A Lake Wales police officer and 18 others have been arrested after an eight-month investigation into an alleged drug operation based in Haines City.
Lake Wales Police Officer Keenan Colson, left, is brought in to the book-in area at the Polk County Sheriff's Office in Bartow on Wednesday.
Lake Wales officer Keenan Colson, 50, of Bartow resigned Wednesday, the day he was arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in pattern of racketeering, five counts of unlawful use of a two-way communications device, and four counts unlawful use of computer access.
At a news conference Wednesday, Sheriff Grady Judd said Colson used police equipment to provide information to co-defendant Clayton Hoerler, 25, of Lake Alfred.
Judd accused Hoerler and William Cade, 27, of Haines City of being at the head of the drug operation, with Cade serving as the "boss" of the group.
Cade was charged with one count of continuing criminal enterprise, four counts conspiracy to sell cannabis, eight counts sale of cannabis and 10 counts of unlawful use of a two-way communications device.
Hoerler was charged with one count of continuing criminal enterprise, five counts sale of cannabis, two counts purchase of cannabis, two counts unlawful use of two-way communications device and one count conspiracy racketeering/organized crime. Hoerler was also charged with child abuse. Investigators allege he brought his 4-year-old daughter to purchase 2 pounds of marijuana June 7.
Judd said Wednesday that more arrests will come.
"There is an undercover drug world out there," he said. "This is not over."
Law enforcement agencies throughout Polk County, plus the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area taskforce began the investigation in December.
Using four wire taps, detectives executed 13 search warrants, closed five marijuana grow locations, and seized about 20 pounds of marijuana, 168 marijuana plants, guns and $60,000, the Sheriff's Office said.
The 19 arrested face more than 80 criminal charges, ranging from possession of cannabis to money laundering.
Over the course of about four months, detectives listened to the wire taps and conducted surveillance on people mentioned to be involved in criminal activity, The Sheriff's Office said.
On Wednesday, Judd recounted some of the conversations detectives said they'd heard between Hoerler and Colson:
According to the Sheriff's Office, on May 29, Hoerler asked Colson to run a tag number. Colson revealed to Hoerler that the car belonged to a Sheriff's Office detective whom he knew personally, and Hoerler said he would warn his people.
On May 30, Hoerler asked Colson to find out if a specific person had an outstanding warrant, according to the Sheriff's Office. Colson ran the name and told Hoerler the person did not. Hoerler promised to buy Colson dinner for the information.
June 8, the day after a member of the operation was arrested for marijuana possession, Hoerler called Colson, according to the Sheriff's Office, and Colson gave Hoerler advice on how to move forward, warning him about police-controlled phone calls and controlled drug buys, and how to avoid detection.
Colson also told Hoerler that arrests, and other problems and risks were all a part of the illegal business in which Hoerler was involved, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Intercepted phone calls led investigators to the other arrests, the Sheriff's Office said.
Colson was hired to the Lake Wales police department in December 2005 and was paid about $45,000, according to Lake Wales police. His personnel file contained no complaints.
He did have several commendations, including one for outstanding work on the arson case at the Headley Insurance office Dec. 13, when he was the first officer on scene where two women were fatally injured. A former insurance customer, Leon Davis, is accused of killing those two women and of killing two men at a convenience store north of Lake Alfred.
Colson previously had worked at the Bartow Police Department, where his file was not as clean. He started as an officer in 1981 and moved up to lieutenant until he was terminated in 1997 following an internal affairs investigation. He had been arrested on charges of perjury and accessory after the fact after his girlfriend was arrested in relation to an arson case.
According to the internal affairs report, Colson was found in violation of department policy and did not cooperate in the investigation. He was later found not guilty of the criminal charges, and his law enforcement credentials remained intact.
After working as a truck driver for about a year, Colson went to work as a Lake Hamilton police officer in 1999, then moved on to Lake Wales.
"He was very quiet, kept to himself, but did a good job," Lake Wales Police Chief Herbert Gillis said at the news conference Wednesday.
Investigators do not have any evidence leading them to believe Colson was being paid for helping Hoerler, they said Wednesday.
Gillis said the department does not believe any other officers were involved, and he issued a warning: "If you do wrong, we're gonna do the right thing."
No comments:
Post a Comment