Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
2/16/06
It's a bumper crop of bad cops this week, with strange goings on in two Arkansas towns, cops up to no good across the South and in Massachusetts and Washington state, a prosecutor in trouble in San Francisco, and a pair of federal air marshals who were apparently marshaling white powder safely to its destination. We also have to give a special shout-out to a freshly discovered web site -- badcopnews.com -- that offers a wealth of similar information, and not just about drug enforcement. Without further ado, let's get to it: In Lonoke, Arkansas, the mayor was arrested on corruption charges, the police chief was charged in a meth-cooking scheme, and the chief's wife is accused of taking prisoners from the jail to have sex with them, the Associated Press reported. Police Chief Jay Campbell is accused of conspiring with a local bail bondsman to make methamphetamine and use it to frame someone else. He and his wife, Kelly Harrison Campbell, are also accused of stealing antique jewelry from a residence and pawning it, while Mrs. Campbell faces escape-related charges for taking prisoners out for sex romps at local ballparks, the police chief's office, and a hotel. Mayor Thomas Privett faces misdemeanor theft of service charges for using state prisoners to work on his home, as does Chief Campbell. He is on paid suspension. In Keiser, Arkansas, Police Chief Jimmy Bohannon, Jr. and former Mississippi County Sheriff's Deputy Jerry Brawley were arrested on burglary charges February 8 by police in the nearby town of Osceola. Bohannon, 37, was also arrested on two counts of distribution of the prescription pain reliever hydrocodone, said Osceola Police Chief Ray Rigsby. The drug charges resulted from an investigation into earlier drug arrests, he said. The wayward duo also face eight burglary-related charges in Mississippi County, said Sheriff Leroy Meadows. Bohannon was jailed on $150,000 bond; Brawley on $100,000. In Lake Worth, Florida, former Miami police officer Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and domestic abuse charges February 8. Flynn, a 20-year veteran patrol officer, was arrested in July 2003 after his girlfriend accused him of beating her and sticking the barrel of a pistol in her mouth. He was rearrested while out on bond in October 2004 and charged with cocaine possession and trafficking in heroin. Flynn resigned from the department as it moved to fire him. He now faces a minimum of 13 years in prison and could get as much as life plus 50 years. He was led away in handcuffs to await sentencing, CBS TV4 News reported. In Union, South Carolina, former Union police officer Rodney Curt Johnson, 36, pleaded guilty February 9 to one count of misconduct in office for paying a prostitute in crack cocaine for her services, Myrtle Beach Online reported. The five-year veteran could have faced up to 55 years in prison on four counts of misconduct in office and one count of cocaine distribution, but was sentenced to only two years on probation and 20 days of community service. Assistant prosecutor Kevin Brackett said he accepted the deal because his case against Johnson relied on the testimony of the prostitute. In Montgomery, Alabama, a Montgomery police officer and his twin brother were arrested during a drug raid in the southeast part of town over the weekend, the Associated Press reported. Officer Donny Young, 25, and his twin, Danny, were charged with felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute after police seized "a sizeable amount" of the weed in their apartment. Department spokesman declined to elaborate, saying an investigation was ongoing. The twins were being held at the Montgomery County Jail on bonds of $100,000 each. In Des Moines, Washington, former Des Moines police officer Barron "Bruno" Baldwin failed February 7 to win back his job after being fired for a 2003 incident where he and two King County sheriff's deputies beat up a drug informant and threatened to throw him in the Green River, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. An arbitrator denied his appeal. Baldwin and Deputies George Alvarez and Jim Keller beat up informant Michael Winchester, but managed to escape conviction on unlawful imprisonment and assault charges when juries deadlocked. Baldwin, a five-year veteran, was fired a year after the incident, but the appeal examiner had little sympathy: "Officer Baldwin... engaged in deliberate, abusive intimidation... Officer Baldwin verbally and physically harassed Mr. Winchester, including levels of force that were unnecessary and unreasonable." In Chelmsford, Massachusetts, a former DARE officer pleaded guilty February 3 to 20 counts related to stealing money from the program, the Lowell Sun reported. Former Chelmsford police officer Michael Horan came under suspicion of police officials looking for missing funds in June 2003, was placed on leave without pay that November, and arrested in May 2004. Horan may have gotten away with $20,000, but was ordered to repay the department only $5,000. He was also sentenced to one year's house arrest and two years' probation, although he could have faced up to 10 years in prison. In San Francisco, a city prosecutor resigned after pleading guilty February 8 on federal drug possession charges, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Robert Roland, 34, admitted receiving Ecstasy tablets from defendants in two cases he was prosecuting, but denied he went easy on these defendants in exchange. Still, in his plea agreement, he said he dropped a felony drug charge against one man, allowing him to plea guilty to a misdemeanor, and received Ecstasy from him the next day. In the second case, Roland said he received Ecstasy after allowing a defendant to avoid jail by entering a diversion program. In Houston, two federal air marshals were arrested February 9 and held on suspicion of involvement in possessing or smuggling cocaine. Shawn Ray Nguyen, 38, and Burlie Sholar III, 32, were arrested by agents of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's Office after receiving more than 30 pounds of cocaine and $15,000 in "front money" from an undercover informant. The pair agreed to transport the drugs on an airline flight, federal officials said. They agreed to use their official positions to bypass airport security and fly the coke from Houston to Las Vegas, the US Attorney's office explained. One of those arrested is a former DEA agent, Time magazine reported. The pair were formally charged Monday in federal court in Houston.
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