Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
2/10/06
An Oklahoma prosecutor tries to swipe some evidence, a Milwaukee cop is in trouble for a little side cocaine trafficking, and a Tennessee detective is involved in a confused incident regarding a crashed pickup truck and some missing drug. Just another week on the corrupt cop beat. Let's get to it: In Oklahoma City, State Attorney General Drew Edmondson announced the indictments of a former assistant district attorney on charges of drug possession and tampering with evidence and her office manager for attempted subornation of perjury for trying to help her beat the rap. Janet Bickel, 49, a former Cherokee and Muskogee county prosecutor is alleged to have grabbed a baggie of methamphetamine during a drug raid in Tahlequah in February 2005, then attempted to replace it with another baggie of meth she purchased to cover her tracks when investigators contacted her about the missing evidence. Artest Keeter, 74, administrator at the prosecutor's office is charged with attempted subornation of perjury for, among other things, concocting a bizarre theory to explain how the missing meth ended up in Bickel's purse. "Bickel is accused of taking evidence from a crime scene," Edmondson said. "Fearing she would be caught, she then allegedly obtained more meth and tried to pass it off as the original." She also "purchased methamphetamine on numerous occasions and at various locations, including at the Muskogee and Cherokee County Courthouses when she was working as an assistant district attorney in those counties," Edmondson said. "Keeter allegedly developed a 'static electricity theory' to help Bickel explain how she went home with the methamphetamine found during the search warrant," Edmondson said. "Evidently, Keeter believed the grand jury could be convinced that static electricity caused the meth to jump in and stick to the inside of her purse." In Milwaukee, police officer Larry White was arrested Monday on a federal indictment for cocaine distribution. He is accused of working with his brother-in-law to transport cocaine between Milwaukee and Illinois. No further information is yet available. In Cleveland, Tennessee, a Bradley County detective has been suspended in a so-far murky tale involving a truck crash and some missing drugs. WTVC News Channel 9 in Chattanooga reported that Detective Robin "Nick" Phillips, 35, has been suspended while the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation determines whether he is involved with the missing drugs. According to the TV report, Phillips was driving a county-owned pick-up when he veered into the ditch and slammed into trees. Phillips was assigned to drug cases, including prescription drugs and meth lab busts. With TBI officials tight-lipped, the TV station was reduced to noting that, "The rest of this story, at least publicly, revolves around some key questions. What does this crash have to do with missing drugs? Did police find them in the truck? And what kinds of drugs are in question?" The answers will have to wait until the TBI finishes its investigation, which a spokesman said "may take awhile."
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