest A. Williams. Williams said there's a good chance that Kerins was on duty when some of the robberies took place and that he apparently used his service weapon, a 9 mm Glock handgun, in the Ohio robbery. Kerins showed no sign of drug abuse and had an "outstanding" record, Williams added. [It served him well, it seems. --Th.] FBI agents who searched Kerins' suburban Hamilton Township, NJ, home seized two camouflage-type jackets, other military-style camouflage garb and white latex gloves believed to have been used in the bank robberies. None of the cash from the New Jersey robberies was recovered. The money stolen from the Ohio bank was recovered. Kerins, who was being held in Hamilton County, Ohio, without bail, did not enter a plea Wednesday to charges that included aggravated trafficking and robbery. His next hearing is May 10. "He is devastated," said lawyer Elizabeth Agar, who represented Kerins. "He's been trying for a long time to hold together his family and his job and try to avoid this kind of crash." [We're so sorry, Ma-am. --Th.] [Associated Press (AP) May 2, 1996] Date: Sat May 04, 1996 10:32 pm CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Trenton Cop as Robber: Probe Widens Posted: Ronnie Dadone Subject: Philadelphia Inquirer: City & Region http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/May/03/city/CCOP03.htm > > [The Philadelphia Inquirer] City & Region > > Friday, May 3, 1996 > > Probe of Trenton officer widens; heroin use cited > The jailed officer became addicted to the drug after killing a > suspect in 1989, his lawyer said. > > By John Way Jennings > and Lillian Micko > FOR THE INQUIRER > > While Christopher Kerins, the suspended Trenton detective, is held > in Cincinnati on drug and bank robbery charges, investigators say > they will look beyond New Jersey for other possible bank robberies > by the ``Camouflage Bandit.'' > > Agent Ann Todd, an FBI spokeswoman in Trenton, said yesterday that > agents were concentrating on bank robberies in New Jersey, where > Kerins this week confessed to and was charged in connection with > four bank robberies. He was named as a suspect in three others in > New Jersey. > > Todd said agents would later expand their investigation to include > any travel by the 11-year-veteran of ficer, both professional and > personal. > > She said investigators will then check with FBI bank robbery > coordinators in the areas Kerins may have visited to determine if > there were any robberies in which the robber wore camouflage > clothing. > Police sources said authorities were checking possible similar > robberies in Bucks County, Pittsburgh, and Norfolk, Va. > > Meanwhile, Kerins' attorney, Elizabeth E. Agar, said yesterday that > Kerins had become addicted to heroin after fatally shooting a > suspect in the late 1980s. > ``I think this is about as complete a devastation of a life as > you're likely to find,'' she said in an interview with the > Associated Press. ``This is someone who for many years was a model > police officer, model husband and father, highly respected, a pillar > of the community.'' > > She said he is now going through withdrawal. > > Kerins, 39, of Yardville, was arrested Tuesday in Cincinnati, where > he was attending a law enforcement conference, after leading police > on a six-mile chase following a bank robbery in a Cincinnati suburb. > Investigators subsequently found 346 doses of heroin in his hotel > room. > > Meanwhile, investigators in Trenton quickly linked him to a string > of puzzling bank robberies in the area. He was charged with taking a > total of $28,241 in four robberies in Mercer County. > > Three others in which he is a suspect occurred in suburban Hamilton > Township, where Kerins lived. > > Trenton Deputy Police Chief Joseph Constance said yesterday that > investigators searching Kerins' home late Tuesday seized about $100 > that might be marked bills linked to the stickups. Authorities also > seized two camouflage-type jackets, other military-style camouflage > garb and white latex gloves believed used in the bank robberies. > > Constance said investigators have determined that Kerins showed up > at two New Jersey banks after they were robbed, claiming to have > heard reports on a police scanner and offering to help investigate. > > ``We can place him on the scene right after two robberies,'' he > said. > > Constance added that the detective was able to avoid Trenton banks > being staked out as the search for the ``Camouflage Bandit'' > escalated because he knew his colleagues' whereabouts. He said > Kerins may have used that strategy to make a safe getaway from his > last alleged New Jersey holdup, on April 24 at Roma Savings Bank. > > ``I don't believe that his family was aware of any of his > activities,'' said Agar, his attorney, adding that Kerins was > ``particularly careful'' to hide his addiction from his wife and two > teenage sons. > > ``The [ drug ] problem dates back to the shooting that he was > involved in in Trenton, where a suspect was killed while attacking > him with a knife'' in 1989, she said. ``He had a lot of > psychological problems in dealing with that and apparently did not > receive any counseling.'' > > Agar said Kerins began taking painkillers prescribed by a doctor and > eventually turned to heroin. > > ``He never injected it. He was inhaling it. You can sniff it just > like cocaine,'' to avoid having telltale needle marks, the lawyer > said. > > She said Kerins has not yet decided whether to plead guilty to the > bank robbery and drug-trafficking charges. > > [Image] > This story contains information from the Associated Press. Date: Fri May 10, 1996 3:12 am CST From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Trenton Cop/Robber Tries Suicide Posted: Ronnie Dadone http://www2.phillynews.com/inquirer/96/May/08/city/CCOP08.htm The Philadelphia Inquirer - Wednesday, May 8, 1996 Officer held in heists tries to kill himself In a suburban Cincinnati jail, he cut an artery in his throat with a > razor, police said. By John Way Jennings and Emilie Lounsberry INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS A suspended Trenton police detective being held in a suburban > Cincinnati jail on bank robbery and drug charges attempted to take > his life yesterday morning, authorities said. Christopher Kerins, 39, used a razor to cut an artery in his neck, > said Col. Daniel Wolfangel of the Hamilton County Sheriff's > Department. Kerins was rushed to the University of Cincinnati > Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition yesterday afternoon. Kerins, who also faces federal charges of robbing four banks in the > Trenton area since November, has been dubbed the ``Camouflage > Bandit'' because of the military-style clothing the suspect wore > when he allegedly robbed the banks. Authorities, who say that Kerins > is an admitted heroin addict, allege that he pointed a handgun at > tellers when he robbed the banks. His arrest in Cincinnati shocked people who knew Kerins as a > respected family man and hard-working police officer. He was in a cell about 9 a.m. yesterday preparing for a visit by a > brother and a brother-in-law when he used the blade from a > disposable plastic razor to cut his neck. Wolfangel said Kerins, who is being held on $375,000 bail, was > housed in a protective-custody sec tion of the jail because he was a > police officer. He said the 11-year-veteran of the Trenton Police > Department had been under a suicide watch since his arrest last > Tuesday, but that watch ended Monday on the advice of a psychologist > at the jail. The incident ``continues under investigation by Sheriff's Office > personnel,'' Wolfangel said. Elizabeth E. Agar, a Cincinnati attorney representing Kerins, said > that she saw her client early Monday and he had seemed better > physically, and that his heroin- withdrawal symptoms had subsided. > However, she said he still was depressed. She said she would not > have recommended that he be removed from the suicide watch. > ``Police officers are a high risk for suicide at the best of times. > This is not the best of times,'' said Agar, adding that Kerins knew > he was facing a long prison sentence if convicted. ``Prison for > police officers is not a bright prospect.'' Trenton Deputy Police Chief Paul J. Meyer said yesterday that > ``things have been very trying for the Kerins family the last week. > Now this.'' Meyer said Trenton police investigators have found no drugs missing > from the evidence room. ``Kerins apparently told authorities that he purchased the heroin in > New York, and at this point we tend to believe him,'' Meyer said. > Kerins was in Cincinnati on April 30 to attend a law- enforcement > conference when authorities said he robbed a suburban bank. Driving > an undercover Trenton Police Department car, Kerins was chased for > about nine miles by police, who shot out a tire and captured him > after he ran into a vacant building. ============================================================ @@@ 960502, Dallas, TX, Dallas Morning News. $50,000 in cash disappears Date: Fri, 3 May 1996 12:00:55 -0700 From: Annette French To: drctalk@drcnet.org Subject: Police Corruption: One Day in Dallas Message-ID: <199605031900.MAA26983@patty.loop.net> > >From: Jay.Manifold@TXIVGRGATE.sprint.com > >Subject: One Day in Dallas >From _The Dallas Morning News_, Thursday, May 2, 1996: > >1. "Dallas Police Chief Ben Click has called in the FBI to > investigate the disappearance of $50,000 in cash from a > police narcotics division safe. > "The money, police officials say, was discovered missing > Monday and is assumed for now to have been stolen by one or > more of the seven narcotics unit supervisors who had access > [to] the safe." > >2. "Dallas Police Chief Ben Click has rehired an officer who was > fired last year after investigators found that he improperly > searched the apartments of suspected drug dealers in South > Dallas and then lied to cover up his actions." > >3. "The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the top federal > drug agent in Dallas because of his request that a California > judge reconsider a misdemeanor arson sentence against the > agent's 21-year-old son." > >| "Innocence and fairness are beside the point." | >| | >| --- Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, | >| United States Supreme Court | > >Jay Manifold, Chairman Libertarian Party of Texas > 1-800-422-1776 >PO Box 140577 >Irving, TX 75014 http://www.io.com/~freedom/lptxhome.html >w (214) 405-8634 > **************************************************************************** Annette French Media Awareness Project (MAP) mercury7@loop.com God grant me the ingenuity to escape the things I can not change, the money to change the things I can, and lawyers to know the difference. ***************************************************************************** @@@ 960505, Oklahoma, Sunday Oklahoman, p1. Drug Agent Travis Palmer admits DAs Drop Drug Task Force The Sunday Oklahoman, May 5, 1996 p.1 By Mark A. Hutchison and Anthony Thornton, Staff Writers Oklahoma District Attorneys are finding that paying thugs for information and giving addicts drug money isn't easy when you have to follow the rules. And then there's all that paperwork. The grants are "an administrative nightmare," said one district attorney whose office is under investigation for possible embezzlement of drug task force funds. Another prosecutor whose office is under scrutiny recently decided to eliminate his drug task force, calling it "the biggest headache we've ever had." At least five state prosecutors have relinquished their lucrative federal grants and disbanded successful muticounty task forces. Those opting to keep the task forces complain about the guidelines but say the red tape is worth the money. "I'll bet we've put charges on 100 people for drugs in the last 12 months because of the task force," said District Attorney Walter Hamilton, whose district covers McCurtain, Choctaw and Pushmataha countries. (mp note: this is SE Oklahoma which was settled by outlaws and during Prohibition was a major producer of moonshine.) "Some urban areas may have the resources to address their drug problems with local and state law enforcement. We don't in fact, money's been so tight down here that we were even buying drugs with food stamps." Hamilton explains that the nearest state drug officers are in McAlester, 2 1/2 hours away. Therefore, "Who's going to work the cases in Clayton and Sawyer, Oklahoma? We are, because we get complaints, and we realize that the people involved in this business are everywhere." On the other side of the state, District Attorney John Wampler said his task force has several internal controls such as one coordinator being responsible for handling transactions and informants signing their names for receipt of money to buy drugs. Officers also try to maintain visual contact with informants during the buy, but sometimes that's impossible. "You're already dealing with guys of questionable character. If they want to rip you off, they probably can," said Wampler, whose district covers Jackson, Kiowa, Tillman and Washita counties. Sate Auditor and Inspector Clifon Scott is leery of the current accounting procedures and called on the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council last week to develop tougher internal controls. Otherwise, Scott said, "It's just a breeding ground for those informants to sit in a bar and buy beer for everybody all night." *Offices Under Scrutiny* Especially difficult to trace is when task force agents, not the informants, are suspected of embezzling funds. That's what happened with District Attorney Miles Zimmerman, whose jurisdiction covers Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties. Zimmerman said a former task force agent, Travis Palmer, admitted to obtaining cash with forged receipts. The agent was fired, and a state investigation is continuing. Other members of Zimmerman's task force, past and present, also are being investigated for possible embezzlement and evidence tampering. Those confidential informant funds have become an item of debate between prosecutors and Scott. Because of the sensitive nature of informants, prosecutors don't want to reveal their names "because it can get somebody killed," said Bruce Walker, executive director of the DA Council. In one case, an investigator threw away a 1995 report book before auditors could review it. His defense: He didn't want the book to fall into the wrong hands. Now, auditors and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation are trying to reconstruct the records to account for $30,000 in grant money. If the investigator didn't know better, Scott said, he should bave been advised by the district attorney, Mike Sullivan, or his first assistant, Gary Buckles, who administered the task force. "Those boys are lawyers, and they advise the county on retention of records," Scott said. "It goes back to that weird (notion), 'We're the DAs; you have to trust us,'" Scott said. Sullivan, district attorney for LeFlore and Latimer counties, admits that discarding the receipt book "should have never been done." But, he said, "there's no DA in the state that can watch an employee 24 hours a day." Walker, with the District Attorneys Council, said state guidelines require task forces to keep receipts of money paid to informants for three years. "He (Sullivan) did not do what he should have done. It was a dumb mistake by somebody that works there," Walker said. The investigations of Sullivan's and Zimmerman's offices come amid a revelation that another district attorney, Paul Anderson in Payne and Logan counties, embezzled money. Officials say $90,000 is missing so far. Anderson has admitted responsibility. If not for the Anderson investigation, Sullivan said, auditors probably wouldn't have looked twice at his office. "We do more (record keeping) than anybody else. We probably put too much information in there," he said, referring to files on paid informants. Scott said he hopes the overall problem will be solved by the District Attorneys Council's promise for better internal controls. He noted that similar controsls were placed on the prosecutors' bogus check funds July 1, 1993. "Paul Anderson quit (empezzling) on July 1, 1993, fom the bogus check stuff because of the internal controls" Scott said. The auditor attended a special meeting of district attorneys last week to convey this message: "If you don't believe in record-keeping, leave the money with Bruce (Walker); somebody else might want it." "I think Bruce Walker has heard the wake-up call," Scott said. *Worth the Trouble* Task forces in Oklahoma have been awarded federal grants since 1986. They were set up with the district attorney in charge because, with the broad geographic area they cover, they're able to get cross--deputization agreements and share information, Walker said. Of the federal grant money available each year, task forces receive about 20 percent, Walker said. The remaining funds are given to nonprofit and other community law enforcement programs. In 1995, the state task forces split $1,390,269, Walker siad. They're expected to get about the same amount this year. Grants will be awarded in June based upon recommendations by a 13-ember board made up of state agency and law enforcement heads. Of the state's 27 districts, Walker said all but five have applied for new task force grants. those who didn't apply are Cathy Stocker in Enid, Sullivan in Poteau, Lantz McClain in Sapulpa, Robert Macy in Oklahoma City and Rod Hudson in Stillwater. Hudson replaced Anderson, who already had discontinued his district's task force. Some prosecutors consider their task forces the last bastion of hope in the war on drugs. Rural law enforcement agencies don't have the manpower to wage much of a fight, Zimmerman said. "So while it may not be politically wise to have that albatross around your neck, if the district attorney doesn't handle it, how are these small police departments and sheriff's offices supposed to handle it?" he said. Sullivan said his office has never lost a drug case, "and 60 percent of the crime in my district is drug related." He recently disbanded the drug task force, however, because "it's the biggest headache we've every had." "We just don't have the staff," he said. "We're going to get out of the investigative business and try to get back into the prosecuting business." Stocker in Enid cited similar reasons for ending the task force in her five counties: Garfield, Blaine, Kingfisher, Grant and Canadian. "It was taking up tremendous amounts of my staff time, and (so was) all the paperwork that we were required to maintain," she said. Stocker, district attorney since 1982, said she encouraged local law enforcement agencies to take over the federal grants. "But there were no takers," she said. Sullivan said he tried unsuccessfuly since early 1994 to use law officers instead of informants for drug buys. "Down here you're dealing with scumbags in the drug business if you don't have certified police officers working for you." he said. Walker says the District Attorneys Council has debated whether to keep a centralized database of informants at his office, "but we really don't want to." end Date: Mon Jun 03, 1996 7:40 pm CST From: snetnews EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: snetnews@alterzone.com TO: snetnews EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: snetnews@alterzone.com BCC: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: (Fwd) Tempers Flare in Arkansas -> SearchNet's snetnews Mailing List ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1996 20:57:53 -0400 (EDT) To: cs@oak.oakland.edu From: djsussma@oakland.edu (David J Sussman) Subject: Tempers Flare in Arkansas (Basic local story now makes wire service -- and what a curious one at that.)/wh Courtesy AP -- 6/1/96 Lawyer Beats Up Reporter BENTON, Ark. -- A county prosecutor was jailed Friday after authorities said he barged into the sheriff's office, admitted beating up a newspaper reporter, then threatened the sheriff and had to be restrained. Dan Harmon, the prosecutor for Saline, Grant and Hot Spring counties, was placed in a holding cell and later taken to a hospital for a mental and physical evaluation, the Saline County sheriff's office reported. He was not immediately charged. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said reporter Rodney Bowers was attacked when he approached Harmon to question him about property seized by a drug task force that Harmon had controlled before it was disbanded this year. Harmon, 51, shoved and hit Bowers before bystanders restrained him, the newspaper said, then broke free and attacked him again when Bowers tried to use a phone to call police. The 40-year-old reporter, whose head was slammed against the floor, was treated at a local clinic for bruises and cuts to his head, face, hip, chest and ribs. "This is deplorable," said Executive Editor Griffin Smith Jr. He added the newspaper was consulting its attorneys about possible legal action. Soon after the incident, authorities said Harmon arrived at the sheriff's office, yelling and swearing. "I was in my office when I heard all the commotion," said sheriff's Capt. Gene Donham. "He yelled something like `I just beat the s--- out of Rodney Bowers, and I've come to do my duty." When Harmon advanced toward him, Donham said, he unsnapped his gun holster and Harmon screamed, "Go ahead. Pull it. Shoot me." Later, when Harmon saw Sheriff Judy Pridgen, he threatened her and had to be restrained, Donham said. ^ <<<<<<|>>>>>> <<<<< steve@linex.com >>>>> <<<<<<< http://www.linex.com/ufo >>>>>>> <<<<<<<<< Anomalous Images and UFO Files >>>>>>>>> <<<<<< Citizens Intelligence Access BBS 415.927.2435 >>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<*>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> -> Send "subscribe snetnews " to majordomo@alterzone.com -> Posted by: "Steve Wingate" @@@ 960821, San Jose, CA, San Jose Mercury News. Profits from tons of Date: Wed Aug 21, 1996 12:39 pm CST From: bigred EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: bigred@duracef.shout.net TO: Conspiracy Nation EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: CN-L@cornell.edu BCC: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Report: CIA Profited from Crack Plague Found at USA Today website http://www.usatoday.com today, Aug. 21, 1996 Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 12:27:03 -0500 Subject: ncs10.htm [Washington News] 08/20/96 - 08:57 PM ET - Click reload often for latest version Report: CIA profited from crack plague SAN JOSE, Calif. - Throughout the 1980s, a San Francisco Bay area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to Los Angeles street gangs and funneled the profits to some of the CIA-run Contras in Nicaragua, a newspaper reported. Repeated attempts to prosecute the ring's kingpin were thwarted by the CIA, possibly to cover up ties between the traffickers and Contra leaders, the San Jose Mercury News reported in a series of articles after a yearlong investigation. The newspaper's report, based on recently declassified federal reports, court testimony and interviews, also alleges that the drug network was partially responsible for the ongoing "crack" problem in Los Angeles. The money pipeline was created after the CIA combined several armies to create 5,000-member anti-communist FDN Fuerza Democratica Nicaraguense (Nicaraguan Democratic Force) in mid-1981, the newspaper reported. The same year, the drug ring sold almost a ton of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods, notorious Los Angeles gangs, for $54 million, former FDN leader and government informant Oscar Danilo Blandon Reyes said. "There is a saying that the ends justify the means," Blandon testified in 1994. "So we started raising money for the Contra revolution." The Mercury News identified the primary buyer as Ricky Donnell Ross, or "Freeway Rick," a notorious South-Central Los Angeles dealer who bought powder cocaine, turned it into crack and sold it wholesale throughout the city and the nation. Blandon spent 28 months in U.S. prison for dealing drugs, the Mercury News said. He was released from prison in 1994 to become a full-time informant for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, a job which has since paid him more than $166,000. How much of the drug ring's profits went to the FDN before it disbanded in 1988 still is unclear. But in his testimony, Blandon said, "whatever we were running in L.A., the profit was going to the Contra revolution." Blandon's boss, Juan Norwin Meneses Cantarero, was a major drug dealer and smuggler who ran the FDN operation out of his homes in Burlingame and Pacifica in Northern California, the paper reported. Although records show that the U.S. government was aware of Meneses' dealings since 1974, the Mercury News reported that he has never been in a U.S. prison. Meneses currently is serving time in Nicaragua after being arrested in connection with a 750-kilo shipment of cocaine. Federal prosecutors blame the CIA and other federal departments for Meneses' relatively sweet treatment in the U.S., the Mercury News said. "The Justice Department flipped out to prevent us from getting access to people, records - anything that would help us find out about it," said Jack Blum, former chief counsel to the Senate subcommittee that investigated alleged cocaine trafficking to the Contras. "It was one of the most frustrating exercises that I can ever recall." Agents from four other agencies, including the DEA, U.S. Customs, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, also have complained that the CIA hampered investigations, the Mercury News reported. The reason might well be Meneses' own connections to the CIA, the Mercury News said. One piece of evidence - a picture taken in June 1984 - shows Meneses with Adolfo Calero, a longtime CIA operative and FDN political boss. But efforts to trace the government's knowledge of the drug ring have similarly been thwarted, the newspaper reported. Freedom of Information Act requests that reporters filed with the CIA and DEA have been denied on national security and privacy grounds. A FOIA request filed with the FBI has so far been ignored, the Mercury News reported. While Blandon has never said he was selling cocaine for the CIA, his lawyer, Los Angeles defense attorney Bradley Brunon, said he has drawn his own conclusions from the CIA's clandestine behavior. "Was (Blandon) involved with the CIA? Probably. Was he involved with drugs? Most definitely," Brunon said. "Were those two things involved with each other? They've never said that, obviously. They've never admitted that. But I don't know where these guys get these big aircraft." By The Associated Press _________________________________________________________________ * Go to Washington news * Go to News front page _________________________________________________________________ [ISMAP] Brian Redman | bigred@shout.net | ftp.shout.net pub/users/bigred Editor-in-Chief | ---------------Phone: 217-356-4418---------------- Conspiracy Nation | "The perfect slave thinks he's free." 970208, Tuscon, AZ, Albuquerque, NM, THE LIBERTARIAN, Vin Date: Wed Feb 05, 1997 4:33 am CST From: Matthew Gaylor EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: freematt@coil.com TO: Matthew Gaylor EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: freematt@coil.com BCC: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: Vin Suprynowicz On the DEA's "License to kill" From: vin@intermind.net (Vin Suprynowicz) Subject: Column, Jan. 24 FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED JAN. 24, 1997 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz License to kill David Aguilar, 44, retired from the military after 20 years and decided to live on his pension so he could be a "stay-at-home dad" to his five youngest children, aged 3 to 15, according to Beth Cascaddan, his neighbor in the Three Points area, 22 miles west of Tucson, Ariz. "He was extremely devoted to his children," Ms Cascaddan told reporter Melissa Martinez of the daily Tucson Citizen. Aguilar also coached youth football and baseball. But on the early afternoon of Friday, Jan. 10, David Aguilar sensed something wrong. A man was sitting in a car parked alongside the road bordering Aguilar's property, just sitting and watching. Only a few days earlier, residents of the neighborhood had been informed by law officers that a convicted sex offender was moving into the area, Cascaddan recalls. The man's behavior was unusual. "Out here," Cindy Dowell, another neighbor, told reporters for the competing Arizona Daily Star, "people just don't sit" in cars. Aguilar's children, including his 15-year-old son, later recalled that their father approached the man in the parked car, asking whether he was lost. Whatever the man said, it led to an argument. Seeing that the stranger was not going to move along, Aguilar went back to the house and returned with a gun. The children told neighbor Bonnie Moreno their father was simply trying to scare the man away. There is no indication David Aguilar ever fired. When the man in the car saw Aguilar returning, he drew his own gun and, at 2:45 that Friday afternoon, fired multiple times through his own windshield. David Aguilar died that evening in a Tucson hospital, of a single gunshot wound to the chest. The good news is, local police know who did the shooting. The bad news is, they won't release his name, and he has not been charged. Detectives with the Pima County Sheriff's Office politely asked the fellow to drop by and meet with them Sunday, Jan. 12, but the newspapers reported the next day that the shooter "postponed the meeting because he had not spoken to his lawyer." Why the incredible deference to this known killer? It turns out the shooter is an undercover agent of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Although David Aguilar and his family were not the target of any drug investigation, the unnamed agent was staking out their neighborhood. "Investigators did not say yesterday whether the agent identified himself" to Aguilar before opening fire, the Tucson newspapers report. Although a funeral was held Jan. 14, burial will not take place until the family raises $3,213 in funeral costs. # # # Ralph Garrison, 69, a video store owner, lived in downtown Albuquerque, N.M. In a lifetime of owning small businesses, he put away enough to buy a second house next door, which he rented out. Before sunrise on Monday, Dec. 16, 1996, Ralph Garrison awakened to hear the sounds of someone breaking into his rental property next door. His tenants apparently were not at home. Garrison went outside to ask who these people were and what they were doing. The men -- dressed in black with no visible identifying marks, wearing black "balaclava" hoods which may have been pulled down to conceal their faces, shined lights in his eyes, brandished rifles and yelled at him to get back in his house. Ralph Garrison called 911. The daily Albuquerque Journal printed a transcript of the call on Dec. 18. Dispatcher: "Emergency center operator 90. What is your emergency?" Garrison: "They're breaking into my house -- a whole bunch of people." Dispatcher: "They're backing into your house?" Garrison: "They're breaking in. Hurry up. Please hurry up." Dispatcher: "Who's breaking in?" Garrison: "I don't know. There's a whole bunch of people out there. ..." Garrison gives his address. "How many people are there?" "Oh, about four or five." "How are they trying to get in?" "Oh, they're breaking in with uh, axes and all kinds of stuff." "With axes?" "Yes. They're breaking in hammers, and all kinds of things. Please. I've got a gun. I'm gonna go up there and shoot them." "OK. Stay on the phone with me. I'm getting somebody out there, OK?" Garrison reports that when he went outside the men shined flashlights in his face, repeating that he has no idea who they are. Reporter Jeff Jones of the Journal writes that when the actual 911 tape was played at press conference later that day, Garrison's voice was "filled with fear and panic." "Please hurry up," Garrison says. "They've got flashlights, and cars, and trucks, and all kinds of stuff back there. Please, please hurry up. I'm gonna go out there now." "Can you take the phone with you?" "Yes." "OK. Take the phone with you." Next week: Albuquerque's finest. Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com, or vin@intermind.net. The web site for the Suprynowicz column is at http://www.nguworld.com/vindex/. The column is syndicated in the United States and Canada via Mountain Media Syndications, P.O. Box 4422, Las Vegas Nev. 89127. *** Vin Suprynowicz vin@lvrj.com, (OR:) vin@intermind.net Voir Dire: (n), A French phrase which means "jury tampering." +++++++++++++ FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED JAN. 26, 1997 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz License to kill, Part II Last week, I recounted the tale of how David Aguilar, a 44-year old veteran from Tucson, Ariz., came to be shot to death on his own property by an undercover drug cop, who has not been charged with any crime as of this writing. We then prepared to deal with the case of Ralph Garrison, 69, a video store owner from Albuquerque, N.M., who dialed 911 before dawn on Dec. 16, 1996 when a gang of black-clad men started breaking into his rental property next door, using sledge hammers and axes. On Dec. 18, the daily Albuquerque Journal printed a transcript of that 911 call. I delete some repetitions and pauses: Garrison: "They're breaking into my house -- a whole bunch of people. ... Please hurry up." "How are they trying to get in?" "Oh, they're breaking in with uh, axes and all kinds of stuff. ... Please. I've got a gun. I'm gonna go up there and shoot them." "OK. Stay on the phone with me. I'm getting somebody out there, OK?" Reporter Jeff Jones, of the Journal, writes that Garrison's voice was "filled with fear and panic" as he described lights being shined in his eyes, and insisted he had no idea who the invaders were. "Please hurry up. Please hurry up," Garrison says. "I'm gonna go out there now." "Can you take the phone with you?" "Yes." "OK. Take the phone with you." As Garrison moves toward his back door, his dog begins barking, and he complains he still can't see what's going on because of lights shining in his face. "I've got my gun," he says. "I'll shoot the sons of bitches." Police report that Albuquerque Police Officer H. Neal Terry and county deputies James Monteith and Erik Little -- displaying no badges, dressed in unmarked dark SWAT gear and possibly wearing their black hoods pulled down over their faces -- saw Garrison come to his back door with a gun in one hand, a cellular phone in the other. All three officers opened fire with their AR-15 assault rifles, discharging at least 12 rounds. Police Chief Joe Polisar said it isn't department policy to notify 911 dispatchers before serving a warrant -- in this case one under which police hoped to find "counterfeit items including checks, driver's licenses and birth certificates." Garrison was not suspected in connection with the "fake ID" ring. No one was arrested that day. Local papers were not told whether any false documents were found. Officers did find it necessary to shoot and kill Garrison's Chow dog, when the animal tried to protect his master after he was down. Garrison's wife, Modesta, was inside the home at the time police killed him. Albuquerque police officer Howard Neal Terry, one of the three "lawmen" involved, has been a defendant in three federal excessive-force lawsuits in the past six years, the local daily reports. The city of Albuquerque has paid more than $375,000 to settle the three lawsuits. In one case, Terry kicked an unarmed man in the head, causing permanent brain damage, and then contended the 64-year-old Mexican man "resisted arrest." In another case, the city argued (before paying up) that another Mexican man, whose home Officer Terry has invaded, was responsible for his own injuries since he failed to obey the officer's orders. In March 1993, Terry was one of two officers involved in the fatal shooting of Randy Libby, a 30-year-old man who supposedly threatened them with a locomotive-shaped cologne bottle. The city paid off the Libby family to the tune of $100,000. Polisar and County Sheriff Joe Bowdich said they believe the officers shot Garrison in accordance with departmental policies. The officers "couldn't look into his heart and mind," Polisar said. "They simply had to make a split-second decision." Why do I doubt that if Mr. Garrison had shot and killed the deputies, Sheriff Polisar would be holding a similar press conference to explain why Mr. Garrison was not being charged with any crime, since "He could not look into the hearts and minds of the unidentified, black-clad men brandishing AR-15s at him on his own property. He simply had to make a split-second decision"? # # # Pro-government extremists will argue that, in each case, if these citizens had docilely allowed armed strangers to have their way, they might still be alive. But this does not constitute a rebuttal to my contention that we are now living in a police state. Rather, it merely constitutes advice on how we might behave if we hope to survive a little longer (start ital)in(end ital) a police state. Short-sighted advice. The Jews of Eastern Europe figured their best course was to passively obey the authorities in 1942. We all know where that got them. Our judges are now issuing search warrants which allow police to invade private property without notice, and murder any law-abiding citizen they find there, on as flimsy a pretext as "searching for fake ID." The mistake made by David Aguilar and Ralph Garrison was not in taking up arms to defend their homes, families, and neighborhoods. That is the right of every American. They made their mistakes when they allowed themselves to be outgunned, when they failed to wear Kevlar, and when they decided to confront their violent assailants directly, rather than waiting with longer-range weapons in positions of concealment. The people will re-learn these lessons eventually ... if only through genetic selection. Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com, or vin@intermind.net. *** Vin Suprynowicz vin@lvrj.com, (OR:) vin@intermind.net Voir Dire: (n), A French phrase which means "jury tampering." ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor,1933 E. Dublin-Granville Rd.,#176, Columbus, OH 43229 Archived at http://www.reference.com/cgi-bin/pn/listarch?list=FA@coil.com ************************************************************************** 970524, Mexico, NYTimes via RISKS. Mexican General Gutierrez arrested Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 10:27:45 -0400 (EDT) From: pcw@access.digex.net (Peter Wayner) Subject: Eavesdropping tools used by drug barons The top story in the 24 May 1997 edition of *The New York Times* describes how one of the top Generals in the Mexican army apparently sold his services to a drug dealer. The good news is that he rounded up some of the traffickers on the street. The bad news is that he only rounded up the competitors of his client who rewarded him well for such service. The story also notes that the General has denied the charges. RISKS readers will be interested in these quotes: * General Gutierrez's subordinates, working with Mr. Carrillo Fuentes's eavesdroppers and gunmen, detained and interrogated dozens of suspected Areliano Felix associates, the testimony indicates. ... * Before one joint operation [sic], the traffickers briefed one of the general's subordinates, showing him a file of reconnaissance photos of Arellan Felix associates and their residences, as well as tape recordings of telephone conversations the traffickers had intercepted, the testimony indicates. ... * Last October, the mutual trust was so high [sic] between General Gutierrez and the Carrillo Fuentes organization that the traffickers delivered a set of computerized, encrypted cellular phones that allowed Mr. Carrillo Fuentes and his aides to talk freely with the general, his driver and other military officers without being overheard, the testimony indicates. So, the debate is what to do about the eavesdropping and encryption in this story. Obviously, cheap and easy encryption would have allowed the rival organization a fighting chance to move its drugs into America and prevent a monopoly from developing. But encryption also allowed the allegedly corrupt General to speak freely with his partners, the drug barons. Could it be that the RISKS of technology may be the least of our RISKS? ------------------------------ Command: GET "06_1997&2668302"
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Subject: Corruption: Arkansas Justice From: lar-jen@interaccess.com (Larry-Jennie) Date: 14 Jun 1997 14:52:00 GMT Message-ID: <5nub6g$1anm$1@news.missouri.edu> Organization: InterAccess,Chicagoland's Full Service Internet Provider Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page June 13, 1997 Review & Outlook Arkansas Justice Once again a jury of ordinary Arkansans has weighed the evidence against a powerful state official and returned with guilty verdicts. While pundits in Washington and elsewhere yawn over anything connected to the swamp of corruption known as Whitewater, the people of Arkansas are busy draining the muck. On Wednesday, the jury in Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Reasoner's Little Rock courtroom convicted former county prosecuting attorney Dan Harmon of using his office as a criminal enterprise to extort narcotics and cash, handing in guilty verdicts on five counts of racketeering, extortion and drug distribution. Witnesses testified about drug deals and payoffs to a man perceived to have wide influence in the state. "I was afraid of Dan Harmon," one witness testified. "I thought Mr. Harmon controlled most of the counties of the state." -------------------------------------------- See related articles: "The Lonely Crusade of Linda Ives" http://www.idmedia.com/crusade.htm "Big News From Arkansas" http://www.idmedia.com/wsj-harmon-big-news.htm -------------------------------------------- The wife of a drug dealer testified she brought Mr. Harmon $10,000 in his office for the release of her husband, but Mr. Harmon asked for more money and a night of sex. His former wife, Holly DuVall, testified she took cocaine and shot methamphetamine with him. U.S. Attorney Paula Casey, who brought the case against Mr. Harmon together with a reinvigorated Little Rock FBI office under Special Agent I.C. Smith, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that she hoped the case would send a "signal" that federal authorities in Arkansas "take the administration of justice very seriously." Mr. Harmon was twice elected on the Democratic ticket as prosecuting attorney for Arkansas's Seventh Judicial District, serving from 1990 until his resignation in July 1996. Earlier, he had insinuated himself as a volunteer investigator and later a special prosecutor in the controversial "train deaths" case of teenagers Kevin Ives and Don Henry, unsolved since 1987. And while Mr. Harmon is not directly connected to President Clinton, his conviction is proof that elements of Arkansas law enforcement were corrupted by drugs during Mr. Clinton's tenure as governor. A number of controversies attached themselves to Mr. Harmon, including the train deaths case reported on these pages by our Micah Morrison on April 15 this year and April 18, 1996. The matters deserve to be reconsidered within the context that Dan Harmon is now a felon convicted of running a drug racket. When the Ives and Henry boys were found dead on railroad tracks southwest of Little Rock in August 1987, Governor Clinton's medical examiner, Fahmy Malak, quickly ruled the deaths "accidental," saying the teenagers had fallen asleep next to each other on the tracks after smoking too much marijuana. After a public outcry, a second autopsy concluded the boys had been murdered, and Mr. Clinton's solicitude for Dr. Malak became a subject of controversy. In time Mr. Harmon involved himself in the case, and in 1989 he came under scrutiny in a federal probe of drug distribution, money laundering and political payoffs. In June 1991, then-U.S. Attorney Chuck Banks cleared Mr. Harmon, saying there was "no evidence of drug-related misconduct by any public official." The history of corruption probes in Arkansas isn't promising. A stonewall of events at remote Mena airport went on for more than a decade. Recently, Rep. Jim Leach forced a concession from the Central Intelligence Agency that it had been active at the airfield, though it denies any association with illegal activities. This only adds to the mystery of what was going at that remote airfield. Kevin Ives's mother, Linda Ives, has waged a decade-long battle for the truth in the train deaths and believes Mr. Harmon, Mena and senior Arkansas officials played some role in events connected to her son's murder. In a statement issued on her web site (http://www.idmedia.com), Mrs. Ives called the Harmon conviction a "bittersweet" victory and vowed to press on with a civil lawsuit as the only way to get the train deaths in court. For years, Mrs. Ives has been the only one complaining about Mr. Harmon. With Mr. Harmon convicted by a jury and soon to be incarcerated, new witnesses might come forward. Or Mr. Harmon's associates--several of whom are slated to go on trial in January--might decide to talk in exchange for leniency, as might Mr. Harmon himself. After years of struggle, there's a lot of bad blood between the Ives camp, the Arkansas media and the controlling legal authorities. But the fact remains that Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Stripling working with FBI agents under the direction of I.C. Smith put together a case and put Dan Harmon in jail. The evidence suggests that if they can get a case into court, the courage of Arkansas judges and juries will give them a fair shot at justice. Copyright 1997 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. For a free subscription to the CIA Drugs mailing list: email: ciadrugs-request@mars.galstar.com In the "Subject," write: SUBSCRIBE $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$ $$ $$ The CIA cocaine smuggling on behalf of the Contras $$ $$ through Mena, Arkansas corrupted the Presidencies $$ $$ of Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ronald Reagan. $$ $$ For details, see: $$ $$ ftp://pencil.cs.missouri.edu/pub/mena/ $$ $$ $$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ [end of message ... text also available at ] Date: Mon Jun 30, 1997 9:10 pm CST From: ciadrugs EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: ciadrugs@mars.galstar.com TO: ciadrugs EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: ciadrugs@mars.galstar.com BCC: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: ciadrugs] Agent Accused of Stealing Mob Money Agent Accused of Stealing Mob Money By TOM BAYLES Associated Press Writer MIAMI (AP) An FBI agent who headed an organized crime squad that nabbed John Gotti's heir apparent was indicted Thursday on charges of stealing more than $400,000, including mob money he helped seize. He was also fired. Jerome R. Sullivan, a 25-year FBI veteran who has been on administrative leave since early this month, led an operation that last December netted Nicky "The Little Guy" Corozzo and eight of his reputed Gambino operatives. Now defense lawyers, who three months ago were on the verge of a plea agreement with the government, are claiming the entire case may be compromised. The FBI said the indictment should not tarnish the investigation. "I don't think Mr. Sullivan's actions jeopardized any cases that are ongoing," said FBI spokeswoman Anne Figueiras. Sullivan stole $196,000 during an FBI investigation into a Colombia drug smuggling ring and $100,000 from an unnamed case involving an informant, according to the indictment. It also covers $99,260 seized from a check cashing service that the FBI says was acting as a front for Gambino loansharking, and $5,240 seized during the investigation of Anthony Ruggiano, Jr., one of those arrested in the Gambino case. None of the money has been recovered, Figueiras said. Sullivan, 42, known to have alcohol and gambling problems, is broke and seeing a psychiatrist, his lawyer Mark Schnapp said. Schnapp claims the FBI knew about Sullivan's drinking problem and even put him in a treatment program in 1989, but didn't do enough to make sure there weren't other problems. "It's critical for people to understand that Jerry had documented psychological problems known to the FBI that went untreated," the lawyer said. "His psychological disorder has put him in this position." Figueiras wouldn't comment on whether the agency knew about Sullivan's personal problems. In December, agents swooped in to a Key Biscayne beach resort and arrested Corozzo and his purported right-hand man, Ralph Davino. Prosecutors announced a 20-count racketeering indictment, including conspiracy to commit murder, arson, and extortion, and named key Gambino figures. Agents also arrested Sydney Alwais and his son David, who ran EZ Check Cashing, the store that prosecutors said operated the Gambino loansharking operations in South Florida. The disappearance of money seized from Alwais' store prompted the investigation of Sullivan. Corozzo, who grew up with Gotti in Brooklyn, was poised to take charge of the Gambino family when he was arrested, federal agents said. Gotti is serving a life prison sentence. Sullivan was released on bond Thursday pending a Friday arraignment. Schnapp said Sullivan was going to plead innocent. (27 Jun 1997 00:31 EDT) --- For list service help, send a message to ciadrugs-request@mars.galstar.com with a subject of HELP. 970709, Congressional Record, ph4994+, Rep Waters. Date: Sun Jul 13, 1997 7:08 am CST From: ciadrugs EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: ciadrugs@mars.galstar.com TO: ciadrugs EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414 MBX: ciadrugs@mars.galstar.com BCC: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762 Subject: ciadrugs] Clandestine Drug Study Commission Act --------------------------------------- AMENDMENT NO. 7 OFFERED BY MS. WATERS --------------------------------------- House of Representatives, U.S. Congress Wednesday, July 9, 1997 --------------------------------------- Congressional Record --------------------------------------- From pages [ph4994] - [ph4999] The CHAIRMAN. Are there further amendments to title III? AMENDMENT NO. 7 OFFERED BY MS. WATERS Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I offer amendment No. 7. The Clerk read as follows: Amendment No. 7 offered by Ms. WATERS: Page 10, after line 15, insert the following new section: SEC. 306. CLANDESTINE DRUG STUDY COMMISSION. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.-There is established a commission to be known as the "Clandestine Drug Study Commission" (in this section referred to as the "Commission"). (b) DUTIES.-The Commission shall- (1) secure the expeditious disclosure of public records relevant to the smuggling and distribution of illegal drugs into and within the United States by the Central Intelligence Agency or others on their behalf or associated with the Central Intelligence Agency; (2) report on the steps necessary to eradicate any Central Intelligence Agency involvement with drugs or those identified by Federal law enforcement agencies as drug smugglers; and (3) recommend appropriate criminal sanctions for the involvement of Central Intelligence Agency employees involved in drug trafficking or the failure of such employees to report their superiors (or other appropriate supervisory officials) knowledge of drug smuggling into or within the United States. (c) MEMBERSHIP.-The Commission shall be comprised of nine members appointed by the Attorney General of the United States for the life of the Commission. Members shall obtain a security clearance as a condition of appointment. Members may not be current or former officers or employees of the United States. (d) COMPENSATION.-Members of the Commission shall serve without pay but shall each be entitled to receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code. (e) QUORUM.-A majority of the Members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. (f) CHAIRPERSON; VICE CHAIRPERSON.-The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Commission shall be elected by the members of the Commission. (g) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.-The Commission may secure directly from any department or agency of the United States information necessary to enable it to carry out this section. Upon request of the Chairperson or Vice Chairperson of the Commission, the head of that department or agency shall furnish that information to the Commission. (h) SUBPOENA POWER.- (1) IN GENERAL.-The Commission may issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of any evidence relating to any matter which the Commission is empowered to investigate by this section. The attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence may be required from any place within the United States at any designated place of hearing within the United States (2) FAILURE TO OBEY A SUBPOENA.-If a person refuses to obey a subpoena issued under paragraph (1), the Commission may apply to a United States district court for an order requiring that person to appear before the Commission to give testimony, produce evidence, or both, relating to the matter under investigation. The application may be made within the judicial district where the hearing is conducted or where that person is found, resides, or transacts business. Any failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by the court as civil contempt. (3) SERVICE OF SUBPOENAS.-The subpoenas of the Commission shall be served in the manner provided for subpoenas issued by a United States district court under the Federal Rules of Civil procedure for the United States district courts. (4) SERVICE OF PROCESS.-All process of any court to which application is to be made under paragraph (2) may be served in the judicial district in which the person required to be served resides or may be found. (i) IMMUNITY.-The Commission is an agency of the United States for the purpose of part V of title 18, United States Code (relating to immunity of witnesses). Except as provided in this subsection, a person may not be excused from testifying or from producing evidence pursuant to a subpoena on the ground that the testimony or evidence required by the subpoena may tend to incriminate or subject that person to criminal prosecution. A person, after having claimed the privilege against self-incrimination, may not be criminally prosecuted by reason of any transaction, matter, or thing which that person is compelled to testify about or produce evidence relating to, except that the person may be prosecuted for perjury committed during the testimony or made in the evidence. (j) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.-The Commission may enter into and perform such contracts, leases, cooperative agreements, and other transactions as may be necessary in the conduct of the functions of the Commission with any public agency or with any person. (k) REPORT.-The Commission shall transmit a report to the President, Attorney General of the United States, and the Congress not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act. The report shall contain a detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the Commission, together with its recommendations for such legislation and administrative actions as the Commission considers appropriate. (l) TERMINATION.-The Commission shall terminate on upon the submission of report pursuant to subsection (k). (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.-There is authorized to be appropriated $750,000 to carry out this section. Ms. WATERS (during the reading). Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered as read and printed in the RECORD. The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from California? There was no objection. Mr. MCCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order against the amendment. The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Florida [Mr. MCCOLLUM] reserves a point of order against the amendment. Under the previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] will be recognized for 30 minutes in support of her amendment and a Member opposed will be recognized for 30 minutes. The CHAIRMAN. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS]. MODIFICATION TO AMENDMENT NO. 7 OFFERED BY MS. WATERS Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to modify the amendment. The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will report the modification. The Clerk read as follows: Modification to amendment No. 7 offered by Ms. WATERS of California: In subsection (h), strike paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), and strike "(1) IN GENERAL.-''. Strike subsection (i) and redesignate subsections (j), (k), (l), and (m) as subsections (i), (j), (k), and (l), respectively. In subsection (k) (as so redesignated), strike "subsection (k)" and insert "subsection (j)". The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from California? Mr. MCCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object, I would like to know from the gentlewoman, if she can explain, is the modification designed to correct the germaneness problem with the underlying amendment? Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield? Mr. MCCOLLUM. I yield to the gentlewoman from California. Ms. WATERS. Yes, it is, Mr. Chairman. I was advised that any reference to "immunity" would not be appropriate in this legislation, and it is designed to delete all references to "immunity" in this amendment. Mr. MCCOLLUM. And is it further my understanding from the gentlewoman, if I might continue the reservation, that the agreement would be that she would have the 1-hour time limit that we have agreed upon to apply to this? I believe that is the Chair's understanding of this, regardless of the modification, is that not correct, 30 minutes to a side? Or is it 15 to a side? What is the time limit, Mr. Chairman? The CHAIRMAN. The Chair would inform the gentleman that under the previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] is entitled to 30 minutes and a Member opposed thereto is entitled to 30 minutes. Mr. MCCOLLUM. And that would be applicable, Mr. Chairman, to this modification if the unanimous consent is agreed to? The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman is correct. Mr. MCCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my reservation of objection. The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the modification offered by the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS]? There was no objection. The CHAIRMAN. The amendment is modified. Mr. MCCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my reservation of a point of order. The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Florida withdraws his point of order. The gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] is recognized for 30 minutes. Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I offer this amendment to establish a clandestine drug study commission. This commission would be composed of nine members appointed by the U.S. Attorney General and would be required to report on the following: Report on the steps necessary to eradicate any CIA involvement with drugs or those identified by Federal law enforcement agencies as drug smugglers. No. 2, secure disclosure or the gathering of Government public records relevant to the smuggling and distribution of illegal drugs into and within the United States by the CIA or others on their behalf or associated with the CIA. In addition, my amendment would authorize funds to be appropriated in the amount of $750,000. Mr. Chairman and Members, I am sure there are those both within this House and within the sound of my voice who would wonder why would we need such an amendment, why would I take this floor and talk about taking steps to make sure that the CIA is not involved in drugs or drug smuggling. Mr. Chairman, I do this because over the past year I have learned more than I have ever wanted to know about the CIA and drugs. How did it get started? It got started with a revelation about drug smuggling and drug trafficking that ended up in South Central Los Angeles back in the 1980's. Oh, there has been a lot of controversy about the report. Many are aware that the San Jose Mercury News revealed that there was a drug ring and the basic points of that report remain uncontested. There are some points in the report that are contested. For example, the report said that as a result of the drug trafficking, millions of dollars were funneled to the Contras from the sale of drugs, crack cocaine in particular. The exception that was taken to that identification simply was an exception that said instead of saying millions of dollars, they should have said they estimated there were millions of dollars. I can accept that. I maintain there should not have been $1 from the sale of drugs to support the Contras. But this revelation got me involved, and I have spent a lot of time looking at the CIA and the allegations of their involvement in drug trafficking in south central Los Angeles. It has taken me to many places, all the way to Nicaragua, where I have gone up to a place called Grenada and interviewed a prisoner who is well known to have been connected with the Cali cartel and sold drugs both for the Sandanistas and the Contras. Since my visit there, I made it known to the Inspector General, who is involved in an investigation, and the Inspector General further has sought out information from this individual. Even members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence fold followed me to Nicaragua and interviewed the same person that had been revealed to me. But that is just a small part of the information that has come to me. As a result of my involvement, a lot of things have happened. The sheriff's department of the county of Los Angeles filed an extensive report about many of the allegations. The investigations continue. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is involved. The Inspector General of the CIA, the Inspector General of the Justice Department, they are still doing interviews, and I do not know what is going to happen. Hopefully there will be a report. Hopefully there will be hearings. But I have learned enough to know that the CIA has come too close, rubbed shoulders with, and been involved in some ways that should make us all uncomfortable, with drug dealers. Mr. Chairman, I have been involved for a long time and taken a closer look at the Central Intelligence Agency and these allegations that CIA operatives or assets have been involved in or had knowledge of drug trafficking in the United States. I mention South Central Los Angeles, but one need look no further than the current newspaper to find there are recent occasions of CIA involvement with drugs. Let us look at Venezuela. Earlier this year, there was a general named Gen. Ramon Guillen Davila, Venezuela's former drug czar, who was indicted by Federal prosecutors in Miami for smuggling cocaine into the United States. And according to the New York Times, uncontested by the CIA, this article that appeared as early as November 1993, they talked about the CIA and its so-called antidrug program in Venezuela and guess what? They concluded, and it is documented, that our CIA shipped a ton of nearly pure cocaine into the United States in 1990. That is a fact, uncontested. When you unravel this story, you find that the CIA concocted some scheme to talk about the only way it could apprehend drug dealers was to get involved in shipping this cocaine and selling this cocaine. They went to the DEA to get their permission to do it, and the DEA turned them down flat and said they would not be involved in this scheme in any shape, form, or fashion. But the CIA defied the DEA and they shipped this pure cocaine into the United States in 1990, and they have since acknowledged that they defied the laws of this government and allowed the drugs to be sold on the streets of the United States of America. I challenge anybody to tell me that it did not happen, because it is documented. Now let me tell you what unnerves me about this. We spend a lot of money in this House, we spend a lot of money in this Government to apprehend drug dealers, to try to get rid of drug trafficking. We spend a lot of money on drug education and prevention. We even spend money on alternative crop development in countries that we want to get out of the business of raising the coca leaf. We spend billions of the taxpayers' dollars. Knowing this and being involved in this struggle, it really unnerves me to find out that my own CIA brought cocaine into the United States and allowed it to get on the streets and be sold. Do you know what that means? We are representing communities where drugs are devastating our communities. People are becoming addicted. Oh, and it is not simply in inner cities, it is in rural communities, it is in suburbia, it is everything, everywhere. It is swallowing us up. I do not know what kind of cockamamie scheme they could have cooked up to talk about this would help them to apprehend drug dealers by allowing drugs to be sold on the streets of the United States of America. How many more people became addicted? How many more people got involved in crime? How many more people became a part of the destruction that we all hate so much? I do not like it and I am not going to get off this business about who they are and what they do and their involvement with drugs until this body has the guts and the nerves to do something about it. The joint CIA/Venezuela force was headed by General Davila and the ranking CIA officer, I am going to call the names, was Mark McFarlin, who worked with the antiguerrilla forces in El Salvador in the 1980's. Not one CIA official has ever been indicted or prosecuted for this abuse of authority. I will give it to my colleagues again. General Davila and Mark McFarlin. Look it up. What happened? Why can we not ask the questions? Why are we not outraged that these drugs found their way into our cities? Let me go a little bit further and talk about this alignment, this association, the CIA being involved, coming too close to people who traffic in drugs. In a March 8, 1997, Los Angeles Times article, it was reported that Lt. Col. Michel Francois, one of the CIA's Haitian agents, and I defy anybody to tell me he was not, a former army officer and a key leader in the military regime that ran Haiti between 1991 and 1994, he was indicted in Miami and charged with smuggling 33 tons of cocaine into the United States. The article detailed that Francois met face to face with the leaders of three Colombian cartels to arrange for drug shipments to pass through Haiti via a private airstrip that he helped to build and protect. The CIA was right there in Haiti while he was building this airstrip. He was trained by the CIA. Francois is the CIA's boy. Lieutenant Colonel Francois was trained by the U.S. Army in military command training for foreign officers in Georgia. He was a senior member of the Service Intelligence Agency, a Haitian intelligence organization founded with the help of the CIA in 1986. After the 1991 coup put Francois in power, the cocaine seizures in Haiti just plummeted to near zero. He could do whatever he wanted to do. He built a strip. He met with the cartels. All of this is in DEA reports. U.S. prosecutors have requested the extradition of Francois from Honduras, where he has been living under a grant of political asylum. When I tell my colleagues our own CIA is documented as having brought cocaine in, in the Venezuelan fiasco, and when I tell my colleagues that Francois is a creation of the CIA and that the apprehension of drugs and drug smuggling and trafficking went down once he took charge, I am accusing the CIA of being too close, of being too involved, for turning its head. Mr. Chairman, let me just wrap up my comments by saying I have pointed out today on several occasions some of the problems with the Central Intelligence Agency. I have pointed out the fact that some of our allies and our friends around the world have been sending us this quiet but stern message. They are asking us to leave. I have talked about something that none of us are proud of, the fact that there is a breakdown in this agency and we have people that we pay to protect and serve literally endangering us all with the selling of information. I have pointed out that not only do we have all of this occurring, but that our own soldiers were put at risk because something is wrong in this CIA. I am disturbed that we could not get much support in trying to slap them on the wrist, cut the budget just a little bit, but I am convinced that the American people will join us in the struggle because this is a struggle and a battle that we are going to have to wage for a long time. I am not accusing the Members who have taken this floor in efforts to protect the CIA. I understand. There are responsible Members of this House who really believe, despite the problems of the CIA, everything should be done to protect them, to make sure they have all the money they need to operate with, that somehow if we question them, we are going to put at risk their ability to gather the intelligence information we need. We need to redefine the role of the CIA in this post-cold-war era. Who are they and what do they do? Someone pointed out to me today that in every aspect of our society, with the new technology we have been able to reduce personnel, we have been able to put in systems and processes to better manage information, we have been able to reduce cost, and many on the opposite side of the aisle have made these arguments time and time again as they have gone about cutting and redesigning and privatizing and all of those things that we hear about on the floor. Why is it the CIA escapes any of this? Why has the new technology not caught up with the CIA? Why can we not shine the light in ways that we understand, where the money is going? Why can we not redesign the ways in which we relate to them and still respect some of the secrecy and privacy that is needed? I say to my colleagues, today I have been afforded the opportunity to take this floor and talk about this issue in the hopes that we can focus, we can really put this on our radar screen and begin to raise questions and get the American public involved in raising questions. I hope that this debate will allow that. I am under no illusions about everything that I want being embraced by the protectors of the CIA, right or wrong. But I know one thing: This platform that is afforded to me by the voters on this floor of Congress is an important tool to be used to create a discussion. I see my responsibility to create discussions that maybe others will not. I am not afraid of the CIA, I am not going to run from the CIA, I am not going to tuck my tail and duck my head and talk about their untouchables. This day we unveiled some of the problems, along with other Members who have taken this floor. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentlewoman's amendment. The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Florida [Mr. GOSS] is recognized for 30 minutes. Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 10 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California [Mr. DIXON]. Mr. DIXON. I thank the chairman of the committee for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, I rise in reluctant opposition to the Waters amendment, reluctant for several reasons. The gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] is the chairman of our Congressional Black Caucus. She represents a community that I represent, Los Angeles County, cities in that community, but probably most importantly because I think we, both of us, as well as most Members of this House, are seeking accurate and truthful information as it relates to the CIA involvement in crack cocaine in Los Angeles, or any other community of this country, and any involvement it has had with members or assets of the community in either aiding or abetting or having knowledge of the CIA involvement in the distribution of drugs. The reason I rise in opposition to it, this commission that is being offered here as an amendment suggests that the process that we have here is either not operating in good faith or is broken. As most of the Members know, the inspector generals of the CIA and the Justice Department are investigating this matter at this point in time. Both gentlemen have reputations for not only being independent but calling it like it is, and I doubt if anyone here feels that if they find some wrongdoing or some culpability on the part of the CIA that in fact they will not include it in their reports. It has been my experience as a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that no member of that committee is an apologist or tries to represent the interests of the CIA, but as the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] does, represents the interests of the citizens of this country. And so I stand here not as an apologist for the CIA, but with the same goal that the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] has, to get to the facts in this matter. Mr. Chairman, we all know that facts that are suggested or alluded to in newspaper articles, there may be some truth to them, they may be entirely true, or they may be entirely untrue. But I think it is the responsibility of the House and the inspector generals to take the first cut at sorting out those facts. The gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] is right, that other than the publisher of the San Jose Mercury, no one has contested the points made in the article. No one has contested those points at this point in time because factually no one knows exactly what has occurred. This committee is about verifying facts in that report. I daresay we would be derelict if we came to the House on a bit-by-bit basis to either sanction what was in the article or criticize it, the point being that the investigations, if they are to go forward, will come to some conclusions about the validity of the arguments and the points made in the article. As it relates to the CIA and drug trafficking, I can say that I think the CIA has made some terrible blunders in the past. I do not think that there is anyone here that would deny that. But the issue before us is whether or not they were either involved in trafficking by aiding and abetting, or knew of, had knowledge of, drug traffickers. The reports that I have read thus far do not lead me to that conclusion at this point in time. Let me say that again: The reports that I have read thus far do not lead me to that conclusion at this point in time. I have read the newspaper articles, I have read other materials and interviewed people, and at some point in time I may be joining the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] on this floor asking for some type of public commission. But now is not the time, I suggest to the members of this committee. Now is the time to let the structure of the Justice Department, the CIA inspector general and the House to move forward in an objective evaluation. I am not naive enough to think whatever this committee finds and whatever the Inspector Generals find, that in fact there will be a consensus opinion. And if there is not a consensus opinion and there is fault to be found with either a lack of thoroughness or professionalism or even covering up, that would be the time to move forward with some commission. I have reservations about the composition of the commission and some of the structure, but I am sure that the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] and I at the appropriate time could work that out. For example, there is a prohibition in here that any employee of the U.S. Government, past or present, could not be a member of that commission. I think that there are many people who have been employed by the U.S. Government who have expertise and abilities that could appropriately serve on the commission, and I would feel it is certainly insulting to say that anyone who has ever worked for Government could not be objective in this issue. As it relates to the issue of people who have been assets of the CIA, whether they be in Venezuela or Haiti, there is no doubt that some of the assets should never have been employed by the CIA. There is no doubt that some of them have been involved in drug trafficking. But that is like saying some Member of Congress being arrested for drugs, that the Congress of the United States is responsible for it. Let us sort through the facts without emotion. Then let people come forward and criticize the report, scrub it, examine it, and then at that point in time I may be joining the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] on some outside citizens panel to review that material and to carry the investigation forward, but now is not the time. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time. Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining? The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] has 12-1/2- minutes remaining, and the gentleman from Florida [Mr. GOSS] has 16 minutes remaining. Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, let me just say that I hold the gentleman from California [Mr. DIXON] in the highest esteem and respect, and I have worked with him, and we do share this area of Los Angeles where the drug trafficking took place, where the CIA is alleged to have been deeply involved in trafficking in drugs and the profits of which, some of them, went to fund the contras, the contras having been created by the CIA. That was their body, and the FDN, the army of the contras, was a creation of the CIA's. And I am working to get to the bottom of this, but my commission that I am asking for is not only about that. This is more generic, and it encompasses the question of drug trafficking, period, by the CIA. And I would like to raise a question of the gentleman from California [Mr. DIXON] so that I can help make a determination about his representations regarding the investigations that are going on and the possibility that he may join me, depending on what he has discovered or they discovered as a result of the House intelligence investigation. Has the gentleman's committee investigated the Venezuelan dope dealing of the CIA where I have in no uncertain terms identified on the floor of Congress the fact that they were responsible for tons of cocaine coming into the United States that got sold on the streets of America? Has the gentleman done anything about that? Has he looked at that? Mr. DIXON. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield? Ms. WATERS. I yield to the gentleman from California. Mr. DIXON. Mr Chairman, yes, there has been testimony before the committee. There has not been a thorough investigation, but there has been testimony before the committee by the CIA. The CIA, as I recall their testimony, one, denied that they ever approved it because they recognized that in fact it would be hard to trace once it got into the United States and also DEA rejected it. It is true that this man was an operative in form at some point in time with the CIA, but they deny ever having approved or sanctioned this activity, and this activity, according to them, was taken on independently by the general. Ms. WATERS. May I ask of the gentleman whether or not there has been any report on it, and since this exposure was given to this in the New York Times, we have not seen a response of any kind, we have not seen the work of the gentleman's committee answering this in any way. Mr. Chairman, we cannot have the New York Times or any other newspaper documenting and court records documenting trafficking in cocaine by the CIA and CIA operatives, and we just sit mum and not tell the American public anything. So is there a report on this in any way? If there is no report, would the gentleman be willing to issue some kind of report between him and the chairman? Could the gentleman from California make some representation about what he will be willing to do, given we know this information about drug trafficking by the CIA? Mr. DIXON. Yes. The staff informs me that in fact there has been a report to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence by the inspector general, and I am sure with certain permission that the gentlewoman from California could review that report. But I will indicate to her since she has raised it and created the inference that the CIA was involved, I feel duty obligated to go forward and look at this once again. Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, yes, let me be clear about this one, and I do not go this far even in the South L.A. one. I am accusing the CIA on this one based on the information that I have of having been responsible for tons of cocaine coming into the United States that got sold on the streets of America. That is an accusation that I am making clear, simple, and without any reservations. So what I am saying to the gentleman: It is not enough for me to see the report. What can we do to share this information with the American public? Is there anything that can be done to shed some light on this? Mr. DIXON. If the gentlewoman will continue to yield, first of all I think that it would be good for her to read the report. Ms. WATERS. I will do that. Mr. DIXON. So that the CIA's perspective on this is there, and perhaps the committee chairman or others, since this issue has been raised that the report can be scrubbed and that some materials could be released; but I do think, Mr. Chairman, that we have a responsibility with the charge made just on the floor that the CIA was responsible for the Venezuelan drug transaction, to either refute or make some statement about this based upon an investigation in the materials that we have already collected. I think that is a very serious allegation. Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield to me? Ms. WATERS. I yield to the gentleman from Florida. Mr. GOSS. As far as I am concerned, if the gentlewoman has some new information that is additional or supplemental or complementary to any of the previous work that has been done on this, that she would bring it to the committee's attention, that we will obviously attend to it forthwith. My understanding is that there has been some work done on this; I do not know the exact status, because we are dealing with somewhat of a new subject that is just a little bit off the record here of what I thought we were talking about, but I am certainly willing, as we have been all along the way on this, with the gentlewoman, with the gentleman from California [Mr. DIXON], and as seen with the gentlewoman from California [Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD] earlier in our colloquy. Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I do not want to be snowed, I do not want to be patronized, I do not want to be talked to in that way. I have asked. I have made an accusation on the floor of Congress about the CIA and the Venezuelan drug deal, and I am asking the gentleman based on the information that he has, is there any way that he can shed some light or share this information with the American public? I want to know. Mr. GOSS. If the gentlewoman will continue to yield, the gentlewoman is referring, I think, to events that transpired before I was privileged to be on this committee, and that is why, since I had no forewarning that that was going to be a subject today, I am simply not prepared to give her any specific information. I am certainly welcome to assure that we will attend to her request to see if there is anything into it, as we would with any Member who brings forward that type of a serious allegation. Ms. WATERS. Could the gentleman be a little bit clearer about what it is he is committing to? The gentleman said he would attend to it. Could the gentleman tell me how he can satisfy the concerns that I have raised, and I am not being facetious at this point, but I have made a specific charge, and I am asking the gentleman, even though he was not the Chair, the records did not leave with the last Chair; I want to know what can the gentleman do to shed some light on this information? Mr. DIXON. If the gentlewoman will yield and if I could suggest to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. GOSS], one, that a lot of this evidentiary material will come out in the trial. As I understand, he is on trial in Florida. Second, I do think, Mr. Chairman, we have an obligation to go back and look at the inspector general's report, and, as I recall it, it did not in any way involve the CIA and the transportation or distribution of the drugs that the gentleman is being charged with. But this is a very serious accusation that the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] is making, and I want to emphasize it. She is alleging that the CIA was involved with the Venezuelan general in bringing drugs into the country. I assume that means either aiding, abetting, or being a sponsor of those drugs. Ms. WATERS. That is right. Mr. DIXON. And I think that we have a responsibility to, once again, go back and look at this case, notwithstanding the prosecution that is going on in Florida and notwithstanding what the inspector general has said. Ms. WATERS. And also would the gentleman add to this discussion whether or not the former drug czar who worked with the CIA is going to be extradited for this case? Is there an extradition problem? Mr. GOSS. If the gentlewoman will yield to me, I presume these questions are being directed to me. Ms. WATERS. The gentleman from Florida or anybody else who can answer that. Mr. GOSS. Let me clearly tell the gentlewoman that I have tremendous respect for the gentleman from California [Mr. DIXON], and I think Mr. DIXON has said exactly the right thing. The specific facts that the gentlewoman is basing her allegation on, I would like to know what they are. I will then deal with those facts, and I will advise the gentlewoman of relevant information, and the gentleman from California [Mr. DIXON] will be part of that process, as he has been, because he has been doing stellar service for our committee on this matter in Los Angeles because it is clearly part of his representation. Ms. WATERS. The gentleman from California [Mr. DIXON] said that he felt a responsibility to answer my charge. What the gentleman from Florida is saying is if I can bring him more information-- Mr. GOSS. No, I am saying, if the gentlewoman will continue to yield, I will be very happy to join Mr. DIXON in responding as exactly as he has done. But it would be helpful to me to know all of the details of what the gentlewoman knows. I take very seriously, living in Florida, which is not unlike the problem in California, of drug smuggling and the impact we see on our streets. We have a problem. We are not insensitive to this, I assure my colleague, and I assure her that there are unfolding events every minute in the war on drugs, every minute, and the intelligence part of that we are attending to. We are committing dollars, and we hope we have the gentlewoman's support for our budget for those dollars. Ms. WATERS. Oh, no. I have been to every budget committee, every appropriations committee where there are appropriations for drugs to talk about the Black Caucus' No. 1 priority of eradicating drugs in this Nation. It is not only our No. 1 priority, we have come, we have testified before the committees, we have supported the drug czar, we have supported the President's budget, we have even asked for more money, and we have come up with ways by which to work closer with the drug czar on this issue. So we are serious about this, but let me just say this: Given my friend and my colleague's representations, along with the gentleman from Florida, about feeling a responsibility to respond to the very serious accusation that I have made here today, I accept that as not only a representation for himself, but for him and others, and the committee; and even though we are clear that my bringing forth new information is not a condition for his moving forward, if I have or can locate new information, I will be happy to work with the gentleman on it. But I do expect that this commitment on the House of the floor that has been made about shedding light per the gentleman from California [Mr. DIXON] and supported by the gentleman from Florida [Mr. GOSS] is something that we can rely on. So let me just say this: My colleague whom I have worked with not just since I came to Congress 6 years ago, but about 30 years now, having served with him in the State of California in the assembly and prior to that when I managed campaigns and all of that, I accept-- The CHAIRMAN. All time of the gentlewoman from California [Ms. WATERS] has expired. Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, I am very happy to yield 1 more minute to the gentlewoman from California to wrap up. Ms. WATERS. I thought when the gentleman heard the word "accept" he would be generous, and I thank him very much. I accept his representations that these investigations are going on now, and I know that. And I do think that perhaps it is a little premature, and maybe that is something we will do after if, in fact, we do not believe that the information is credible, the work has been good, or we learn more about it. I do think that that would be the correct order of things. Today provided us with the opportunity to shed more light, to get something moving. I accept that he rejects, he does not accept, my amendment. He believes the commission is premature. He will work with me. I will work with the gentleman, I will work with the other gentlemen, and everyone else. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment. The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from California? There was no objection. --- For list service help, send a message to ciadrugs-request@mars.galstar.com with a subject of HELP.  [ This URL: http://www.pdxnorml.org/WORMSCAN.&& ]