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Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #513)
Drug War Issues

Troopers telling lies, troopers selling cocaine, cops peddling coke, Border Patrols agents peddling pot, cops peddling cocaine and pot, but not a single jail or prison guard this week! Let's get to it:

In Casper, Wyoming, a Wyoming Highway Patrol officer was fired for calling in a false tip to Driving Under the Influence (DUI) hotline so he could have a pretext for pulling over and searching a vehicle he knew to be carrying a large amount of cash. Trooper Ben Peech, 36, was fired last month for filing a bogus report on the April 7 incident. A DEA agent made a second false DUI hotline report, giving Peech reason to be out on I-80 at 3:00am searching for a silver pick-up truck carrying a driver, a DEA informant, and eight duffle bags filled with cash. Peech found the truck, search it, and the money was seized by the DEA. Neither the driver nor the passenger was arrested. The federal government said the fraud will have no impact on its efforts to keep the $3.3 million cash seized during the traffic stop. No word on any disciplinary action for the lying DEA agent.

In Boston, a Massachusetts State Police officer was arrested November 29 for selling cocaine. Trooper John Foley, 62, has been a member of the department for 36 years. He is accused of selling cocaine in Saugus on October 11. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

In Nashville, Indiana, a former Nashville police officer went on trial last week on drug dealing charges. Former Officer Robert Easterday Jr., 33, was indicted in April 2006 on seven counts, including dealing in cocaine, dealing in a Schedule II controlled substance, attempted dealing in a Schedule I controlled substance and others. Of the charges, three are Class B felonies, one is a Class C felony, two are Class D felonies and the last is a Class A misdemeanor. Easterday's downfall began when his service-issue pistol turned up in the possession of a convicted felon, resulting in an investigation by the Brown County Sheriff's Office and the Indiana State Police into his broader activities that turned up the dope-dealing evidence.

In Jacksonville, Florida, a US Border Patrol agent pleaded guilty last Fridayto one count of marijuana distribution. Agent Tony "Hollywood" Henderson, 46, admitted to selling three pounds of weed to a dealer named Pablo Fernandez and an informant. Fernandez also went down and is now doing 20 months in prison. Henderson was also accused of dealing at least six more pounds to others in the area.No word on what the informant got out of it, but Henderson now faces up to five years in federal prison.

In New York City, a a former NYPD officer has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Former Officer Jose Torrado pleaded guilty to participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy in 2006 and admitted helping his brother, Edwin Torrado, distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana in the New York City metropolitan area. He went down along with several other defendants when Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents seized 135 kilos of cocaine hidden in the false wall of a truck in the Bronx.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

I think my subject sums up what I think. We live in a corrupt society controlled by rich idiotic people reigning over poorer and misfortunate people. Our country is a communist nation it's just going to take time for people to realize it. For example you don’t even have the freedom of choice when it comes to car insurance. That kind of defeats land of the free doesn’t it? Maybe if our country was lenient with first time non-violent and non-corrupt offenders maybe this country wouldn’t be in this economically grave condition that it is in now. For example if you are a first time offender you are incarcerated, then probation, then rehabilitation, and who gets the bill? We all get the bill not just the offender but everyone the judge, the prosecutor, the defense attorney, the jury, you, me we all do. Now why do I say that because if the first time offender did not get the offense the job opportunities would be greater the county, state, and federal government would receive more tax money from them not to mention them spending more money at the local store and ultimately the offender would receive more money and that would probably make them less likely to commit the crime again. How is the system set up? The offender gets the charge cant get a decent job ends up committing another crime and this costs everyone money then everyone sits around and fights over money sheriffs don’t receive enough money well at the same time schools need money and the roads need fixed and it’s amusing because all of these “experienced politicians and government bodies” (which doesn’t account for anything) they have no idea why they are short on funds. It’s because the offender you struck down cannot make a living and you are paying for his/her crimes. By not giving them another chance you have condemned everyone around you. Of course rapists, murders, corrupt cops, and violent offenders I can understand striking them down. But the college student drinking and driving or selling some marijuana to make ends meet is not the type of criminals we should be worried about. But our country is pretty well going down the tubes anyway that’s just my opinion

Mon, 04/20/2009 - 2:39am Permalink

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