The city of Canby has placed Police Chief Greg Kroeplin on paid administrative leave after allegations of misconduct surfaced in an FBI public corruption case involving a former Canby Police officer’s alleged use of steroids.
A story in The Oregonian Sunday referred to search warrant affidavits filed in U.S. District Court by the FBI which allege that the police department either failed to address the problem or concealed it.
The FBI documents acquired by the Canby Herald Monday further allege that Canby police had known for several years about the suspected steroid use by former officer Jason Duncan Deason, 38, and either failed to address the problem or concealed its existence because of Deason’s friendship with Kroeplin.
The situation within the Canby Police Department allowed Deason to buy drugs while on duty and in uniform and tip off his suppliers when there were investigations, according to the affidavits.
The FBI began investigating allegations in February that Deason had acquired steroids from William Jake Traverso of Canby Landscape Supply, a suspected methamphetamine user and dealer, and that Deason tipped Traverso off whenever he was the target of drug investigations, said Portland Special Agent Christopher Frazier in an affidavit.
City Administrator Mark Adock had no comment on the situation. Nor did the FBI. “We simply can’t comment because its’ an ongoing investigation,” said Portland FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele.
Mayor Melody Thompson said, “Chief Kroeplin did bring to our attention there were earlier complaints (against Deason) that were unfounded, but we were not aware of the FBI investigation until fairly recently.”
In a statement released Monday by the city of Canby, city officals stated:
“The city of Canby takes seriously any allegation of employee misconduct. As a result of allegations printed in the November 16 edition of The Oregonian, the city administrator has placed Chief Greg Kroeplin on paid administrative leave, effective this date, pending the outcome of a personnel investigation.
“The city understands the importance that the community maintains the trust in the integrity of the Canby Police Department that it has worked so long and hard to earn over the years. To this end, the city administrator has ordered that the personnel investigation be carried out by an independent third-party entity as soon as possible.
“As with all personnel investigations, the city will withhold comment until such time as the investigation is completed.”
Canby Police Lt. Jorge Tro, who joined the force in January 1996, has been named acting chief, said Amanda Klock, the city’s human resource director.
Kroeplin started with the Canby Police department in 1979 as a part-time dispatcher and became a full-time officer in 1983.
He was promoted to patrol sergeant in 1997 and to lieutenant in 2001. He became chief in February 2006, succeeding Ken Pagano who retired.
After Deason and his wife were divorced in 2005, he moved in with Kroeplin and they were housemates for some time.
The Portland FBI investigation uncovered a steroid distribution network operating in Oregon, Washington and Arizona.
That investigation uncovered the involvement of Deason, Traverso and Brian Jackson, former strength and conditioning coach for the Oregon City High School girls basketball team. The three men knew each other from working out at Nelson’s Nautilus Gym in Oregon City.
Deason joined the Canby Police Department in 1999 and resigned in July during the federal investigation.
Traverso, a former competitive bodybuilder, has admitted selling steroids to Deason and turned over to federal agents an April 30, 2002, order for steroids handwritten and signed by Deason on Canby police stationery.
Jackson, who was terminated from the basketball program because of inappropriate behavior among some of the team members, was identified as a principal source of steroids for Deason and Traverso. He identified Rainbow “Bo’ Wild Keepers, a competitive bodybuilder and photographer in Vancouver, Wash., as his source for the steroids.
Complaints about Deason’s steroid use date back to 2001, according to FBI documents.
According to the Oregonian report, federal authorities said that in 2001 Deason was tipped off about a departmental investigation by his then sergeant - Kroeplin, and that Deason in turn alerted Traverso, and later coached him on what to say.
Anabolic steroids, which can be used to rapidly build muscle mass and strength, carry adverse side affects that can damage the heart and liver. They are a controlled substance in the U.S. and banned by all major sports groups.
In recent years, the problem has invaded police ranks spurring departments in several major cities, such as New York Boston, Phoenix and Dallas to institute or consider steroid testing of officers.
http://www.canbyherald.com/
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