A suspended Kansas City police officer has been convicted of one count corruption but found not guilty on four other charges after he was accused of having sex with two women in exchange for not arresting them.
The jury convicted Jeffrey Holmes on Friday of one corruption charge but found him not guilty of four other charges involving corruption and sex-related accusations. The jury also recommended that Holmes be sentenced to 15 days in the county jail and pay an undetermined fine.
The Kansas City Star reports (http://bit.ly/Px6Vjf) that two women accused Holmes of coming to their hotel rooms in 2012, indicating he was going to arrest them for prostitution, but having sex with each of them instead.
Holmes has been on unpaid suspension from the department.
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Sunday, April 06, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Lt. Randy L Emery Arrested for Theft
A Frankfort police lieutenant faces one count of theft following an investigation by the Indiana State Police Organized Crime and Corruption Unit.
Randy L. Emery, 48, of Frankfort, was arrested Tuesday afternoon at his residence and booked into the Clinton County jail, according to a state police news release. A jail employee said Emery had bonded out by Tuesday evening.
State police investigators said Emery was working part-time for Good Oil Co. and was responsible for transporting money from the company’s gas station at Indiana 28 and Interstate 65 to a bank. According to ISP, Emery used a Frankfort patrol car to transport the money while he was off duty from his police job.
State police allege that more than $147,000 in cash was taken from the Winamac-based oil company since late summer of 2013.
According to state police, the arrest warrant stems from an investigation that began Friday and was conducted by Master Trooper Detective Amy Johnson. The investigation is ongoing.
Following Emery’s arrest, Frankfort Police Chief Troy Bacon posted a statement on the department’s website.
“The judicial system will run its course and proceed accordingly, based on the facts of the investigation. Not having any role in the investigation, our department has no further comment on the situation,” Bacon said.
“Given Emery is a city employee, an executive session of the Frankfort Board of Public Works and Safety will be scheduled in the near future,” the statement said.
Emery was not on duty at the time of his arrest, according to Bacon.
Randy L. Emery, 48, of Frankfort, was arrested Tuesday afternoon at his residence and booked into the Clinton County jail, according to a state police news release. A jail employee said Emery had bonded out by Tuesday evening.
State police investigators said Emery was working part-time for Good Oil Co. and was responsible for transporting money from the company’s gas station at Indiana 28 and Interstate 65 to a bank. According to ISP, Emery used a Frankfort patrol car to transport the money while he was off duty from his police job.
State police allege that more than $147,000 in cash was taken from the Winamac-based oil company since late summer of 2013.
According to state police, the arrest warrant stems from an investigation that began Friday and was conducted by Master Trooper Detective Amy Johnson. The investigation is ongoing.
Following Emery’s arrest, Frankfort Police Chief Troy Bacon posted a statement on the department’s website.
“The judicial system will run its course and proceed accordingly, based on the facts of the investigation. Not having any role in the investigation, our department has no further comment on the situation,” Bacon said.
“Given Emery is a city employee, an executive session of the Frankfort Board of Public Works and Safety will be scheduled in the near future,” the statement said.
Emery was not on duty at the time of his arrest, according to Bacon.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has cost Phoenix Taxpayers $49 Million dollars
Link to Video
A political feud among county officials in metro Phoenix that led to a spate of costly lawsuits and unsuccessful public corruption investigations against some participants in the disputes has cost taxpayers at least $49 million.
County officials on Monday released the nearly final price tag for the disputes that mired county government from 2006 through 2010 when Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and then-County Attorney Andrew Thomas squared off against county officials and judges.
The disputes centered on cuts to agency budgets, a plan to build a new court building complex and other issues.
Arpaio and Thomas lost most of the key battles.
"I was unjustly prosecuted," said Mary Rose Wilcox, a Maricopa County supervisor who was one of the people targeted by Arpaio and Thomas.
"[I was] hit with 44 felony counts and I was cleared of everything. But it was hell," she continued.
Monday, documents obtained by CBS 5 News shows that $49 million in taxpayer money was spent on litigation costs and other settlements.
"No one was ever prosecuted. None of the cases stood. Everything fell apart. It was political vindictiveness," said Wilcox.
CBS 5 News reached out to Thomas by phone and through email. He never responded. Arpaio, however, released this statement:
"My office is only a small piece of the county's past internal disputes. I am glad those difficult days are behind us."
Arpaio and Thomas loomed large in many of the disputes, but other officials also took part in power struggles that, in some instances, didn't involve the sheriff or prosecutor.
A political feud among county officials in metro Phoenix that led to a spate of costly lawsuits and unsuccessful public corruption investigations against some participants in the disputes has cost taxpayers at least $49 million.
County officials on Monday released the nearly final price tag for the disputes that mired county government from 2006 through 2010 when Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and then-County Attorney Andrew Thomas squared off against county officials and judges.
The disputes centered on cuts to agency budgets, a plan to build a new court building complex and other issues.
Arpaio and Thomas lost most of the key battles.
"I was unjustly prosecuted," said Mary Rose Wilcox, a Maricopa County supervisor who was one of the people targeted by Arpaio and Thomas.
"[I was] hit with 44 felony counts and I was cleared of everything. But it was hell," she continued.
Monday, documents obtained by CBS 5 News shows that $49 million in taxpayer money was spent on litigation costs and other settlements.
"No one was ever prosecuted. None of the cases stood. Everything fell apart. It was political vindictiveness," said Wilcox.
CBS 5 News reached out to Thomas by phone and through email. He never responded. Arpaio, however, released this statement:
"My office is only a small piece of the county's past internal disputes. I am glad those difficult days are behind us."
Arpaio and Thomas loomed large in many of the disputes, but other officials also took part in power struggles that, in some instances, didn't involve the sheriff or prosecutor.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Former Officer Harold Wells Back in Court for Corruption Charge
Harold Wells, a former corporal with the Tulsa Police Department, was sentenced in 2011 after a two-year corruption probe resulted in 11 officers being charged or named as unindicted co-conspirartors.
His lawyer said he'll petition an appeals court for a rehearing.
Wells is serving a 10-year prison sentence for stealing money during a drug bust.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Corruption case shines light on NYPD
NYPD badges out, Kelvin Jones and the other armed men turned up out of nowhere at a New Jersey warehouse and began barking orders.
Jones told startled workers that the New York Police Department had sent the team there to inspect for counterfeit goods - even though the wholesale dealer of Prada, Versace and other fragrances was legitimate.
The men herded about a dozen employees into a tiny back office and tied them up. By then, it was obvious something was amiss.
"We were kind of shocked," one worker recalled. "We were like, why is the NYPD coming in here like this?"
Another blurted: "You're not cops."
But Jones was indeed an NYPD officer. In fact, he had held an elite undercover position. Two with him were also part of the NYPD. A third was a former officer. But these were hardly "New York's Finest."
What they'd set up to look like a police raid was instead a brazen, $1 million robbery.
Eventually, the 30-year-old Jones would face trial. And his case, though largely overlooked, isn't isolated. In the past two years, prosecutors have accused officers of planting evidence in drug investigations, of running illegal guns, of robbing drug dealers, of routinely fixing traffic tickets as favors.
Still, Jones stands out because of his background as an undercover operative for the NYPD's Intelligence Division. The department credits the unit with thwarting numerous terror and other threats against New Yorkers.
Recent stories by The Associated Press have detailed how the unit also sought to infiltrate and monitor mosques, Muslim student organizations and left-wing political organizations - even beyond city limits - using methods that critics say infringe on civil rights, though the department denies it.
How Jones became an undercover and the exact nature of his assignment weren't made public at his trial in Newark in 2010, and police officials won't discuss it. But court documents offer hints: They show the NYPD authorized the Caribbean-born Jones to use the aliases Michael Kingston and Kelvin Johns. And in a handwritten journal, he made cryptic references to assignments in cities far from New York. That was before he was demoted to ordinary patrol - a transfer that still gave him access to an internal police database he used to help hatch the warehouse holdup.
Jones "abused his authority for his own personal gain," Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Gramiccioni told jurors. "Instead of protecting and serving the citizens, he decided to rob them and hold them hostage." While not commenting directly on Jones, the NYPD insists it carefully vets candidates for undercover work, especially those assigned to Intelligence Division.
Some are chosen because they speak Arabic or other languages needed to make their undercover roles convincing, or because they've demonstrated a mental toughness needed to withstand the rigors of leading a double life. Jones' demeanor would have made him a good choice, said his attorney, Michael Orozco. "For that kind of work," Orozco said, "you'd obviously want to have someone who's cool, calm and collected - and that's him."
But a rambling journal entry addressing his girlfriend reveals that the duality was difficult for Jones. "I never told you I was cop," he wrote, "because I was in too DEEP." ___ Back in 2003, Kelvin Jones was listed in the media guide for the Southeast Missouri Redhawks as a 6-foot, 210-pound linebacker, a "hard hitter" with "a good nose for the football."
Originally from the island of Grenada, Jones had grown up in Brooklyn, the son of a contractor and a dietitian. In his last season at the school in Cape Girardeau, Mo., the Redhawks finished with a forgettable 5-7 record. But Jones stuck to his studies and graduated with a degree in criminal justice.
He played professionally in the now-defunct National Indoor Football League, leading the Fayetteville Guard in tackles and interceptions in 2006, according to a league blog, but he quit the team before a playoff game. The reason? To enter the police academy in New York City.
On his NYPD application, Jones listed his criminal justice degree and his gridiron work. And to a question about distinguishing markings on his body, he responded, "I got a tattoo on the right side of my back ... Lord's Prayer on a scroll." The application offers nothing especially remarkable, nothing to explain Jones' next move. Orozco believes Jones went to work for the Intelligence Division "right out the academy."
Jones declined to be interviewed. His family declined comment as well. NYPD supervisors have at times plucked recruits out of the police academy and given them special training to become undercover investigators. But police officials, citing privacy rules, declined to discuss his employment history.
In court documents, the NYPD confirmed only that Jones had been an Intelligence Division undercover who used aliases. His defense claimed that he also had permission to get a New Jersey driver's license using a fake name.
Two former NYPD officials familiar with Jones told The Associated Press that one of his assignments was to monitor the Nation of Islam - part of the Intelligence Division's effort to monitor groups considered to have extreme political agendas. Since the ex-officials weren't authorized to speak about the case, both spoke only on condition of anonymity. Jones' journal offered murky clues.
He described having "orders from my captain not to let anyone know I was in Las Vegas" - but no clue what for. Another time, he was on the road because "we got a lead from an informant that someone we were investigating would be in the LA area."
Still another trip took him to Miami. At a nightclub there, he wrote, he introduced his girlfriend to a "friend" - actually another undercover on assignment with him. "I didn't pay for my flight to Miami," he said. "It was paid for by the unit."
The girlfriend, he wrote knew him only as Kelvin Johns - not Jones - and the deceit was not his only regret. He worried that someday he was "going to get shot." Still, he reasoned, "This NYPD career is just a stepping stone for me." He saw it leading to future job in federal law enforcement.
Though Jones told his lawyer that his supervisors "loved him," one of the former police officials who spoke to the AP said Jones proved unreliable and difficult to supervise. And at some point, the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau began investigating allegations he gave protection to drug dealers in exchange for cash or narcotics, court records say. Internal investigators noted his lifestyle, flashy for someone on an officer's salary.
Witnesses described how he drove a BMW sedan, wore expensive clothes, owned a condo and, according to his girlfriend, Sahar Saidi, bankrolled her Spanish studies in South America. "This is the kind of person I know Kelvin to be - thoughtful, considerate and generous," she wrote in a letter of support to the court.
The NYPD revealed a different view when it reassigned him from Intelligence to regular duty. But if the idea was to neutralize him, it didn't work.
In his new assignment, Jones met officers already making a mockery of the department's "New York's Finest" moniker. He learned that two patrolmen were routinely robbing prostitutes and brothels, according to trial testimony.
Jones sought out one, Brian Checo, to get in on the action. "I told him it's not worth it because it's not a lot of money," recalled Checo, who pleaded guilty and agreed to become a government witness. "And that's when he said he is going to have something for us and he is going to let us know."
About two months later, Jones let Checo know he wanted help robbing a warehouse.
This one was in Brooklyn, and it stored counterfeit clothing. Checo and two others - patrolman Richard LeBlanca and ex-officer Orlando Garcia - signed on. Jones "had been sitting on a spot" - police slang for reconnaissance - "for a while and that if I was interested ...he would be paying us $4,000 each," Garcia testified.
The plan called for them to wear NYPD raid jackets, bulletproof vests and badges. "We were going to try to make it seem like an official NYPD raid. ... Just make it look like, you know, a sting," Garcia said. Converging on the Brooklyn warehouse, the officers used a broom to knock out a security camera. Jones shouted out the names of the employees before the men handcuffed them and trucks began showing up to haul merchandise away. He told his crew the goods would be sold to a fence.
Word later came that the same fence had made Jones an offer he couldn't refuse, this time regarding a perfume warehouse in Carlstadt, N.J.: If he and his cohorts could "get four trucks of perfumes, he will give them $500,000." Jones had learned the other side of the law from his police work. He was always careful to use prepaid cell phones. "You gotta change it up," he told Checa. Also, Jones' black BMW had South Carolina plates.
Another tactic came straight out of the surveillance playbook: He had gone to the New Jersey warehouse before that heist to photograph the cars outside. Plugging license plate numbers into NYPD computers, he called up the vehicle registrations and made printouts of names and other information on employees.
On the day of the robbery in 2010, Jones, using the name Mike Smith, went with the others to rent two 24-foot trucks. LeBlanca maxed out his debit card renting one, and Garcia had to use his card, too. Both, incredibly, used their real names - a mistake that would come back to haunt them. It was still daylight when they arrived at the In Style, USA warehouse. Jones led the fake raid wearing a hat and a hoodie that obscured his face.
A police badge hung from his thick neck. "We have papers, documentation," Jones told them, reading names from his printouts. He told employees they were suspected of selling knockoff merchandise, and accused their boss of hiring undocumented workers and not paying taxes.
The robber-cops used plastic ties to bind the employees. "We were tied up for three hours," one said later. "It was really bad for everyone." But fear did not silence everyone. The warehouse owner spoke out at one point, saying, according to police testimony: "You're not cops." The helpless hostages heard the beeping noise of trucks backing up.
Day laborers hired by the holdup crew did the loading. There were six trucks in all. Four carrying hundreds of boxes of perfume and other merchandise valued at $1 million got away, but the two 24-foot trucks rented earlier that day were left behind after someone called the police.
Afterward, panic set in. Jones advised his cohorts to report that cards used at the truck rental office had been stolen. But when it dawned on Checo that Jones had made himself a "ghost" - with the prepaid phones, the alias, the out-of-state plates - and he lashed out. "If I get arrested and lose my job, I'm going to rat you out," he recalled telling Jones.
Tension only grew when Jones paid the men $2,000 apiece, half of what they were promised. "They are coming," Checo told Jones, referring to police investigators. And he was right. Police and federal agents arrested the officers.
The owner of the truck rental agency picked Jones out of a photo array. Checo, as promised, flipped, and the other two robbers also cooperated. Jones was convicted at a federal trial in Newark in December 2010.
At sentencing, he claimed, "I was framed," but the judge was unmoved.
The former NYPD undercover is serving a 16-year sentence in an Ohio prison.
Jones told startled workers that the New York Police Department had sent the team there to inspect for counterfeit goods - even though the wholesale dealer of Prada, Versace and other fragrances was legitimate.
The men herded about a dozen employees into a tiny back office and tied them up. By then, it was obvious something was amiss.
"We were kind of shocked," one worker recalled. "We were like, why is the NYPD coming in here like this?"
Another blurted: "You're not cops."
But Jones was indeed an NYPD officer. In fact, he had held an elite undercover position. Two with him were also part of the NYPD. A third was a former officer. But these were hardly "New York's Finest."
What they'd set up to look like a police raid was instead a brazen, $1 million robbery.
Eventually, the 30-year-old Jones would face trial. And his case, though largely overlooked, isn't isolated. In the past two years, prosecutors have accused officers of planting evidence in drug investigations, of running illegal guns, of robbing drug dealers, of routinely fixing traffic tickets as favors.
Still, Jones stands out because of his background as an undercover operative for the NYPD's Intelligence Division. The department credits the unit with thwarting numerous terror and other threats against New Yorkers.
Recent stories by The Associated Press have detailed how the unit also sought to infiltrate and monitor mosques, Muslim student organizations and left-wing political organizations - even beyond city limits - using methods that critics say infringe on civil rights, though the department denies it.
How Jones became an undercover and the exact nature of his assignment weren't made public at his trial in Newark in 2010, and police officials won't discuss it. But court documents offer hints: They show the NYPD authorized the Caribbean-born Jones to use the aliases Michael Kingston and Kelvin Johns. And in a handwritten journal, he made cryptic references to assignments in cities far from New York. That was before he was demoted to ordinary patrol - a transfer that still gave him access to an internal police database he used to help hatch the warehouse holdup.
Jones "abused his authority for his own personal gain," Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Gramiccioni told jurors. "Instead of protecting and serving the citizens, he decided to rob them and hold them hostage." While not commenting directly on Jones, the NYPD insists it carefully vets candidates for undercover work, especially those assigned to Intelligence Division.
Some are chosen because they speak Arabic or other languages needed to make their undercover roles convincing, or because they've demonstrated a mental toughness needed to withstand the rigors of leading a double life. Jones' demeanor would have made him a good choice, said his attorney, Michael Orozco. "For that kind of work," Orozco said, "you'd obviously want to have someone who's cool, calm and collected - and that's him."
But a rambling journal entry addressing his girlfriend reveals that the duality was difficult for Jones. "I never told you I was cop," he wrote, "because I was in too DEEP." ___ Back in 2003, Kelvin Jones was listed in the media guide for the Southeast Missouri Redhawks as a 6-foot, 210-pound linebacker, a "hard hitter" with "a good nose for the football."
Originally from the island of Grenada, Jones had grown up in Brooklyn, the son of a contractor and a dietitian. In his last season at the school in Cape Girardeau, Mo., the Redhawks finished with a forgettable 5-7 record. But Jones stuck to his studies and graduated with a degree in criminal justice.
He played professionally in the now-defunct National Indoor Football League, leading the Fayetteville Guard in tackles and interceptions in 2006, according to a league blog, but he quit the team before a playoff game. The reason? To enter the police academy in New York City.
On his NYPD application, Jones listed his criminal justice degree and his gridiron work. And to a question about distinguishing markings on his body, he responded, "I got a tattoo on the right side of my back ... Lord's Prayer on a scroll." The application offers nothing especially remarkable, nothing to explain Jones' next move. Orozco believes Jones went to work for the Intelligence Division "right out the academy."
Jones declined to be interviewed. His family declined comment as well. NYPD supervisors have at times plucked recruits out of the police academy and given them special training to become undercover investigators. But police officials, citing privacy rules, declined to discuss his employment history.
In court documents, the NYPD confirmed only that Jones had been an Intelligence Division undercover who used aliases. His defense claimed that he also had permission to get a New Jersey driver's license using a fake name.
Two former NYPD officials familiar with Jones told The Associated Press that one of his assignments was to monitor the Nation of Islam - part of the Intelligence Division's effort to monitor groups considered to have extreme political agendas. Since the ex-officials weren't authorized to speak about the case, both spoke only on condition of anonymity. Jones' journal offered murky clues.
He described having "orders from my captain not to let anyone know I was in Las Vegas" - but no clue what for. Another time, he was on the road because "we got a lead from an informant that someone we were investigating would be in the LA area."
Still another trip took him to Miami. At a nightclub there, he wrote, he introduced his girlfriend to a "friend" - actually another undercover on assignment with him. "I didn't pay for my flight to Miami," he said. "It was paid for by the unit."
The girlfriend, he wrote knew him only as Kelvin Johns - not Jones - and the deceit was not his only regret. He worried that someday he was "going to get shot." Still, he reasoned, "This NYPD career is just a stepping stone for me." He saw it leading to future job in federal law enforcement.
Though Jones told his lawyer that his supervisors "loved him," one of the former police officials who spoke to the AP said Jones proved unreliable and difficult to supervise. And at some point, the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau began investigating allegations he gave protection to drug dealers in exchange for cash or narcotics, court records say. Internal investigators noted his lifestyle, flashy for someone on an officer's salary.
Witnesses described how he drove a BMW sedan, wore expensive clothes, owned a condo and, according to his girlfriend, Sahar Saidi, bankrolled her Spanish studies in South America. "This is the kind of person I know Kelvin to be - thoughtful, considerate and generous," she wrote in a letter of support to the court.
The NYPD revealed a different view when it reassigned him from Intelligence to regular duty. But if the idea was to neutralize him, it didn't work.
In his new assignment, Jones met officers already making a mockery of the department's "New York's Finest" moniker. He learned that two patrolmen were routinely robbing prostitutes and brothels, according to trial testimony.
Jones sought out one, Brian Checo, to get in on the action. "I told him it's not worth it because it's not a lot of money," recalled Checo, who pleaded guilty and agreed to become a government witness. "And that's when he said he is going to have something for us and he is going to let us know."
About two months later, Jones let Checo know he wanted help robbing a warehouse.
This one was in Brooklyn, and it stored counterfeit clothing. Checo and two others - patrolman Richard LeBlanca and ex-officer Orlando Garcia - signed on. Jones "had been sitting on a spot" - police slang for reconnaissance - "for a while and that if I was interested ...he would be paying us $4,000 each," Garcia testified.
The plan called for them to wear NYPD raid jackets, bulletproof vests and badges. "We were going to try to make it seem like an official NYPD raid. ... Just make it look like, you know, a sting," Garcia said. Converging on the Brooklyn warehouse, the officers used a broom to knock out a security camera. Jones shouted out the names of the employees before the men handcuffed them and trucks began showing up to haul merchandise away. He told his crew the goods would be sold to a fence.
Word later came that the same fence had made Jones an offer he couldn't refuse, this time regarding a perfume warehouse in Carlstadt, N.J.: If he and his cohorts could "get four trucks of perfumes, he will give them $500,000." Jones had learned the other side of the law from his police work. He was always careful to use prepaid cell phones. "You gotta change it up," he told Checa. Also, Jones' black BMW had South Carolina plates.
Another tactic came straight out of the surveillance playbook: He had gone to the New Jersey warehouse before that heist to photograph the cars outside. Plugging license plate numbers into NYPD computers, he called up the vehicle registrations and made printouts of names and other information on employees.
On the day of the robbery in 2010, Jones, using the name Mike Smith, went with the others to rent two 24-foot trucks. LeBlanca maxed out his debit card renting one, and Garcia had to use his card, too. Both, incredibly, used their real names - a mistake that would come back to haunt them. It was still daylight when they arrived at the In Style, USA warehouse. Jones led the fake raid wearing a hat and a hoodie that obscured his face.
A police badge hung from his thick neck. "We have papers, documentation," Jones told them, reading names from his printouts. He told employees they were suspected of selling knockoff merchandise, and accused their boss of hiring undocumented workers and not paying taxes.
The robber-cops used plastic ties to bind the employees. "We were tied up for three hours," one said later. "It was really bad for everyone." But fear did not silence everyone. The warehouse owner spoke out at one point, saying, according to police testimony: "You're not cops." The helpless hostages heard the beeping noise of trucks backing up.
Day laborers hired by the holdup crew did the loading. There were six trucks in all. Four carrying hundreds of boxes of perfume and other merchandise valued at $1 million got away, but the two 24-foot trucks rented earlier that day were left behind after someone called the police.
Afterward, panic set in. Jones advised his cohorts to report that cards used at the truck rental office had been stolen. But when it dawned on Checo that Jones had made himself a "ghost" - with the prepaid phones, the alias, the out-of-state plates - and he lashed out. "If I get arrested and lose my job, I'm going to rat you out," he recalled telling Jones.
Tension only grew when Jones paid the men $2,000 apiece, half of what they were promised. "They are coming," Checo told Jones, referring to police investigators. And he was right. Police and federal agents arrested the officers.
The owner of the truck rental agency picked Jones out of a photo array. Checo, as promised, flipped, and the other two robbers also cooperated. Jones was convicted at a federal trial in Newark in December 2010.
At sentencing, he claimed, "I was framed," but the judge was unmoved.
The former NYPD undercover is serving a 16-year sentence in an Ohio prison.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Former ATF Agent Brandon McFadden Indicted on Drug Charges
A former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent was taken into custody by Tulsa Police on Thursday.
Brandon J. McFadden was indicted by a grand jury for the Northern District of Oklahoma on four counts including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana; possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute; possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking offense, and money laundering.
According to the indictment, McFadden was employed as an ATF agent from July, 2002, through September, 2009. He regularly investigated potential firearms and drug trafficking offenses, and the indictment alleges that he was guilty of selling drugs, falsifying evidence and lying on the witness stand.
In one case, a man and his daughter were sent to federal prison and have since been released. The woman's only son was killed by a drunk driver while she was in prison, and she was not allowed to attend the funeral.
Related Story 3/31/2010: Tulsa Police Officer, Former ATF Agent Accused Of Corruption
If convicted, McFadden faces a possible sentence of not less than 10 years imprisonment to life. The McFadden investigation is related to an investigation of corruption in the Tulsa Police Department.
Tulsa Police Officer Jeff Henderson has been placed on administrative leave in connection to this investigation which is ongoing.
Brandon J. McFadden was indicted by a grand jury for the Northern District of Oklahoma on four counts including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana; possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute; possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking offense, and money laundering.
According to the indictment, McFadden was employed as an ATF agent from July, 2002, through September, 2009. He regularly investigated potential firearms and drug trafficking offenses, and the indictment alleges that he was guilty of selling drugs, falsifying evidence and lying on the witness stand.
In one case, a man and his daughter were sent to federal prison and have since been released. The woman's only son was killed by a drunk driver while she was in prison, and she was not allowed to attend the funeral.
Related Story 3/31/2010: Tulsa Police Officer, Former ATF Agent Accused Of Corruption
If convicted, McFadden faces a possible sentence of not less than 10 years imprisonment to life. The McFadden investigation is related to an investigation of corruption in the Tulsa Police Department.
Tulsa Police Officer Jeff Henderson has been placed on administrative leave in connection to this investigation which is ongoing.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Former Officer Anthony Bickerton Sentenced for Making False Statements to FBI
A former Stoughton police officer pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements to FBI investigators in a 2008 police corruption probe.
Federal prosecutors will recommend that Anthony Bickerton, 60, of Stoughton spend 12 to 18 months in prison as part of a plea deal for lying about his role in a fake, FBI-arranged, stolen goods ring with two other Stoughton officers who have resigned from the force.
In conversations secretly taped in 2008 by a convicted criminal turned cooperating witness, the former detective arranged for discounted high-definition televisions for his daughter and other police officers and a power washer for himself. He thought the goods were stolen, but they were provided as part of the FBI’s probe. Prosecutors said he tried to hide the power washer at a fellow officer’s house after the FBI questioned him.
“Mr. Bickerton’s actions are an affront to the many honest men and women in the law enforcement community who serve the public with dedication and integrity,’’ US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said in a statement. “Today’s plea should be a reminder to the public that we will continue to aggressively pursue all investigations and prosecutions of corrupt and dishonest public officials.’’
Prosecutors had also alleged that Bickerton illegally obtained Registry of Motor Vehicles records for the informant, but as part of the plea, he will not have to admit to that.
Appearing before Judge Richard Stearns, Bickerton displayed much different behavior yesterday afternoon than he did in January, when he was escorted into the John Joseph Moakley US Courthouse in jeans and handcuffs. In the January proceedings, Bickerton broke down and cried while addressing Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler. Yesterday, he appeared relaxed, calm, and even smiled at Stearns while the judge questioned him.
His wife, Rose, wiped away tears as the 45-minute proceeding drew to a close. No other friends or family of Bickerton, a father of three who was raised in Mattapan, were in court yesterday. No one from the Stoughton Police Department attended.
If the case had gone to trial, Assistant US Attorney Brian T. Kelly said, two other former police officers would have been called to testify against Bickerton. He would have faced a maximum of five years in prison for giving false statements and 10 years for obstruction of justice.
Bickerton was released on his existing bond, and he will be back in court May 11 for sentencing. He left the courthouse with his wife, and declined to comment. His lawyer, Kevin Reddington, called the process fair and said his client was looking forward to resolving the case.
Federal prosecutors will recommend that Anthony Bickerton, 60, of Stoughton spend 12 to 18 months in prison as part of a plea deal for lying about his role in a fake, FBI-arranged, stolen goods ring with two other Stoughton officers who have resigned from the force.
In conversations secretly taped in 2008 by a convicted criminal turned cooperating witness, the former detective arranged for discounted high-definition televisions for his daughter and other police officers and a power washer for himself. He thought the goods were stolen, but they were provided as part of the FBI’s probe. Prosecutors said he tried to hide the power washer at a fellow officer’s house after the FBI questioned him.
“Mr. Bickerton’s actions are an affront to the many honest men and women in the law enforcement community who serve the public with dedication and integrity,’’ US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said in a statement. “Today’s plea should be a reminder to the public that we will continue to aggressively pursue all investigations and prosecutions of corrupt and dishonest public officials.’’
Prosecutors had also alleged that Bickerton illegally obtained Registry of Motor Vehicles records for the informant, but as part of the plea, he will not have to admit to that.
Appearing before Judge Richard Stearns, Bickerton displayed much different behavior yesterday afternoon than he did in January, when he was escorted into the John Joseph Moakley US Courthouse in jeans and handcuffs. In the January proceedings, Bickerton broke down and cried while addressing Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler. Yesterday, he appeared relaxed, calm, and even smiled at Stearns while the judge questioned him.
His wife, Rose, wiped away tears as the 45-minute proceeding drew to a close. No other friends or family of Bickerton, a father of three who was raised in Mattapan, were in court yesterday. No one from the Stoughton Police Department attended.
If the case had gone to trial, Assistant US Attorney Brian T. Kelly said, two other former police officers would have been called to testify against Bickerton. He would have faced a maximum of five years in prison for giving false statements and 10 years for obstruction of justice.
Bickerton was released on his existing bond, and he will be back in court May 11 for sentencing. He left the courthouse with his wife, and declined to comment. His lawyer, Kevin Reddington, called the process fair and said his client was looking forward to resolving the case.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Detective Jose Valencia Caught by FBI Promising Gun to Drug Dealer
A Santa Fe cop may end up losing his badge after he was caught on an FBI tape promising a gun to a drug dealer "who clearly conveyed his intent to commit murder," according to police documents. Santa Fe police Detective Jose Valencia - who was the police union president at the time the conversation was caught on tape two years ago - was recommended for termination by Chief Aric Wheeler last week, the Journal has learned. The alleged drug dealer is Maximiliano Gonzales of Pecos, whom Valencia has known on some level for years.
Valencia has been on administrative leave since October. He also is accused of providing the description of an undercover officer to Gonzales and with making disparaging remarks about fellow officers to the drug suspect, according to state Department of Public Safety documents. But a lawsuit against the city of Santa Fe is in the works, according to an attorney for Valencia who claims his client was the victim of entrapment on the part of "administration higher-ups." Albuquerque attorney Alvin Garcia told the Journal the actions taken against Valencia were a product of a "retaliation" against his client "for reporting corruption (within the department) and not participating in cover-ups." "He was warned that things would come back to bite him," Garcia said. "And they have."
Notice of action The allegations against Valencia are spelled out in a DPS document that calls for Valencia's certification as an officer to be revoked, which was written by state Law Enforcement Academy Board director Arthur Ortiz. Valencia is scheduled to go before the board Thursday for a formal hearing. The board is expected to determine his fate at a meeting in March.
The FBI was investigating a separate case two years ago when the agency recorded conversations between Valencia and Gonzales, according to FBI spokesman Darrin Jones. The FBI - which was not investigating Valencia - turned over the information to Santa Fe police and that ended the bureau's involvement in the matter, according to Jones. Jones, who would not say what the FBI investigation was about, said Valencia was not being wiretapped.
According to Ortiz's document, Valencia spoke with a "known criminal and drug dealer" by phone Feb. 22 and 26, 2008. During those conversations, Valencia "agreed to provide" a gun to Gonzales, who planned on using it to commit murder, the document states. The document also says Valencia "provided the criminal with a description of an undercover officer who was possibly investigating the criminal, and provided the criminal with information and advice adverse to law enforcement." Another document associated with the academy board investigation states Valencia was "degrading law enforcement by speaking negatively about his fellow officers to a known criminal." And when Santa Fe police talked to Valencia about the incident, the detective "was untruthful with investigating officers," according to Ortiz's reports. The academy board sent Valencia a notice of contemplated action in August.
The next month, the detective went before the board for an informal hearing, where Valencia "took no responsibility for his actions, saying it was a misunderstanding because he was conducting a ruse on the informant to obtain information from him," according to the report. Garcia, Valencia's attorney, said Valencia has "been labeled a dirty cop before he has an opportunity to present his side." He contends police administration higher-ups became upset with Valencia after he refused to participate in "cover-ups," but he wouldn't be more specific. Valencia's alleged wrongdoing took place under the administration of former Police Chief Eric Johnson. Current Chief Aric Wheeler was a deputy chief at the time.
Entrapment claim
Valencia was doing his job when he met Gonzales and followed all protocol, without knowing he was being set up, Garcia said. "This guy didn't just fall out of a tree and land at the doorstep and ask for a gun," Garcia said. "They were entrapping him." Garcia denies Valencia was offering to provide a weapon to Gonzales. Garcia also contends the City Attorney's Office has engaged in activity that is "unfair and perhaps illegal" by not producing to his client the Santa Fe police internal affairs documentation or the FBI recordings. Garcia said he expects to file a tort claim notice with the city this week and will spell out his allegations in a coming lawsuit. Garcia said Wheeler recommended Valencia's termination last Thursday, though Wheeler declined to comment on that, citing the case as a confidential personnel matter and the prospect of litigation.
The termination must be approved by the city manager, and Valencia will have a chance to appeal. Allan Lopez, who was elected to replace Valencia as head of the Santa Fe Police Officers Association in December, said that if the allegations are true, they would "have a big impact on our Police Department and our extended law enforcement family." Lopez said that the allegations are "serious and alarming" and that, while the union supports due process for everyone, "we can never condone or support these allegations," if they're found to be true. Lopez also said the allegations first surfaced about a year ago, and the Police Department and City Hall administration were aware of them. He said there was a union "no confidence" vote against Valencia in January 2009.
Valencia has been on administrative leave since October. He also is accused of providing the description of an undercover officer to Gonzales and with making disparaging remarks about fellow officers to the drug suspect, according to state Department of Public Safety documents. But a lawsuit against the city of Santa Fe is in the works, according to an attorney for Valencia who claims his client was the victim of entrapment on the part of "administration higher-ups." Albuquerque attorney Alvin Garcia told the Journal the actions taken against Valencia were a product of a "retaliation" against his client "for reporting corruption (within the department) and not participating in cover-ups." "He was warned that things would come back to bite him," Garcia said. "And they have."
Notice of action The allegations against Valencia are spelled out in a DPS document that calls for Valencia's certification as an officer to be revoked, which was written by state Law Enforcement Academy Board director Arthur Ortiz. Valencia is scheduled to go before the board Thursday for a formal hearing. The board is expected to determine his fate at a meeting in March.
The FBI was investigating a separate case two years ago when the agency recorded conversations between Valencia and Gonzales, according to FBI spokesman Darrin Jones. The FBI - which was not investigating Valencia - turned over the information to Santa Fe police and that ended the bureau's involvement in the matter, according to Jones. Jones, who would not say what the FBI investigation was about, said Valencia was not being wiretapped.
According to Ortiz's document, Valencia spoke with a "known criminal and drug dealer" by phone Feb. 22 and 26, 2008. During those conversations, Valencia "agreed to provide" a gun to Gonzales, who planned on using it to commit murder, the document states. The document also says Valencia "provided the criminal with a description of an undercover officer who was possibly investigating the criminal, and provided the criminal with information and advice adverse to law enforcement." Another document associated with the academy board investigation states Valencia was "degrading law enforcement by speaking negatively about his fellow officers to a known criminal." And when Santa Fe police talked to Valencia about the incident, the detective "was untruthful with investigating officers," according to Ortiz's reports. The academy board sent Valencia a notice of contemplated action in August.
The next month, the detective went before the board for an informal hearing, where Valencia "took no responsibility for his actions, saying it was a misunderstanding because he was conducting a ruse on the informant to obtain information from him," according to the report. Garcia, Valencia's attorney, said Valencia has "been labeled a dirty cop before he has an opportunity to present his side." He contends police administration higher-ups became upset with Valencia after he refused to participate in "cover-ups," but he wouldn't be more specific. Valencia's alleged wrongdoing took place under the administration of former Police Chief Eric Johnson. Current Chief Aric Wheeler was a deputy chief at the time.
Entrapment claim
Valencia was doing his job when he met Gonzales and followed all protocol, without knowing he was being set up, Garcia said. "This guy didn't just fall out of a tree and land at the doorstep and ask for a gun," Garcia said. "They were entrapping him." Garcia denies Valencia was offering to provide a weapon to Gonzales. Garcia also contends the City Attorney's Office has engaged in activity that is "unfair and perhaps illegal" by not producing to his client the Santa Fe police internal affairs documentation or the FBI recordings. Garcia said he expects to file a tort claim notice with the city this week and will spell out his allegations in a coming lawsuit. Garcia said Wheeler recommended Valencia's termination last Thursday, though Wheeler declined to comment on that, citing the case as a confidential personnel matter and the prospect of litigation.
The termination must be approved by the city manager, and Valencia will have a chance to appeal. Allan Lopez, who was elected to replace Valencia as head of the Santa Fe Police Officers Association in December, said that if the allegations are true, they would "have a big impact on our Police Department and our extended law enforcement family." Lopez said that the allegations are "serious and alarming" and that, while the union supports due process for everyone, "we can never condone or support these allegations," if they're found to be true. Lopez also said the allegations first surfaced about a year ago, and the Police Department and City Hall administration were aware of them. He said there was a union "no confidence" vote against Valencia in January 2009.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Former Sheriff Wesley Wells Pleads Guilty to Lying to Federal Investigators
Acting United States Attorney Kevin F. McDonald stated today that guilty pleas were entered by former Union County Sheriff Wesley Howard Wells, Former County Tax Assessor Willie E. Randall, Jr., and Union County residents Willard Dee Farr and Lapriest Darnell Beacham to charges stemming from four separate indictments issued by a federal grand jury in September 2009 as a result of a long term investigation into public corruption in Union County.
1. Former Union County Sheriff Wesley Howard Wells pled guilty today in federal court in Spartanburg to lying to federal investigators. Evidence presented at today’s hearing established that Wells made sizeable loans to an individual, resulting in significant interest income to Wells. In March 2009, Wells made false statements to federal law enforcement agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning his involvement in concealing his receipt of taxable interest income and the existence of documents acknowledging the same. Wells faces a maximum possible sentence of five years' imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.
2. Former Union County Tax Assessor Willie E. Randall, Jr., pled guilty to conspiracy, extortion, soliciting and accepting bribes, money laundering, structuring financial transactions to evade federal reporting requirements, and knowingly allowing the Union County Tax Assessor’s Office to be used as a “stash house” for the storage and distribution of cocaine and hydrocodone. Randall faces a maximum possible sentence of 190 years' imprisonment and a fine of $5.25 million dollars.
In addition, Randall also pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and a mixture containing methamphetamine. Randall faces an additional maximum possible sentence of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of $1 million dollars.
3. Union County Resident Lapriest Darnell Beacham was also named as a co-defendant in a separate indictment along with Willie E. Randall, Jr. Beacham pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Beacham faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of $1 million dollars.
4. Union County Resident Willard Dee Farr pled guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion. Farr faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.
United States District Judge Henry F. Floyd accepted the guilty pleas and will sentence the defendants at a later date.
Mr. McDonald stated that the case was investigated by agents of the FBI, the IRS-Criminal Investigation, and SLED, and that Assistant United States Attorneys Mark C. Moore, Nancy C. Wicker, and J.D. Rowell of the Columbia office prosecuted the cases.
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Information - SC FBI
1. Former Union County Sheriff Wesley Howard Wells pled guilty today in federal court in Spartanburg to lying to federal investigators. Evidence presented at today’s hearing established that Wells made sizeable loans to an individual, resulting in significant interest income to Wells. In March 2009, Wells made false statements to federal law enforcement agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning his involvement in concealing his receipt of taxable interest income and the existence of documents acknowledging the same. Wells faces a maximum possible sentence of five years' imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.
2. Former Union County Tax Assessor Willie E. Randall, Jr., pled guilty to conspiracy, extortion, soliciting and accepting bribes, money laundering, structuring financial transactions to evade federal reporting requirements, and knowingly allowing the Union County Tax Assessor’s Office to be used as a “stash house” for the storage and distribution of cocaine and hydrocodone. Randall faces a maximum possible sentence of 190 years' imprisonment and a fine of $5.25 million dollars.
In addition, Randall also pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and a mixture containing methamphetamine. Randall faces an additional maximum possible sentence of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of $1 million dollars.
3. Union County Resident Lapriest Darnell Beacham was also named as a co-defendant in a separate indictment along with Willie E. Randall, Jr. Beacham pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Beacham faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of $1 million dollars.
4. Union County Resident Willard Dee Farr pled guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion. Farr faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.
United States District Judge Henry F. Floyd accepted the guilty pleas and will sentence the defendants at a later date.
Mr. McDonald stated that the case was investigated by agents of the FBI, the IRS-Criminal Investigation, and SLED, and that Assistant United States Attorneys Mark C. Moore, Nancy C. Wicker, and J.D. Rowell of the Columbia office prosecuted the cases.
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Information - SC FBI
Friday, January 08, 2010
Former Officer Donald Bailey Pleads Not Guilty to Accepting Cash From Inmate
A former Baton Rouge police corporal accused of soliciting and accepting cash from a Parish Prison inmate told a state District Court judge Friday that he is innocent.
Donald Bailey, 49, pleaded not guilty in state District Judge Chip Moore’s court to one count each of bribery, corrupt influencing and malfeasance in office.
Bailey, a 14-year veteran of the police force who coordinated the Targeted Violent Offender Program, declined comment after the hearing.
Bailey’s attorney, Mike Walsh, said he would be in a better position to comment after he meets with Assistant Attorney General David Caldwell to review evidence in the case.
The state Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting Bailey because District Attorney Hillar Moore III is a key witness in the case, Caldwell has said.
Bailey approached Moore last year for help getting a Parish Prison inmate released, Caldwell has said. Moore immediately contacted the appropriate authorities.
State Police have said detectives arranged for the inmate to make a recorded telephone call to Bailey from Parish Prison. The inmate told Bailey he needed help getting out of jail.
Caldwell has said Bailey agreed on Sept. 15 to aid the inmate. Bailey allegedly told the inmate he would have the charges dismissed and the parole hold lifted in exchange for $12,000.
Bailey then contacted the District Attorney’s Office and the Office of Probation and Parole to request the dismissal of the charges and the lifting of the parole hold, State Police have said.
Both agencies, working with detectives, allowed the charges to be dropped and the parole hold lifted, State Police have said.
State Police detectives arranged for the inmate to meet with Bailey. During a meeting on Sept. 28, Bailey accepted $1,400 for his assistance, State Police have said.
State Police arrested Bailey that day at Police Department headquarters. The police officer resigned from the force Oct. 7 in lieu of termination.
Donald Bailey, 49, pleaded not guilty in state District Judge Chip Moore’s court to one count each of bribery, corrupt influencing and malfeasance in office.
Bailey, a 14-year veteran of the police force who coordinated the Targeted Violent Offender Program, declined comment after the hearing.
Bailey’s attorney, Mike Walsh, said he would be in a better position to comment after he meets with Assistant Attorney General David Caldwell to review evidence in the case.
The state Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting Bailey because District Attorney Hillar Moore III is a key witness in the case, Caldwell has said.
Bailey approached Moore last year for help getting a Parish Prison inmate released, Caldwell has said. Moore immediately contacted the appropriate authorities.
State Police have said detectives arranged for the inmate to make a recorded telephone call to Bailey from Parish Prison. The inmate told Bailey he needed help getting out of jail.
Caldwell has said Bailey agreed on Sept. 15 to aid the inmate. Bailey allegedly told the inmate he would have the charges dismissed and the parole hold lifted in exchange for $12,000.
Bailey then contacted the District Attorney’s Office and the Office of Probation and Parole to request the dismissal of the charges and the lifting of the parole hold, State Police have said.
Both agencies, working with detectives, allowed the charges to be dropped and the parole hold lifted, State Police have said.
State Police detectives arranged for the inmate to meet with Bailey. During a meeting on Sept. 28, Bailey accepted $1,400 for his assistance, State Police have said.
State Police arrested Bailey that day at Police Department headquarters. The police officer resigned from the force Oct. 7 in lieu of termination.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Cpl Donald Bailey Arrested for Taking Money for Favors
A veteran Baton Rouge police officer arrested Monday evening by Louisiana State Police for allegedly accepting cash from an inmate to get the jailed man's charges dismissed and his parole hold lifted bonded out of jail early Tuesday morning.
East Baton Rouge Parish jail officials said Cpl. Donald Bailey, 49, was released on a $10,000 bond around 2 a.m.
Bailey was charged with malfeasance in office and corrupt influencing. Investigators said they found out Bailey extorted money from the inmate and set up an operation to catch him in the act.
Troopers recorded a telephone call between Bailey and the inmate. During the call, the inmate told Bailey he needed help getting out of the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a cocaine possession charge and a parole hold. According to state police, Bailey told the inmate he would help him in exchange for $12,000.
The officer allegedly then contacted the district attorney's office and the parole office to make the requests. The agencies allowed the requests to happen and once the inmate was out of jail, a meeting was arranged between the inmate and Bailey. Investigators reported Bailey accepted $1,400 in cash. He was then arrested and booked into the parish prison.
Bailey is a 14-year veteran of the department and was the coordinator of the Targeted Violent Offender Program. Bailey was placed on administrative leave "pending a legally mandated pre-termination hearing," the department said in a statement late Monday evening.
"To say I'm disappointed would be a major understatement," Police Chief Jeff LeDuff said. "It hurts me personally and it hurts all of us professionally, anytime an officer violates the public trust."
LeDuff said he asked Louisiana State Police to conduct an independent investigation after first hearing of allegations against the corporal earlier this month.
"Allegations of corruption are taken very seriously and need to be investigated immediately," LeDuff said. "Many times we conduct those inquiries in-house. But in this case, Bailey was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Bureau, and we wanted to be certain we could maintain the integrity of the investigation, so we requested the assistance of Louisiana State Police."
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Officer George Langan Arrested for Corruption
Washington County District Attorney Steven Toprani said that a Monongahela police officer arrested yesterday on drug and corruption charges represents a culture of corruption he has been wrestling with since he took office 20 months ago.
Monongahela patrolman George M. Langan thwarted the efforts of a Washington County drug task force by tipping off drug dealers and also operated as a drug dealer, Mr. Topriani said. He also threatened some people who authorities say purchased drugs from him.
He described the patrolman as "rogue" officer who was "an important figure in Monongahela's cocaine trade."
Mr. Langan's arrest brings to five the number of local police officers charged with corruption and related crimes under Mr. Toprani's brief regime.
"I view the allegations and arrest with a profound sense of sadness," said Mr. Toprani, who lives in neighboring Carroll. "My commitment to stamp out corruption remains firm."
Mr. Toprani's comments came during a news conference in front of the county courthouse yesterday, just hours after Officer Langan, 45, was arrested and lodged in the county jail on $500,000 bond.
Officer Langan, a 16-year veteran of the Monongahela police, was called into the police department about two hours into his shift yesterday morning and told to remove his gun and belt for a random drug test.
He was taken into custody and charged with 11 counts of violating the drug act, and 23 counts of public corruption, including official oppression, evidence tampering and criminal conspiracy.
His arrest stemmed from an indictment handed down Thursday from a new countywide grand jury empaneled earlier this year by Mr. Toprani.
The indictment capped a four-month investigation into corruption and drug dealing in the Mon Valley, and there could be more arrests, Mr. Toprani said.
He said Officer Langan was targeted by the grand jury after members of the drug task force became suspicious of possible police corruption in the Monongahela area.
The task force, made up of several dozen police officers from throughout the county, acts in secret to investigate and eliminate the local drug trade.
Detective Ronald J. Levi of the drug task force said doubts were raised recently when his team coordinated several undercover purchases of the narcotic painkiller oxycontin from a group of drug dealers in the Mon Valley.
Local police were notified shortly before a final buy and coordinating raid were planned, Detective Levi said, but it became obvious that the dealers had been tipped off and the plan went awry.
"We suspected something was up," he said.
The group didn't have far to look, as Mr. Langan -- called "G-Money" by friends -- had been under investigation for at least the last 10 years by the state attorney general's office, the state police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Toprani said.
The details of those investigations are unclear for now, but Monongahela police Chief Brian Tempest said during his 20-odd years as a local patrolman, he suspected Mr. Langan of wrongdoing and forwarded his concerns to then-chief Dennis Mendicino.
"I feel this has been going on for 10 years," said Chief Tempest, who was appointed chief in January 2008, when new Mayor Robert Kepics was elected. Ex-chief Mendicino, who still works on the force of 18 officers, was demoted to sergeant.
Chief Tempest said there were rumors for years that members of the police force were corrupt, and said he's glad to finally be able to address them.
"It's a sad day for law enforcement," he said. "I feel sad. He was my friend."
Although details will remain sketchy until the grand jury indictment is unsealed during a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday, the criminal complaint filed yesterday alleges Mr. Langan was in possession of cocaine on or about June 15 and June 17, when an undercover operation was launched.
During the same time period, he is accused of delivering cocaine to Sgt. Mendicino's ex-wife, Lori Mendicino, and to Mike Tatar, Nick Simon and Wendy Biagini -- who he has since been accused of threatening.
In April, police said Mr. Langan tipped off Mr. Tatar, Millie Schiffer and Kurt Neff to pending arrests and search warrants.
Mr. Langan's actions rose to the level of racketeering, the complaint alleges, and put the lives of other law enforcement officials in "grave danger."
Mr. Toprani said the investigation wouldn't have been possible without the grand jury, "a very effective tool," which hears confidential testimony and has the power to compel cooperation.
He said it's possible that more charges will be forthcoming, and that Mr. Langan wasn't acting alone.
"This is certainly a difficult day for law enforcement, but it's a necessary one," he said.
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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/news/s_641579.html
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Ex-Sheriff Charlie Morris Sentenced to 6 Years
A former head of the Florida Sheriffs’ Association has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison in a money laundering and corruption case.
Ex-sheriff Charlie Morris apologized to his north Florida county and former employees before he was sentenced Tuesday to 71 months. The sentence was near the maximum allowed. U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier told Morris he had abused his office and betrayed the public’s trust.
FBI agents arrested Morris in February in Las Vegas. He had $30,000 cash in a hotel safe and $5,000 in his pockets at the time.
The government traced the money back to a scheme in which Morris and Adams deposited bonus checks in employees’ accounts and asked the workers to return a portion of the money in cash.
Ex-sheriff Charlie Morris apologized to his north Florida county and former employees before he was sentenced Tuesday to 71 months. The sentence was near the maximum allowed. U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier told Morris he had abused his office and betrayed the public’s trust.
FBI agents arrested Morris in February in Las Vegas. He had $30,000 cash in a hotel safe and $5,000 in his pockets at the time.
The government traced the money back to a scheme in which Morris and Adams deposited bonus checks in employees’ accounts and asked the workers to return a portion of the money in cash.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Officer Bernard Hall Jr Arrested for Corruption
A second Benton Harbor police officer was arrested on Friday on similar corruption charges that sent a narcotics officer to prison earlier this year.
The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Michigan said narcotics supervisor Bernard Hall Jr., 33, of Benton Harbor, faces a three count indictment.
Hall supervised officer Andrew Thomas Collins, who was convicted of planting drug evidence and falsifying search warrants on Jan. 26.
He is serving a 37-month prison sentence.
Hall supervised Collins and other officers in the Benton Harbor Police Department’s narcotics unit, the FBI said.
Hall is accused of working with Collins in falsifying search warrants and planting drug evidence on suspected drug dealers and executing search warrants without proper probable cause.
He also is accused of unlawfully seizing personal property during drug raids and keeping money and property for his own use, Brian Delaney, criminal chief with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said.
Count two of Hall’s indictment alleges that he made false statements during the federal grand jury investigating Collins.
"In particular the indictment alleges that Hall lied when he testified under oath that ‘I’ve never seen him (Collins) take money from anybody" and "I’ve never witnessed him (Collins) do anything illegal," Delaney said.
The third count alleges that Hall made false statements to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office when he claimed he had overseen a drug deal by a confidential informant on Feb. 20, 2007 at 849 LaVette St., Delaney said.
"In truth and in fact" there was no drug purchase made at that time at that location, Delaney said.
Hall resigned from the police department and is scheduled for a hearing Friday in federal court in Grand Rapids.
Benton Harbor Police Chief Al Mingo and officials from the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the charges during a press conference Friday morning.
More than 100 drug cases and convictions that the two officers handled are being reviewed by the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office and by federal prosecutors for possible dismissal.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Former Officer Jamie Buford Receives 6-Year Sentence
A former South Bend Police officer will spend six years behind bars for selling stolen guns and drugs.
Back in February, former St. Joseph County Officers Andrew Taghon and Ryan Huston and former South Bend Officer Jamie Buford all pleaded guilty to wire fraud, drug, and weapons charges.
They took drugs, guns, and electronics from two trailers and sold them with the help of a convicted felon.
On Thursday, Buford was sentenced to six years behind bars.
Taghon was sentenced on Wednesday and will spend six and a half years behind bars.
Huston will learn his punishment for the crime in July.
_______________________
http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/44921282.html
Back in February, former St. Joseph County Officers Andrew Taghon and Ryan Huston and former South Bend Officer Jamie Buford all pleaded guilty to wire fraud, drug, and weapons charges.
They took drugs, guns, and electronics from two trailers and sold them with the help of a convicted felon.
On Thursday, Buford was sentenced to six years behind bars.
Taghon was sentenced on Wednesday and will spend six and a half years behind bars.
Huston will learn his punishment for the crime in July.
_______________________
http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/44921282.html
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Seven McKeesport Officers Suspended for Pay Scam
Seven McKeesport police officers suspended after city officials said they bilked the city of unearned overtime pay included two lieutenants and all four members of the department's narcotics unit. Two weeks ago, after Chief Joe Pero said he discovered that the officers were billing the city for court appearances they never made, the seven were suspended without pay. Officials declined to identify the officers involved, but sources familiar with the investigation said the group suspended included the lieutnenant and three detectives who constituted the narcotics unit, in addition to another detective, another lieutenant and a patrolman. All were reassigned. The four in the narcotics squad also were members of the District Attorney's Narcotics Enforcement Team, a county-wide task force that includes members of local police departments and investigators from the district attorney's office. Mike Manko, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, confirmed that some of the suspended officers had connections to DANET. "While we don't anticipate any problems with cases they have been on, we will be reviewing all of those cases to make sure there are no problems," he said in an e-mail.
Last week, the Allegheny County district attorney's office recommended that McKeesport audit cases involving the men going back to January 2008, to make sure all incidents of misappropriation are caught. Mayor Jim Brewster said last week that he had elected to use a private firm for the audit. Meanwhile, some public and elected officials expressed frustration that they were kept out of the loop of what was going on in the department. A few said they learned of the situation from media reports or when they were contacted by reporters. "I think that's poor communication flow, not keeping your council informed," said Councilman Paul Shelly Jr. "I wish the entire council and the [city] controller [Ray Malinchak] had been kept abreast as soon ... as the chief thought he had found something." Mr. Shelly was hesitant to comment further because he said he didn't know enough about what had happened. But he said he was pleased that the chief and the mayor moved quickly to rectify the situation. On Tuesday, Mr. Shelly sent a letter to council members and other city officials requesting a special meeting to discuss the issue. He said he hoped he would learn more then.
Mr. Malinchak said he had received no correspondence from the mayor or the police chief regarding the situation, and was highly skeptical of the mayor's claim that the city had not lost any money in the scheme. Last week, Mayor Brewster said the city was able to recover the money paid in unearned overtime because the men were suspended without pay. Mr. Malinchak said he wanted evidence that the officers actually paid the money back, and that suspending them without pay was not punishment enough. "If someone down at the city thinks they have the authority ... to negotiate another settlement, then I have a problem with that," he said. Councilman Dale McCall said he thought it was proper that the mayor and the chief handled the situation without council's oversight, noting that the police department is officially overseen by the mayor. "I give them a lot of credit for taking the bull by the horns and taking care of that," he said. Ultimately, he said that he trusted Mayor Brewster and Chief Pero to handle the situation wisely.
Last week, the Allegheny County district attorney's office recommended that McKeesport audit cases involving the men going back to January 2008, to make sure all incidents of misappropriation are caught. Mayor Jim Brewster said last week that he had elected to use a private firm for the audit. Meanwhile, some public and elected officials expressed frustration that they were kept out of the loop of what was going on in the department. A few said they learned of the situation from media reports or when they were contacted by reporters. "I think that's poor communication flow, not keeping your council informed," said Councilman Paul Shelly Jr. "I wish the entire council and the [city] controller [Ray Malinchak] had been kept abreast as soon ... as the chief thought he had found something." Mr. Shelly was hesitant to comment further because he said he didn't know enough about what had happened. But he said he was pleased that the chief and the mayor moved quickly to rectify the situation. On Tuesday, Mr. Shelly sent a letter to council members and other city officials requesting a special meeting to discuss the issue. He said he hoped he would learn more then.
Mr. Malinchak said he had received no correspondence from the mayor or the police chief regarding the situation, and was highly skeptical of the mayor's claim that the city had not lost any money in the scheme. Last week, Mayor Brewster said the city was able to recover the money paid in unearned overtime because the men were suspended without pay. Mr. Malinchak said he wanted evidence that the officers actually paid the money back, and that suspending them without pay was not punishment enough. "If someone down at the city thinks they have the authority ... to negotiate another settlement, then I have a problem with that," he said. Councilman Dale McCall said he thought it was proper that the mayor and the chief handled the situation without council's oversight, noting that the police department is officially overseen by the mayor. "I give them a lot of credit for taking the bull by the horns and taking care of that," he said. Ultimately, he said that he trusted Mayor Brewster and Chief Pero to handle the situation wisely.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Former Officer Jerry Bowens Accused of Shooting two Women
A former New York City police officer who resigned last year after being arrested on corruption charges is suspected of fatally shooting his 28-year-old ex-girlfriend and wounding another woman in Brooklyn on Sunday, the police said.
The police said the shooting happened shortly after 4:30 p.m. inside Apartment 1B of a condominium building at 84 Engert Avenue in Greenpoint.
The ex-girlfriend, identified by a family friend as Catherine D’Onofrio, was shot once in the head and taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead.
The second woman, also 28, who lives in the apartment, suffered graze wounds to the head and arm and was listed in stable condition at Bellevue, the police said.
The police said the women were friends, possibly co-workers at a law firm.
The suspect, Jerry Bowens, 43, was identified by the surviving victim, the police said. Mr. Bowens was not in police custody as of late Sunday night, said Carlos Nieves, a police spokesman.
The police described Mr. Bowens as a former undercover narcotics unit officer who resigned last year after being arrested on corruption charges.
Mr. Bowens and another officer were accused in court papers of taking drugs and cash they had recovered and using the drugs to pay a confidential informant.
Four narcotics officers and a deputy police chief were arrested in the scandal. After the arrests, the Brooklyn district attorney dismissed the charges or vacated convictions in 183 cases that involved the accused officers. The investigation is continuing.
An attempt to reach a lawyer who represented Mr. Bowens in the corruption case was unsuccessful.
Annie Turchiano, who identified herself on Sunday as Ms. D’Onofrio’s godmother, said the woman worked as a legal secretary for a law firm in Manhattan and took care of her parents, both legally blind, at their home on 70th Street in Bensonhurst.
“The parents will never be the same,” Ms. Turchiano said.
Ms. Turchiano said that she met Mr. Bowens about two weeks ago at a dinner celebrating her goddaughter’s birthday. He was introduced by Ms. D’Onofrio as her “friend,” Ms. Turchiano said, adding that she believed the young woman was dating another man.
Later, Ms. Turchiano stood outside her goddaughter’s home, smoking a cigarette, lamenting that the world had lost something more than a young woman’s life.
The last time she saw Ms. D’Onofrio, she said she told her goddaughter that she was going to change the world, “one by one.”
“She would take in a cockroach if it needed her,” she said.
Neighbors gathered on Sunday night in the vestibule of the condominium building where the shooting occurred, discussing how such violence could seep into their complex, nine stories of glass and aluminum enclosing million-dollar penthouses and $700,000 apartments.
Shortly before 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Ms. D’Onofrio’s father, John D’Onofrio, walked his daughter’s dog, a white mutt, up and down her street. He walked quickly, manically, up and down the block.
At one point he turned and said, “There’s nothing to say and nothing to be done.”
_________________
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5877601.ece
The police said the shooting happened shortly after 4:30 p.m. inside Apartment 1B of a condominium building at 84 Engert Avenue in Greenpoint.
The ex-girlfriend, identified by a family friend as Catherine D’Onofrio, was shot once in the head and taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead.
The second woman, also 28, who lives in the apartment, suffered graze wounds to the head and arm and was listed in stable condition at Bellevue, the police said.
The police said the women were friends, possibly co-workers at a law firm.
The suspect, Jerry Bowens, 43, was identified by the surviving victim, the police said. Mr. Bowens was not in police custody as of late Sunday night, said Carlos Nieves, a police spokesman.
The police described Mr. Bowens as a former undercover narcotics unit officer who resigned last year after being arrested on corruption charges.
Mr. Bowens and another officer were accused in court papers of taking drugs and cash they had recovered and using the drugs to pay a confidential informant.
Four narcotics officers and a deputy police chief were arrested in the scandal. After the arrests, the Brooklyn district attorney dismissed the charges or vacated convictions in 183 cases that involved the accused officers. The investigation is continuing.
An attempt to reach a lawyer who represented Mr. Bowens in the corruption case was unsuccessful.
Annie Turchiano, who identified herself on Sunday as Ms. D’Onofrio’s godmother, said the woman worked as a legal secretary for a law firm in Manhattan and took care of her parents, both legally blind, at their home on 70th Street in Bensonhurst.
“The parents will never be the same,” Ms. Turchiano said.
Ms. Turchiano said that she met Mr. Bowens about two weeks ago at a dinner celebrating her goddaughter’s birthday. He was introduced by Ms. D’Onofrio as her “friend,” Ms. Turchiano said, adding that she believed the young woman was dating another man.
Later, Ms. Turchiano stood outside her goddaughter’s home, smoking a cigarette, lamenting that the world had lost something more than a young woman’s life.
The last time she saw Ms. D’Onofrio, she said she told her goddaughter that she was going to change the world, “one by one.”
“She would take in a cockroach if it needed her,” she said.
Neighbors gathered on Sunday night in the vestibule of the condominium building where the shooting occurred, discussing how such violence could seep into their complex, nine stories of glass and aluminum enclosing million-dollar penthouses and $700,000 apartments.
Shortly before 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Ms. D’Onofrio’s father, John D’Onofrio, walked his daughter’s dog, a white mutt, up and down her street. He walked quickly, manically, up and down the block.
At one point he turned and said, “There’s nothing to say and nothing to be done.”
_________________
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5877601.ece
Friday, March 06, 2009
Two Former Detectives Convicted of Being Assassins for Mob
Two highly decorated former detectives who were convicted of serving as assassins for the mob, helping to kill at least eight men in one of the most spectacular police corruption scandals in New York City’s history, were sentenced on Friday to life in prison — for the second time. (The sentencing is the topic of Jim Dwyer’s About New York column, which notes that both men have been drawing tax-free disability pensions.)
The two men, Louis J. Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, were convicted of murder in 2006 and were to be sentenced to life in prison. But then, in a stunning reversal, the federal judge overseeing the case, Jack B. Weinstein, threw out the convictions. He ruled that although there was little doubt that Mr. Eppolito and Mr. Caracappa had “kidnapped, murdered, and assisted kidnappers and murderers,” he had no choice but to let them go because the five-year statute of limitations in conspiracy cases had run out.
Federal prosecutors appealed Judge Weinstein’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which last September reinstated the convictions.
The appellate court concluded that Judge Weinstein’s view of the conspiracy was too narrow, and that it had continued to exist within five years of when the men were charged. Although murders and other serious crimes that the men were accused of occurred in Brooklyn in the 1980s and 1990s, prosecutors used more recent and less serious charges — money laundering and narcotics distribution in Las Vegas in 2004 and 2005 — to bring the earlier acts under the umbrella of an ongoing criminal enterprise.
The two former detectives were defiant in Federal District Court in Brooklyn on Friday, as the life sentences were imposed.
“I was a hard-working cop,” Mr. Eppolito told Judge Weinstein, as reported by The Associated Press. “I never hurt anybody. I never kidnapped anybody. … I never did any of this.”
Mr. Caracappa told the judge, “You’ll never take away my will to prove how innocent I am.”
In addition to the life sentences, Mr. Eppolito, 61, received an additional 100 years for various other offenses including money laundering, and was fined $4.7 million. Mr. Caracappa, 67, received an additional 80 years, and a $4.2 million fine.
In a statement, the United States attorney in Brooklyn, Benton J. Campbell, said he hoped the sentences would “bring some closure for the families of the victims of these defendants’ unspeakable crimes and for the citizens of the city whose trust they betrayed.”
The two men, who logged a combined 44 years on the job, were found guilty of secretly being on the payroll of the Luchese underboss, Anthony Casso, starting in the mid 1980s.
The A.P. reported:
Caracappa left the New York Police Department in 1992 after establishing a special unit for mob murder investigations. Eppolito, whose father was a member of the Gambino crime family, was a decorated officer who went on to play a bit part in “GoodFellas” and launch an unsuccessful career as a screenwriter.
The pair were arrested a 2005 drug sting in Las Vegas, where they had retired.
__________
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Stories From Teens Sentenced by Corrupt Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr
It started with a Crunch bar and escalated with a pillow. Alyson Baber thought it would end at home. But it didn’t.Ms. Baber, then 15, remembers hitting her mother in the backside three times with a pillow during an argument over the candy bar. Her mother called the police, and before Ms. Baber knew it, she was in front of then-Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr.
“He asked me how I would plead, and I thought, ‘I did hit her with a pillow, so I guess I did do it,’ ” Ms. Baber said. “Everyone thought it was just another one of my mom’s stupid little stunts for attention. No one thought I would ever go away.”
In January 2003, Ms. Baber was sentenced to 56 days in a detention facility.
She is one of thousands of juveniles sentenced by Judge Ciavarella since 2002. Those found guilty were often sent to private detention centers or to wilderness camps like Camp Adams in Jim Thorpe.
Earlier this month, Judge Ciavarella and former Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan pleaded guilty to accepting $2.6 million in exchange for facilitating the development and county use of two privately owned juvenile detention centers — the Pennsylvania Child Care Center in Pittston Twp. and Western Pennsylvania Child Care in Butler County.
Because juvenile records are sealed, The Sunday Voice relied on 11 young adults and five parents who agreed to discuss their experiences with the Luzerne County juvenile court system. Most admit the juveniles deserved punishment but feel their cases were handled unfairly.
Some feel like pawns, believing their sentences were simply moneymakers.
Some are suing the judges and their business partners.
Some cried when remembering their time away from home.
All expressed dismay with what they called a broken judicial system.
They want it fixed.
Alyson Baber, 21
Most of Ms. Baber’s sentence was spent at Camp Adams, a world away from her home in quiet Forty Fort. Many girls were there for stealing cars, dealing and using drugs, even armed assault.
“Then there was me, the pillow batterer,” Ms. Baber said. “That was a lifestyle I should never have been exposed to.”
The classes — they did word search puzzles in history, she said — left Ms. Baber far behind when she returned to high school.
It was difficult to maintain good hygiene.
“The shampoo made our hair come out in clumps,” she said. “I had my hair put in box braids so I wouldn’t have to wash it as much.
“My caseworker told me to take the braids out of my hair because Judge Ciavarella wouldn’t talk to kids with braids in their hair because he thought they had a bad attitude.”
After serving her time, Ms. Baber switched schools and moved in with her father in the Lake-Lehman area. The rumors followed her. She transferred again before her senior year, this time to Bishop O’Reilly High School.
“I think people who I went to high school with today still believe I stabbed my mom,” Ms. Baber said.
Ms. Baber is now a senior studying biology at Delaware Valley College. She wants to become a veterinarian. The few friends she’s told about her stint in Camp Adams hardly believe it.
“If you really think about it, I don’t think that’s a crime,” Ms. Baber said. “People get hit by pillows every day. I would never mean to hurt my mother.”
Bree McCabe, 20
Michelle McCabe is living a mother’s nightmare: her daughter is homeless and far from her friends and family. McCabe blames the years Bree spent in juvenile detention centers like Pennsylvania Child Care.
“She has no idea of how to function without someone telling her what to do from the moment she wakes up,” Ms. McCabe, who was interviewed on Bree’s behalf, said. “That’s going to make anyone a little crazy, when you’re torn away from your family and locked up. I firmly believe that had Bree been with me, she wouldn’t be where she is today.”
Bree was 13 when she was in a shoving match at Crestwood High School. It was her first offense. She violated her probation by smoking marijuana and would later spend five years in and out of various facilities across the country. Judge Ciavarella sentenced her every time, Ms. McCabe said.
Her mother believes Bree missed out on normal high school experiences. Instead of learning how to do simple tasks such as writing checks, she learned how to hustle cigarettes.
“She missed all these things, and it’s really taken its toll,” Ms. McCabe said. “She has zero self-esteem. She does wrong because she doesn’t know any different.”
Bree lives in southern New Jersey and has no job prospects. Ms. McCabe wonders if her daughter will ever lead a normal life.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from,” Ms. McCabe said. “You trust the system, and the system screws you.”
Jesse Miers, 19
Jesse Miers was 17 when a friend’s younger brother showed him a stolen gun.
Mr. Miers, of Exeter, considered himself a mentor to the 13-year-old boy, who wanted to threaten bullies with the gun.
“He wanted to take the gun and kill someone,” Mr. Miers said. “What if it happened? That would have been on my conscience because I could have stopped it. So I did.”
He took the gun away from the boy and gave the gun to his boss, who told Mr. Miers he would take care of it.
Months later, Mr. Miers was arrested for possession of a stolen firearm. He was ordered to appear before Judge Ciavarella and spent a week in the Pittston Twp. detention center, awaiting a hearing.
“Immediately, I wanted a lawyer,” he said. “I was charged with a felony. I wanted a lawyer to represent me. The hearing came; one never showed up.”
Mr. Miers wrote a note to Judge Ciavarella.
“He didn’t even read it,” Mr. Miers recalled. “He just put it next to him ... didn’t even bother with it.”
Mr. Miers was shackled and bused to Western Pennsylvania Child Care, where he was to serve three months.
“That place was horrible, fights everywhere,” he said. “I didn’t belong there.”
Mr. Miers was eventually released and put on probation.
“I feel I got in trouble for trying to do the right thing,” Mr. Miers said. “But I feel bad for half these kids. You went there thinking you were going to get a fair trial, that you were going to be heard. Then you got 45 seconds in front of the judge. You got brushed off.”
Paige Cicardo, 18
Paige Cicardo threw a sandal at her mom during an argument.
Judge Ciavarella threw six months back.
Starting in summer 2006, Ms. Cicardo spent her sentence at Western Pennsylvania Child Care and Pennsylvania Child Care. Her mom may have pressed charges to teach her a lesson, Ms. Cicardo said, but not to see her daughter sent away.
“I think it was wrong, because the case wasn’t that bad,” Ms. Cicardo said. “I could see, like, if he wanted to punish me, he could have given me probation or something.”
Going away was difficult, and Ms. Cicardo said she would have done anything to get back home with her family. She didn’t understand why she was locked up with girls who had used drugs, stolen or worked as prostitutes.
Everything was different when she was released. She felt unstable.
Then she moved with her mother to Mount Pocono. She enrolled in school, met her boyfriend and had a baby. Donnivan is 7 months old.
Ms. Cicardo is in her last semester of high school and working a part-time job.
She still thinks her sentence was unjust, but she’s proud of how her life has unfolded.
“I wouldn’t want to change anything, because I believe everything happens for a reason,” she said.
________________
More stories: http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/02/22/news/sc_times_trib.20090222.a.pg1.tt22cdjuveniles_s2.2323110_top3.txt
“He asked me how I would plead, and I thought, ‘I did hit her with a pillow, so I guess I did do it,’ ” Ms. Baber said. “Everyone thought it was just another one of my mom’s stupid little stunts for attention. No one thought I would ever go away.”
In January 2003, Ms. Baber was sentenced to 56 days in a detention facility.
She is one of thousands of juveniles sentenced by Judge Ciavarella since 2002. Those found guilty were often sent to private detention centers or to wilderness camps like Camp Adams in Jim Thorpe.
Earlier this month, Judge Ciavarella and former Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan pleaded guilty to accepting $2.6 million in exchange for facilitating the development and county use of two privately owned juvenile detention centers — the Pennsylvania Child Care Center in Pittston Twp. and Western Pennsylvania Child Care in Butler County.
Because juvenile records are sealed, The Sunday Voice relied on 11 young adults and five parents who agreed to discuss their experiences with the Luzerne County juvenile court system. Most admit the juveniles deserved punishment but feel their cases were handled unfairly.
Some feel like pawns, believing their sentences were simply moneymakers.
Some are suing the judges and their business partners.
Some cried when remembering their time away from home.
All expressed dismay with what they called a broken judicial system.
They want it fixed.
Alyson Baber, 21
Most of Ms. Baber’s sentence was spent at Camp Adams, a world away from her home in quiet Forty Fort. Many girls were there for stealing cars, dealing and using drugs, even armed assault.
“Then there was me, the pillow batterer,” Ms. Baber said. “That was a lifestyle I should never have been exposed to.”
The classes — they did word search puzzles in history, she said — left Ms. Baber far behind when she returned to high school.
It was difficult to maintain good hygiene.
“The shampoo made our hair come out in clumps,” she said. “I had my hair put in box braids so I wouldn’t have to wash it as much.
“My caseworker told me to take the braids out of my hair because Judge Ciavarella wouldn’t talk to kids with braids in their hair because he thought they had a bad attitude.”
After serving her time, Ms. Baber switched schools and moved in with her father in the Lake-Lehman area. The rumors followed her. She transferred again before her senior year, this time to Bishop O’Reilly High School.
“I think people who I went to high school with today still believe I stabbed my mom,” Ms. Baber said.
Ms. Baber is now a senior studying biology at Delaware Valley College. She wants to become a veterinarian. The few friends she’s told about her stint in Camp Adams hardly believe it.
“If you really think about it, I don’t think that’s a crime,” Ms. Baber said. “People get hit by pillows every day. I would never mean to hurt my mother.”
Bree McCabe, 20
Michelle McCabe is living a mother’s nightmare: her daughter is homeless and far from her friends and family. McCabe blames the years Bree spent in juvenile detention centers like Pennsylvania Child Care.
“She has no idea of how to function without someone telling her what to do from the moment she wakes up,” Ms. McCabe, who was interviewed on Bree’s behalf, said. “That’s going to make anyone a little crazy, when you’re torn away from your family and locked up. I firmly believe that had Bree been with me, she wouldn’t be where she is today.”
Bree was 13 when she was in a shoving match at Crestwood High School. It was her first offense. She violated her probation by smoking marijuana and would later spend five years in and out of various facilities across the country. Judge Ciavarella sentenced her every time, Ms. McCabe said.
Her mother believes Bree missed out on normal high school experiences. Instead of learning how to do simple tasks such as writing checks, she learned how to hustle cigarettes.
“She missed all these things, and it’s really taken its toll,” Ms. McCabe said. “She has zero self-esteem. She does wrong because she doesn’t know any different.”
Bree lives in southern New Jersey and has no job prospects. Ms. McCabe wonders if her daughter will ever lead a normal life.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from,” Ms. McCabe said. “You trust the system, and the system screws you.”
Jesse Miers, 19
Jesse Miers was 17 when a friend’s younger brother showed him a stolen gun.
Mr. Miers, of Exeter, considered himself a mentor to the 13-year-old boy, who wanted to threaten bullies with the gun.
“He wanted to take the gun and kill someone,” Mr. Miers said. “What if it happened? That would have been on my conscience because I could have stopped it. So I did.”
He took the gun away from the boy and gave the gun to his boss, who told Mr. Miers he would take care of it.
Months later, Mr. Miers was arrested for possession of a stolen firearm. He was ordered to appear before Judge Ciavarella and spent a week in the Pittston Twp. detention center, awaiting a hearing.
“Immediately, I wanted a lawyer,” he said. “I was charged with a felony. I wanted a lawyer to represent me. The hearing came; one never showed up.”
Mr. Miers wrote a note to Judge Ciavarella.
“He didn’t even read it,” Mr. Miers recalled. “He just put it next to him ... didn’t even bother with it.”
Mr. Miers was shackled and bused to Western Pennsylvania Child Care, where he was to serve three months.
“That place was horrible, fights everywhere,” he said. “I didn’t belong there.”
Mr. Miers was eventually released and put on probation.
“I feel I got in trouble for trying to do the right thing,” Mr. Miers said. “But I feel bad for half these kids. You went there thinking you were going to get a fair trial, that you were going to be heard. Then you got 45 seconds in front of the judge. You got brushed off.”
Paige Cicardo, 18
Paige Cicardo threw a sandal at her mom during an argument.
Judge Ciavarella threw six months back.
Starting in summer 2006, Ms. Cicardo spent her sentence at Western Pennsylvania Child Care and Pennsylvania Child Care. Her mom may have pressed charges to teach her a lesson, Ms. Cicardo said, but not to see her daughter sent away.
“I think it was wrong, because the case wasn’t that bad,” Ms. Cicardo said. “I could see, like, if he wanted to punish me, he could have given me probation or something.”
Going away was difficult, and Ms. Cicardo said she would have done anything to get back home with her family. She didn’t understand why she was locked up with girls who had used drugs, stolen or worked as prostitutes.
Everything was different when she was released. She felt unstable.
Then she moved with her mother to Mount Pocono. She enrolled in school, met her boyfriend and had a baby. Donnivan is 7 months old.
Ms. Cicardo is in her last semester of high school and working a part-time job.
She still thinks her sentence was unjust, but she’s proud of how her life has unfolded.
“I wouldn’t want to change anything, because I believe everything happens for a reason,” she said.
________________
More stories: http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/02/22/news/sc_times_trib.20090222.a.pg1.tt22cdjuveniles_s2.2323110_top3.txt
Mayor and Police Chief Miles Jenkins Arrested for Corruption
The mayor and police chief of a federally funded Louisiana speed trap town were arrested Wednesday on felony corruption charges. A Tensas Parish Grand Jury indicted Waterproof Mayor Bobby Higginbotham for felony theft, malfeasance in office, payroll fraud and using public funds for personal use. Waterproof Police Chief Miles Jenkins faces three felony counts for receiving bonuses for meeting traffic ticket quotas and altering traffic citations. The activities of both officials were fueled by federal taxpayer dollars.
In 2007, Higginbotham received $37,500 from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development's Community Facilities Program for the purchase of two police cars fully equipped with the latest speed detection equipment. Higginbotham ordered Miles to use these vehicles to prey on State Highway 65 travelers as the speed limit dropped without warning to 45 MPH within the town limits.
"They have the nicest police cars in Louisiana," one commenter on the National Motorists Association Speed Trap Exchange website observed. "However they are the most unprofessionally dressed cops I've ever seen."
Even before the arrival of the new cruisers, Waterproof earned 37 percent of its budget from speeding tickets, according to a 2007 report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Higginbotham and Jenkins are out on bond awaiting trial. Louisiana State Police officials say the investigation into their activities is ongoing.
Other Information:
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/25/2599.asp
In 2007, Higginbotham received $37,500 from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development's Community Facilities Program for the purchase of two police cars fully equipped with the latest speed detection equipment. Higginbotham ordered Miles to use these vehicles to prey on State Highway 65 travelers as the speed limit dropped without warning to 45 MPH within the town limits.
"They have the nicest police cars in Louisiana," one commenter on the National Motorists Association Speed Trap Exchange website observed. "However they are the most unprofessionally dressed cops I've ever seen."
Even before the arrival of the new cruisers, Waterproof earned 37 percent of its budget from speeding tickets, according to a 2007 report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Higginbotham and Jenkins are out on bond awaiting trial. Louisiana State Police officials say the investigation into their activities is ongoing.
Other Information:
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/25/2599.asp
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