NASHVILLE, Tenn.
The recommended punishment for a Metro police officer investigated on suspicion of having sexual contact with prostitutes is a three-day suspension.
Officer Wayne Fisher was recently investigated for allegedly going too far with prostitutes while working undercover.
An independent investigation recommends Fisher lose three vacation days, which is basically a three-day suspension.
Chief Ronal Serpas still has to approve the recommendation.
Fisher has already been taken out of the vice unit.
In the case file, Fisher indicated he didn't know he couldn't have sexual contact with prostitutes.
Previous Story:
November 10, 2008: Officer Accused Of Sex With Prostitute
Friday, January 16, 2009
Officer Paul Sparks Committs Suicide After Woman Files Sexual Assault Complaint
Just hours before Officer Paul Sparks committed suicide, a woman filed a sexual assault complaint against him. The Dalton Police Chief says his investigation shows Sparks had 'improper sexual conduct' with the woman, but he's still trying to figure out if that conduct was criminal.
Step inside the Oyster Pub and Grill and you'll meet a number of Officer Paul Sparks' friends.
"He would just come in here and check on everything in the bar and keep us all laughing and cut up, everybody loved him," Kellie Frye, a friend, says.
"If we had a girl that was too drunk he would put her in a car and always get her home safely," Sabrina Henderson, a friend, says.
We've learned that while on duty Sparks responded to break up a fight inside of the bar just hours before he took his own life inside of the Dalton Police Department.
Employees tell us that one of the women involved in the fight had to leave the Oyster Pub and go next door to the Guest Inn to get her id out of her room. According to the police report the Guest Inn is where the alleged sexual assault took place.
The police report states that at four a.m. officers responded to a sexual assault call at the Guest Inn - that's two hours before Sparks committed suicide.
"Well I think we're still in shock at the loss of officer sparks and its difficult to work through these things however I think we owe it to the citizens and the public to make sure we get all the facts," Dalton Police Chief Jason Parker says.
Facts which could shed light as to why Sparks took his own life. Parker says both his office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are now looking into the sexual assault allegation.
"I don't believe it for one minute in the world," Frye says. "He's just not that kind of person at all."
"Naw I don't believe it, I can't believe it," Henderson says.
But while the investigation continues, the people who knew Sparks the best want to remember the officer who helped them get home and always kept them smiling.
"He was a friend," Henderson says.
"He was a friend, a police officer, he was just a very well loved man," Frye says.
The Dalton Police Chief says that his investigation shows that none of his other officers were involved in this incident.
Step inside the Oyster Pub and Grill and you'll meet a number of Officer Paul Sparks' friends.
"He would just come in here and check on everything in the bar and keep us all laughing and cut up, everybody loved him," Kellie Frye, a friend, says.
"If we had a girl that was too drunk he would put her in a car and always get her home safely," Sabrina Henderson, a friend, says.
We've learned that while on duty Sparks responded to break up a fight inside of the bar just hours before he took his own life inside of the Dalton Police Department.
Employees tell us that one of the women involved in the fight had to leave the Oyster Pub and go next door to the Guest Inn to get her id out of her room. According to the police report the Guest Inn is where the alleged sexual assault took place.
The police report states that at four a.m. officers responded to a sexual assault call at the Guest Inn - that's two hours before Sparks committed suicide.
"Well I think we're still in shock at the loss of officer sparks and its difficult to work through these things however I think we owe it to the citizens and the public to make sure we get all the facts," Dalton Police Chief Jason Parker says.
Facts which could shed light as to why Sparks took his own life. Parker says both his office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are now looking into the sexual assault allegation.
"I don't believe it for one minute in the world," Frye says. "He's just not that kind of person at all."
"Naw I don't believe it, I can't believe it," Henderson says.
But while the investigation continues, the people who knew Sparks the best want to remember the officer who helped them get home and always kept them smiling.
"He was a friend," Henderson says.
"He was a friend, a police officer, he was just a very well loved man," Frye says.
The Dalton Police Chief says that his investigation shows that none of his other officers were involved in this incident.
Jury Deliberations Begin for Former Sheriff Mike Burgess
Fairview, Oklahoma
Jury deliberations began this afternoon in the trial of former Custer County Sheriff Mike Burgess, who is accused of using his power over inmates and drug court defendants to force them to have sex with him.
Deliberations began about 4:30 p.m. In closing arguments, a prosecutor said Burgess' position as a member of a team controlling a drug court put him in position to sexually coerce defendants.
A defense attorney says the accusers are either lying for financial gain in civil litigation, or the sex was consensual.
Burgess has pleaded not guilty to 36 charges of rape, rape by instrumentation, kidnapping, sexual battery and oral sodomy
Jury deliberations began this afternoon in the trial of former Custer County Sheriff Mike Burgess, who is accused of using his power over inmates and drug court defendants to force them to have sex with him.
Deliberations began about 4:30 p.m. In closing arguments, a prosecutor said Burgess' position as a member of a team controlling a drug court put him in position to sexually coerce defendants.
A defense attorney says the accusers are either lying for financial gain in civil litigation, or the sex was consensual.
Burgess has pleaded not guilty to 36 charges of rape, rape by instrumentation, kidnapping, sexual battery and oral sodomy
Jury Acquitted Former Sheriff Michael Carona of Bribery Charges
A jury acquitted former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona of charges that he took bribes in exchange for the power of his office, a verdict that stunned the courtroom and was hailed by the elated defendant as "an absolute miracle." Carona was convicted of one witness-tampering count, but the jury rejected the heart of a case that federal prosecutors spent five years assembling against the former head of the nation's fifth-largest sheriff's department.
He had been accused of doing favors for a multimillionaire businessman and appointing him assistant sheriff in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts. Several jurors said they believed Carona was involved in misconduct but that the government hadn't proven its case.
Carona, 53, began shaking as the verdicts were being read in U.S. District Court, then put his head down on the counsel table and sobbed loudly.
In the gallery, his wife, Deborah, and friends gasped. "Oh my God!" blurted his wife, who, along with her husband's ex-mistress, faces related charges.
The conspiracy charge alone alleged 64 overt criminal acts. Although the statute of limitations expired on most of those acts, the jury only had to find one of the remaining acts true for a conspiracy conviction.
"If you all don't believe in miracles, if you don't believe in God, what you just witnessed was an absolute miracle and God is watching over me," Carona said later. "Based on what you heard in this trial, some of the salacious stuff, there's a lot of things I need to apologize for in my life. I've made some mistakes along the way. The good news is God forgives people and apparently I'm one of the people he forgave."
If convicted of all counts, Carona could have spent the rest of his life in prison. Instead, he faces up to 20 years, but is likely to get only two or three, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Julian. The defense said probation is possible.
Several jurors said they believe the allegations against Carona but could not find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt because they considered businessman Don Haidl - the government's chief witness and the sheriff's alleged benefactor - to be untrustworthy. They also wanted to hear from another witness who was said to be the conduit for payments to the sheriff but was not called by the government.
"In my mind there's no doubt that he did what he did, but we have to go by what the law said," juror Jim Ybarra said. "They were obviously in some kind of cahoots and everybody felt that."
The jury, which had deliberated since Jan. 8 after a 10-week trial, found Carona not guilty of one count of conspiracy, three counts of mail fraud and one count of witness tampering.
His lone witness-tampering conviction involved a secretly recorded conversation in which he attempted to persuade Haidl to match their stories in front of the grand jury. Haidl, who was named as an unindicted coconspirator in the case, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for his cooperation.
Defense attorney Jeff Rawitz said he will appeal the conviction and has filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the entire case on grounds of egregious grand jury conduct.
Prosecutor Julian said he was disappointed at the outcome but was pleased by jurors' comments.
"What I heard from the jurors was they thought the charged conduct had occurred but the indictment was brought too late and they had to follow the law, and we'll respect that," he said.
The judge said Carona could be released on bond, with restrictions against travel.
Carona, once dubbed "America's sheriff" by CNN's Larry King for helping put away a child murderer, was indicted in October 2007 and retired three months later.
The government charged in 1998, the year he was first elected, Carona solicited Haidl's help to launder at least $30,000 in campaign contributions.
Once elected, Carona rewarded Haidl with the post of assistant sheriff, prosecutors said. Haidl received a car, a gun, a badge, a "get-out-of-jail-free" card, and control over a new reserve deputy program that allowed him to hand out law enforcement badges to his friends, relatives and associates, the government said.
Haidl continued to bribe Carona once in office by paying him $1,000 a month, paying for luxurious trips and tailored suits, lending Carona his yacht and private jet and bailing out Carona's mistress and her foundering law firm with a questionable bridge loan, the government said.
The prosecution contended that Haidl's gifts to Carona exceeded $430,000 over several years.
Haidl eventually became a government informant, along with another former assistant sheriff and Carona's one-time campaign manager, George Jaramillo. Both men reached plea deals with prosecutors.
Haidl wore a wire to three meetings with Carona in summer 2007, producing hours of profanity-laced audio tapes that were repeatedly played at trial. Haidl spent 10 days on the witness stand but Jaramillo did not testify.
Ybarra, the juror, said putting Jaramillo on the stand "would have made a huge difference" because Haidl testified he funneled all payments to Carona through Jaramillo.
Haidl continued to bribe Carona once in office by paying him $1,000 a month, paying for luxurious trips and tailored suits, lending Carona his yacht and private jet and bailing out Carona's mistress and her foundering law firm with a questionable bridge loan, the government said.
The prosecution contended that Haidl's gifts to Carona exceeded $430,000 over several years.
Haidl eventually became a government informant, along with another former assistant sheriff and Carona's one-time campaign manager, George Jaramillo. Both men reached plea deals with prosecutors.
Haidl wore a wire to three meetings with Carona in summer 2007, producing hours of profanity-laced audio tapes that were repeatedly played at trial. Haidl spent 10 days on the witness stand but Jaramillo did not testify.
Ybarra, the juror, said putting Jaramillo on the stand "would have made a huge difference" because Haidl testified he funneled all payments to Carona through Jaramillo.
Julian said the decision not to call Jaramillo as a witness was a strategic one.
Jaramillo, like Haidl a former assistant sheriff, was listed as an unindicted coconspirator in Carona's indictment and was fired by Carona in 2004 for misconduct. He reached a plea deal in the current federal case and has also served time in state prison for unrelated felony charges.
Ybarra said the jury also was frustrated that the statute of limitations left only five acts to consider for a conspiracy. Three other acts fingered other members of the alleged conspiracy.
"If they had issued that indictment in June that would have brought in about 30 other overt acts and we could have been able to find him guilty," said Ybarra, 54, a teacher from Garden Grove.
Carona's former mistress, Debra Hoffman, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and bankruptcy fraud. His wife is charged with a single count of conspiracy.
The women are facing trial together, but Julian said the government was reviewing what to do with the two remaining defendan
He had been accused of doing favors for a multimillionaire businessman and appointing him assistant sheriff in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts. Several jurors said they believed Carona was involved in misconduct but that the government hadn't proven its case.
Carona, 53, began shaking as the verdicts were being read in U.S. District Court, then put his head down on the counsel table and sobbed loudly.
In the gallery, his wife, Deborah, and friends gasped. "Oh my God!" blurted his wife, who, along with her husband's ex-mistress, faces related charges.
The conspiracy charge alone alleged 64 overt criminal acts. Although the statute of limitations expired on most of those acts, the jury only had to find one of the remaining acts true for a conspiracy conviction.
"If you all don't believe in miracles, if you don't believe in God, what you just witnessed was an absolute miracle and God is watching over me," Carona said later. "Based on what you heard in this trial, some of the salacious stuff, there's a lot of things I need to apologize for in my life. I've made some mistakes along the way. The good news is God forgives people and apparently I'm one of the people he forgave."
If convicted of all counts, Carona could have spent the rest of his life in prison. Instead, he faces up to 20 years, but is likely to get only two or three, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Julian. The defense said probation is possible.
Several jurors said they believe the allegations against Carona but could not find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt because they considered businessman Don Haidl - the government's chief witness and the sheriff's alleged benefactor - to be untrustworthy. They also wanted to hear from another witness who was said to be the conduit for payments to the sheriff but was not called by the government.
"In my mind there's no doubt that he did what he did, but we have to go by what the law said," juror Jim Ybarra said. "They were obviously in some kind of cahoots and everybody felt that."
The jury, which had deliberated since Jan. 8 after a 10-week trial, found Carona not guilty of one count of conspiracy, three counts of mail fraud and one count of witness tampering.
His lone witness-tampering conviction involved a secretly recorded conversation in which he attempted to persuade Haidl to match their stories in front of the grand jury. Haidl, who was named as an unindicted coconspirator in the case, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for his cooperation.
Defense attorney Jeff Rawitz said he will appeal the conviction and has filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the entire case on grounds of egregious grand jury conduct.
Prosecutor Julian said he was disappointed at the outcome but was pleased by jurors' comments.
"What I heard from the jurors was they thought the charged conduct had occurred but the indictment was brought too late and they had to follow the law, and we'll respect that," he said.
The judge said Carona could be released on bond, with restrictions against travel.
Carona, once dubbed "America's sheriff" by CNN's Larry King for helping put away a child murderer, was indicted in October 2007 and retired three months later.
The government charged in 1998, the year he was first elected, Carona solicited Haidl's help to launder at least $30,000 in campaign contributions.
Once elected, Carona rewarded Haidl with the post of assistant sheriff, prosecutors said. Haidl received a car, a gun, a badge, a "get-out-of-jail-free" card, and control over a new reserve deputy program that allowed him to hand out law enforcement badges to his friends, relatives and associates, the government said.
Haidl continued to bribe Carona once in office by paying him $1,000 a month, paying for luxurious trips and tailored suits, lending Carona his yacht and private jet and bailing out Carona's mistress and her foundering law firm with a questionable bridge loan, the government said.
The prosecution contended that Haidl's gifts to Carona exceeded $430,000 over several years.
Haidl eventually became a government informant, along with another former assistant sheriff and Carona's one-time campaign manager, George Jaramillo. Both men reached plea deals with prosecutors.
Haidl wore a wire to three meetings with Carona in summer 2007, producing hours of profanity-laced audio tapes that were repeatedly played at trial. Haidl spent 10 days on the witness stand but Jaramillo did not testify.
Ybarra, the juror, said putting Jaramillo on the stand "would have made a huge difference" because Haidl testified he funneled all payments to Carona through Jaramillo.
Haidl continued to bribe Carona once in office by paying him $1,000 a month, paying for luxurious trips and tailored suits, lending Carona his yacht and private jet and bailing out Carona's mistress and her foundering law firm with a questionable bridge loan, the government said.
The prosecution contended that Haidl's gifts to Carona exceeded $430,000 over several years.
Haidl eventually became a government informant, along with another former assistant sheriff and Carona's one-time campaign manager, George Jaramillo. Both men reached plea deals with prosecutors.
Haidl wore a wire to three meetings with Carona in summer 2007, producing hours of profanity-laced audio tapes that were repeatedly played at trial. Haidl spent 10 days on the witness stand but Jaramillo did not testify.
Ybarra, the juror, said putting Jaramillo on the stand "would have made a huge difference" because Haidl testified he funneled all payments to Carona through Jaramillo.
Julian said the decision not to call Jaramillo as a witness was a strategic one.
Jaramillo, like Haidl a former assistant sheriff, was listed as an unindicted coconspirator in Carona's indictment and was fired by Carona in 2004 for misconduct. He reached a plea deal in the current federal case and has also served time in state prison for unrelated felony charges.
Ybarra said the jury also was frustrated that the statute of limitations left only five acts to consider for a conspiracy. Three other acts fingered other members of the alleged conspiracy.
"If they had issued that indictment in June that would have brought in about 30 other overt acts and we could have been able to find him guilty," said Ybarra, 54, a teacher from Garden Grove.
Carona's former mistress, Debra Hoffman, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and bankruptcy fraud. His wife is charged with a single count of conspiracy.
The women are facing trial together, but Julian said the government was reviewing what to do with the two remaining defendan
Reserve Officer Edward Henry Charged with Sexual Battery
A reserve Oakland police officer was charged last month with sexual battery on a woman he's known for 20 years.
Edward L. Henry, who worked with the Oakland police since 2004, was arrested last month after the victim went to the police.
Henry, 40, admitted that he forced himself upon the victim who had gone to his home with the intention of dying his hair, reports show.
The woman told police she repeatedly asked the Henry to stop having sex with her, according to an arrest affidavit. They had had consensual sexual relations about seven years prior, the report said.
Henry was relieved of duty from Oakland Police Department on Dec. 20, the day he was arrested, said Lt. Wesner Osselyn. Henry worked on the bike patrol unit as an un-paid reserve deputy. Osselyn said Henry did not have a disciplinary history with the department.
Henry was booked into the Orange County Jail on sexual battery charges, but has since been released.
Officer James Stafford Will Stand Trial for Stalking
BOULDER, Colo.
A Lafayette police officer will stand trial on charges of stalking his ex-girlfriend.
James Edward Stafford plead not guilty Thursday to charges of stalking, felony harassment, criminal mischief related to domestic violence and official misconduct. That last charge comes from allegations that he ticketed his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend last summer and then sent her a text message that said, "Your boyfriend just received a ticket, ha ha."
The 34-year-old officer is on unpaid leave. His attorney declined to comment and says Stafford would not answer questions. Trial is set for June 22.
Stafford also is accused of sending his ex text messages indicating he was watching her at a restaurant where she worked.
Information from: Daily Camera, http://www.thedailycamera.com
A Lafayette police officer will stand trial on charges of stalking his ex-girlfriend.
James Edward Stafford plead not guilty Thursday to charges of stalking, felony harassment, criminal mischief related to domestic violence and official misconduct. That last charge comes from allegations that he ticketed his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend last summer and then sent her a text message that said, "Your boyfriend just received a ticket, ha ha."
The 34-year-old officer is on unpaid leave. His attorney declined to comment and says Stafford would not answer questions. Trial is set for June 22.
Stafford also is accused of sending his ex text messages indicating he was watching her at a restaurant where she worked.
Information from: Daily Camera, http://www.thedailycamera.com
Officer James Gaddis & Neighbor Rob Bank
CARBONDALE, Ill.
A Carbondale police officer has been suspended without pay after prosecutors alleged he and his neighbor were the two men that robbed a bank at gunpoint while wearing motorcycle helmets.
Jackson County prosecutors charged city patrolman James Gaddis, 26, and Anthony Fike, 35, both of Murphysboro, in the Oct. 9 holdup of the First Southern Bank in this southern Illinois city.
Authorities would not discuss a possible motive in the holdup, though Jackson County Circuit Court files show that Flagstar Bank filed mortgage foreclosure proceedings against Gaddis in December.
Investigators say two robbers wearing motorcycle helmets entered the bank and one suspect held an employee at gunpoint while the other snatched cash from the bank's drawers. Investigators say the suspects fled on motorcycle, making off with about $22,000. No one was injured.
Gaddis, a Carbondale patrolman since 2004, was arrested Wednesday and remained jailed Friday on $1 million bond. Fike surrendered to Jackson County deputies Thursday and was freed on $50,000 bond later that day.
It was not immediately clear whether either man has an attorney. Gaddis and Fike do not have listed home telephone numbers.
"If the charge is proven true, Mr. Gaddis not only violated the law but also betrayed his oath of office and the trust which his fellow officers and the citizens of this community placed in him," Mike Wepsiec, the county's state's attorney, told reporters Thursday in announcing the charges.
The prosecutor declined to discuss the evidence but said the investigation made it "abundantly clear a police officer was involved," alleging without elaboration that Gaddis "used some of his tools as a police officer to perpetrate the robbery."
Messages seeking comment were left Friday by The Associated Press with Wepsiec and interim Police Chief Jeff Grubbs, whose offices said they were out of the office for the day.
Preliminary hearings for Gaddis and Fike are scheduled for Jan. 30.
Information: http://www.wrex.com/Global/story.asp?S=9685589
A Carbondale police officer has been suspended without pay after prosecutors alleged he and his neighbor were the two men that robbed a bank at gunpoint while wearing motorcycle helmets.
Jackson County prosecutors charged city patrolman James Gaddis, 26, and Anthony Fike, 35, both of Murphysboro, in the Oct. 9 holdup of the First Southern Bank in this southern Illinois city.
Authorities would not discuss a possible motive in the holdup, though Jackson County Circuit Court files show that Flagstar Bank filed mortgage foreclosure proceedings against Gaddis in December.
Investigators say two robbers wearing motorcycle helmets entered the bank and one suspect held an employee at gunpoint while the other snatched cash from the bank's drawers. Investigators say the suspects fled on motorcycle, making off with about $22,000. No one was injured.
Gaddis, a Carbondale patrolman since 2004, was arrested Wednesday and remained jailed Friday on $1 million bond. Fike surrendered to Jackson County deputies Thursday and was freed on $50,000 bond later that day.
It was not immediately clear whether either man has an attorney. Gaddis and Fike do not have listed home telephone numbers.
"If the charge is proven true, Mr. Gaddis not only violated the law but also betrayed his oath of office and the trust which his fellow officers and the citizens of this community placed in him," Mike Wepsiec, the county's state's attorney, told reporters Thursday in announcing the charges.
The prosecutor declined to discuss the evidence but said the investigation made it "abundantly clear a police officer was involved," alleging without elaboration that Gaddis "used some of his tools as a police officer to perpetrate the robbery."
Messages seeking comment were left Friday by The Associated Press with Wepsiec and interim Police Chief Jeff Grubbs, whose offices said they were out of the office for the day.
Preliminary hearings for Gaddis and Fike are scheduled for Jan. 30.
Information: http://www.wrex.com/Global/story.asp?S=9685589
Former FBI John Connolly Sentenced to 40 Years for Murder
Miami, FL
Former FBI agent John Connolly has been sentenced to 40 years for the 1982 mob-related killing of a Miami gambling executive that was connected to the killing of a Tulsa businessman a year earlier.
Judge Stanford Blake imposed the sentence Thursday after rejecting defense claims that the statute of limitations expired on Connolly's second-degree murder conviction. Prosecutors said that didn't apply because a gun was used in the killing of 45-year-old John Callahan.
Trial testimony showed Connolly provided information to Boston mobsters leading to Callahan's killing by a hit man.
Mob bosses feared Callahan would implicate them in the 1981 killing of businessman Roger Wheeler in Tulsa.
The 68-year-old Connolly is serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for his corrupt dealings with Boston's Winter Hill Gang.
Former FBI agent John Connolly has been sentenced to 40 years for the 1982 mob-related killing of a Miami gambling executive that was connected to the killing of a Tulsa businessman a year earlier.
Judge Stanford Blake imposed the sentence Thursday after rejecting defense claims that the statute of limitations expired on Connolly's second-degree murder conviction. Prosecutors said that didn't apply because a gun was used in the killing of 45-year-old John Callahan.
Trial testimony showed Connolly provided information to Boston mobsters leading to Callahan's killing by a hit man.
Mob bosses feared Callahan would implicate them in the 1981 killing of businessman Roger Wheeler in Tulsa.
The 68-year-old Connolly is serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for his corrupt dealings with Boston's Winter Hill Gang.
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