Newsbrief:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
12/17/04
Last week, for the first time in ages, we had trouble finding a worthy corrupt cop story. Not to worry. The drought has broken, and what a deluge it's been, with corrupt cops popping up in Hawaii, New York, and a couple of times in Texas. Without further ado, and in no particular order: Pearl City, Hawaii, Police Officer Harold Cabbab Jr. was in federal custody last weekend after being busted for possession of more than a pound of crystal meth, the Hawaii Channel reported. The meth bust was part of a larger case against Cabbab, who on secretly recorded tapes was overheard discussing plans to make big money ripping off drug dealers. Ironically, even though the meth Cabbab was busted with was fake -- part of sting against him where the pseudo-meth was left for him to steal -- he still gets the meth possession charge. Cabbab, a former star University of Hawaii basketball player, also confessed to an earlier drug rip-off where he stole 10 pounds of pot from a man while pretending to be on official police business. He remained in jail pending a federal detention hearing Thursday. New York City Police Officer Jose Gabriel Delvalle, 24, pled guilty to cocaine trafficking in federal court in Providence, Rhode Island, Monday, the Associated Press reported. Delvalle and Basilio Aquiles Delvalle, 34, a relative of the officer's, admitted in court that they conspired to buy a kilo of coke in Rhode Island in October and had plans to buy 10 more. Delvalle was armed and carrying his police credentials when he was busted, prosecutors said. The two Delvalles remain in federal detention pending a March 4 sentencing date. In Central Texas, former McLennan County (Waco) Deputy Constable Kevin Scott Baker was on trial last week on federal charges that he was a marijuana pusher. Baker, 38, is charged with distributing less than 50 kilos of the weed, conspiracy to distribute, and, just for good measure, aiding and abetting marijuana distribution, the Waco Herald-Tribune reported. Baker's extracurricular activities came to light after a police informant -- a crack-using woman who has since died of Hepatitis C -- tipped Department of Public Safety troopers to his operation. The woman, Betty Mahall, taped conversations with Baker in which she asked for some "weed" and Baker replied nervously that she should not speak so openly about drug deals on a cell phone. DPS officers also taped Baker meeting Mahall at a Bellmead motel, where he was arrested after consummating a pot deal with Mahall. Baker says he was set up. The trial continues. And down in the Rio Grande Valley, a Cameron County, Texas, assistant jail supervisor is under investigation for allegedly providing marijuana to inmates, the Brownsville Herald reported. Orlando Gutierrez, 25, was suspended without pay Tuesday for violating other jail policies while the sheriff's office investigates how inmates at the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center scored their weed. A drug-sniffing dog alerted on Gutierrez' vehicle, but no drugs were found. Gutierrez is the guilty party, said Capt. Rumaldo Rodriguez. "We are getting deniability from the officer, but we are working on that," he said.
|
