This week we revisit a pair
of stories on which we previously reported, examine a pair of marginally
corrupt cases, one involving a police narc and one involving a prosecutor,
and look at one absolutely hideous example of corrupt and thuggish policing
of the foulest sort.
First, the updates:
Three weeks ago, we reported
on West
Texas District Attorney Rick Roach, who was arrested at the Gray County
courthouse in Pampa on January 11 and charged with possession of methamphetamine,
possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, possession of methamphetamine
with intent to deliver, and possession of weapon by a drug addict.
Roach had two guns in his briefcase and more than 30 other weapons -- semiautomatic
handguns, rifles, and shotguns -- at home. Now the prosecutor has
copped a plea. Roach agreed Tuesday to plead guilty on the illegal
weapons charge in return for the dropping of the drug charges. He
has also resigned his post as prosecutor. He faces up to 10 years
in prison; many years less than the 40 he was looking at if convicted on
all charges.
Although federal prosecutors
had Roach dead to rights on the drug charges, "I felt this was the best
count for him to plead to federally," prosecutor Christy Drake told the
Associated Press. Ah, those soft-hearted federal prosecutors.
Back in September, we noted
the arrest of US
Customs and Border Protection Officer Corey Whitfield as he tried crossing
the US-Canada border with 535 pounds of "BC Bud" headed for the US.
The eight-year Customs veteran attempted to use a diplomatic passport when
challenged at the border, saying "I'm one of us," but when the weed was
found, he at first denied knowing it was there, then changed his story,
saying he had been blackmailed by a man he met at a party on the Canadian
side of the border while moonlighting as a security guard. Whitfield
told agents he was forced into the smuggling scheme when the man showed
him photos of himself in "compromising situations involving illegal drugs
and a sexual encounter with a female at the party" and threatened to send
them to his wife.
Whitfield pled guilty in
November to one count marijuana smuggling. On February 4, a federal
judge sentenced the wayward border guard to five years in prison followed
by five years of probation. Whitfield had an otherwise clean criminal
record.
In new cases, a former Putnam
County, NY, drug investigator got off easy after pleading guilty to falsifying
records in the Putnam County Sheriff's Department's narcotics unit, according
to the Empire Report. The newspaper asked in its subhead: "Are police
officers charged with breaking the law treated differently than citizens
in court?"
The falsifying records charge
came after former Senior Investigator Alfred Villani, 52, came to Sheriff
Donald Smith's attention for "questionable actions occurring within the
unit." Those actions would be altering the records to cover up the
disappearance of a $2,000 night vision scope. Instead of jail time,
Villani got 150 hours of community service. Villani, who retired
while on suspension during the investigation, also gets to keep his sheriff's
department pension.
And in a case that demonstrates
the inherent corruption of a system built upon informants, as well as the
hypocrisy of at least one prosecutor, former Charleston County, South Carolina,
Assistant Solicitor Damon Cook is facing charges of cocaine possession
and conspiracy to distribute. The story unfolded as two of his co-defendants
pled guilty February 4th on similar charges. Charles Edward Deese
and Rebecca McCollum were portrayed by prosecutors as drug buyers and suppliers
who helped build the case against Cook and two local defense attorneys,
the Charleston Post & Courier reported.
After State Law Enforcement
Division (SLED) agents received information against McCollum in March 2003,
she agreed to cooperate and led agents to Deese. Deese in turn agreed
to cooperate, arranging the sale of a half-pound of cocaine to popular
local trumpeter Joseph Ambrosia, but Ambrosia fled the state and is now
suspected to be in Europe. Meanwhile, the highly cooperative McCollum
also led police to a defense attorney who shared office space with Solicitor
Cook. She bought 17 grams of cocaine from the defense attorney, Rodney
Strich. When confronted, Strich in turn turned state's evidence,
telling agents that he, Cook, and another local lawyer frequently pooled
their money to buy cocaine for personal use and to sell to others.
Cook in turn agreed to turn state's evidence. Now he is before the
dock.
Last but certainly not least,
the quick action of a drug suspect's wife has lifted the lid on some truly
nasty and brutal police work in Campbell County, Tennessee, just outside
of Knoxville. While the cops in this case were apparently not after
filthy lucre -- it is unclear at this point whether their little adventure
was official or unofficial -- their behavior displays a level of corruption
and viciousness that should make good cops blanch. Five former Campbell
County Sheriff's Department officers are currently on trial in federal
court on charges they violated the civil rights of Eugene Siler by torturing
him for hours -- all because Siler's wife turned on a tape recorder when
they burst in looking for her husband. Otherwise, it would have been
a case of an accused doper's word against that of five law enforcers, and
we all know the cops don't lie, right?
While Siler's ordeal lasted
for more than two hours, the tape ran out after 45 minutes, but that was
more than enough to make clear what was going on as the deputies brutalized
Siler. The five deputies, including the lead narc for the department,
David Webber, and the department's DARE officer (!), Samuel Franklin, handcuffed
Siler to a chair, announced "It's all fucking over, son," and proceeded
to beat him bloody, threaten to kill him, and otherwise torment him unless
he agreed to sign a statement saying he had given them permission to search
his home for drugs. In documents presented in court last week, prosecutors
allege the rampaging narcs not only physically assaulted Siler, but threatened
to electrocute him, drown him, and break his fingers if he didn't cooperate.
But it was the 59-page FBI
transcript of Siler's wife's tape recording that really told the story.
"We're going to take every dime you have today and if we don't walk out
of here with every piece of dope you got and every dime you got, you're
fucking ass is not going to make it to the jail," Webber warned in the
transcript. Webber is on the tape threatening to beat Siler and concocting
a resisting arrest scenario. "Eugene, let me tell you how this is
gonna work, OK?" Webber said. "We got here and guess what you did?
You ran out the back door. We chased you, OK? You fought with
us, OK? We end up fighting with you. You 'bout whupped all
our asses, so we had to fight back, OK?"
The transcripts go on to
portray a time of horror for the accused drug dealer, as Webber and his
companions repeatedly beat Siler, threaten him, and beat him some more.
"You're not fucking listening," Webber said at one point. "You hear
what I told you? I told you not to be talking. This asshole
right here, he loves seeing blood. He loves it. He loves seeing
blood. You're talking too much. He loves fucking seeing blood.
He'll beat your ass and lick it off of you."
There is more,
much more of the transcript available, courtesy of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Interested readers can check it out, but your reporter here is already
seeing red and will feed you no more. As a final word, however, it
is worth noting that Campbell County Sheriff Ron McLellan is an ardent
drug warrior, sending out almost weekly news releases bragging about the
latest exploits of his troops in their war on drugs. By any means
necessary, eh, Sheriff? You might want to rein in your mad dogs.
