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Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #591)
Drug War Issues

More drug corruption in Philly, more fallout from the Kathryn Johnston killing in Atlanta, and yet another crooked border guard. Let's get to it:

In Philadelphia, a Philadelphia police detective was arraigned June 18 on charges he tipped off a major drug suspect about an imminent search warrant. Det. Rickie Durham pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements, and given advance notice of a search. He is accused of alerting Philly "drug kingpin" Alton "Ace Capone" Coles of a pending police raid in August 2005 and then lying to investigators when they questioned him. Durham has been suspended for 30 days, and the department says it is on track to fire him. He is on house arrest pending trial.

In Yuma, Arizona, a US Customs and Border Protection officer pleaded guilty June 18 to bribery and drug charges. CBP Officer Henry Gauani, 41, copped to conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to import Ecstasy for accepting $33,000 to allow vehicles loaded with Ecstasy to pass through the Port of Entry from Mexico without inspection. Gauani went down after a federal investigation and a sting on January 27 in which he allowed a vehicle containing what he believed to be a half million Ecstasy tablets pass through his lane without inspection. He is looking at up to 20 years in federal prison and $1,250,000 in fines.

In Atlanta, a former Atlanta Police narcotics unit supervisor was sentenced last Friday to 18 months in prison for his role in an illegal break-in search of a Dill Avenue duplex in 2005. Former officer Wilbert Stallings had pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the civil rights of the homeowner. At sentencing, US District Court Justice Julie Carnes said the sentence also reflected Stallings' role in allowing a culture of corruption to run rampant in the unit he supervised. Members of that unit were responsible for the 2006 killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston in a raid based on fabricated evidence. Stallings went down as investigators looking into the Johnston killing put his unit under the microscope.

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

Anonymous (not verified)

18 months is not enough, instead of making an example of a corrupt narcotics unit supervisor, they give him a slap on the wrist. Although prisons always say they don't have room at minimum security for new inmates, you can bet that's right where he will go. If any of you believe he will have a tough time in prison, think again.

What happened to the idiot who shot the 92 year old woman?

Sun, 06/28/2009 - 3:56pm Permalink

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