Skip to main content

This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #757)
Drug War Issues

Cops, including a pair of former police chiefs, have been getting arrested on drug-related charges all over the place this past week and, of course, a jail guard, too. Let's get to it:

In Opelika, Alabama, a Lee County jail guard was arrested last Tuesday for allegedly smuggling marijuana into the jail. Dequinn Cortez Wright, 30, is charged with unlawful distribution of a controlled substance (marijuana) and second-degree promoting prison contraband. Wright went down after "some suspicions developed" that he was bringing contraband into the jail. After a two-month investigation, Wright was charged. He is now a former Lee County jail guard.

In Chandler, Oklahoma, a Gary, Indiana, police officer was arrested last Tuesday after she and her boyfriend were caught with 48 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop. Patrolman Marla Guye, 29, and her partner consented to a search of their vehicle, and troopers found the weed packed inside a suitcase. Guye failed to show up at a court hearing Monday after being granted bail earlier, so she is now considered a fugitive.

In Waveland, Mississippi, a University of Mississippi Medical Center police officer was arrested last Tuesday on drug charges. Joshua Poyadou, 27, is charged with transfer of a controlled substance after he was observed participating in a prescription pill transaction in a parking lot in Waveland, where he had formerly served as a police officer.

In Flomaton, Alabama, the former Flomaton police chief and an officer were arrested Monday on charges that suggest they were dipping into the evidence. Former Chief Daniel Thompson and Officer Joseph Neal were arrested following an investigation by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation. Thompson was charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance, three counts of second degree theft of property, tampering with physical evidence and an ethics violation. Neal was charged with third degree burglary, tampering with physical evidence, obstructing governmental operations and ethics violations. He was booked and released on a $30,000 bond, while Thompson remains behind bars. Thompson was promoted to chief in March after then Chief Geoffrey McGraw was arrested on kidnapping charges across the state line Florida. Thompson resigned in August as the ABI investigation got underway.

In Chicago, a former North Chicago police chief was arrested Tuesday and charged with stealing more than $140,000 that had been seized in drug arrests. Former Chief Michael Newsome, 51, was accused of using the money to buy a new car and do home repairs on his kitchen, among other personal expenditures. He is charged with one count of ongoing theft and a separate count of theft for withdrawing money from a department account to pay for his children's school, as well as official misconduct and misapplication of funds. Newsome had resigned in February in the midst of an uproar over police brutality, and the mayor then directed Newsome's successor to review all internal police policies. During his review, he discovered questionable withdrawals from the department's asset forfeiture fund.

In Chicago, a former Chicago police officer was sentenced last Friday to 18 months in federal prison for shaking down drug dealers. Kallatt Mohammed, 47, pleaded guilty earlier this year to stealing $5,200 in cash that he believed belonged to a drug dealer. But the man he took the bagful of money from last November was an FBI informant. Mohammed told the court he had only acted under the direction of his sergeant, Ronald Watts, who Mohammed said wouldn't give him leave to visit his children in Ohio unless he went along with the scheme. Watts, who continues to deny orchestrating the scheme, has yet to stand trial.

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

Rwolf (not verified)

Should U.S. Government Pay Americans’ Drug Rehab Costs—If the Government Is Helping–Cartel(s) Import Illegal Drugs?

If The latest revelations are true, mentioned in the October 5, 2012 New American article “Stratfor Sources: U.S. Troops in Mexico as Feds Aid Cartels” that U.S. Government supports certain drug cartels as “first reported by Narco News”, after WikiLeaks released hacked e-mails from Stratfor, it would appear to confirm accusations made last year by a top Sinaloa operative Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, that U.S. government offered his criminal syndicate virtual immunity to import multi-ton quantities of drugs across the border.

If U.S. government is helping the Sinaloa or other Cartel commit murder, run a criminal racketeering enterprise that imports tons of drugs into the United States—Americans that are injured by the illegal Cartel drugs / criminal enterprise should file Civil Racketeering Lawsuits against the U.S. Government and the law enforcement agencies that participated.

U.S. criminal courts order defendants as a condition of probation, to attend and pay for expensive private and non-profit drug rehab programs creating a $12-Billion dollar industry. If e.g. the Sinaloa Drug Cartel is the predominant importer of drugs into the United States because of U.S. Government support, shouldn’t the U.S. Government pay the drug rehabilitation costs of American drug users? It would appear Californians injured by a Cartel’s illegal-drugs that U.S. Government helped import into the United States, could sue U.S. Government and any law enforcement agency that assisted the Cartel import illegal-drugs under The California Drug Dealer Liability Act Effective January 1997. In brief the “Act” provides a civil remedy for damages to persons in a community injured as a result of the use of an illegal controlled substance. These persons include parents, employers, insurers, governmental entities, and others who pay for drug treatment or employee assistance programs, as well as infants injured as a result of exposure to controlled substances in utero (" drug babies"). This “Act” enables them to recover damages from those persons in the community who have joined the marketing of illegal controlled substances. A further purpose of this Act is to shift, to the extent possible, the cost of the damage caused by the existence of the market for illegal controlled substances in a community to those who illegally profit from that market.

Consequently if U.S. Government supports the Sinaloa Cartel or other Cartel that import illegal-drugs into California, victims of illegal-drug use may be able to sue the U.S. Government along with all other participants.

Every year innocent landlords of residential rental property and motels defend their property against Government Civil Asset Forfeiture because unbeknownst to an owner, a tenant or guest at their property is alleged by government to have sold or distributed illegal drugs. It is absurd and a conflict of interest for U.S. Government to forfeit real estate from innocent landlords if U.S. Government—is assisting Mexican Drug Cartel criminal enterprises import illegal drugs into America.

Many U.S. Cities have blocks of blighted buildings caused by illegal drug activity that caused real estate values to collapse with local property taxes communities depend on to support their infra structure. If U.S. Government is helping the Sinaloa Drug Cartel or other cartels flood America with illegal drugs, cities and counties damaged economically by U.S. Government’s illegal-drug activities should file Civil RICO Suits to recover damages from   U.S. Government and law enforcement agencies that assisted Mexican Drug Cartels import illegal drugs into the U.S.

See California Drug Dealer Liability Act Effective January 1997, other states passed similar bills.

Illegal-drug distribution in America increasingly corrupts police and the courts. If U.S. Government is helping the Sinaloa Drug Cartel or other Cartel import illegal-drugs into the U.S what kind of message is U.S. Government sending to law enforcement. Almost every week the news reports police arrested for selling and planting illegal drugs, taking bribes, falsifying evidence to arrest U.S. Citizens. Police corruption can only get worse if U.S. Government supports drug-Cartels.

See the October 5, 2012 New American Article at:

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/13118-stratfor-sources-us-troops-in-mexico-as-feds-aid-cartels

See: Wednesday, 31 October 2012: Feds Let Mexican Cartel Hit Men Kill in U.S., Senior Lawman Told Stratfor by Alex Newman

http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/13457-feds-let-mexican-cartel-hit-men-kill-in-us-senior-lawman-told-stratfor

Thu, 11/01/2012 - 1:30pm Permalink

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.