Skip to main content

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #575)
Consequences of Prohibition
Drug War Issues

It's jail and prison guards gone wild this week, and a veteran California cop whose pill problem got the best of him. Let's get to it:

In Bangor, Maine, a former Penobscot County jail guard was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail for smuggling marijuana and prescription drugs into the jail for prisoners. Lori Call pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in prison contraband. She also faces two years probation, random drug tests, and substance abuse counseling.

In New York City, a guard at the Sing Sing state prison was indicted Monday for accepting cash and cocaine from an undercover agent. Ashley Harris, 47, was arrested February 19 at a Bronx gas station after taking $500 and eight ounces of cocaine from the agent, who was posing as a drug dealer. Harris was indicted on six counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, which prosecutors said was destined for the prison. His arrest was the culmination of a three-month sting by state narcs and the Department of Correctional Services.

In Kingston, New York, an Ulster Country Jail guard was arrested last Friday on charges he trafficked drugs at the jail. Guard Peter Portalatin, 23, went down after investigators determined he had smuggled heroin, Oxycontin, marijuana, and tobacco into the jail and set him up in a sting. He now faces charges of bribe receiving in the second degree, attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, receiving reward for official misconduct in the second degree, attempted promoting prison contraband in the first degree and tampering with physical evidence, all felonies. He was also charged with official misconduct and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors. He returned to the county jail as a prisoner until he makes his $10,000 cash bail. Oh, and he's now a former jail guard. He was fired the same day he was arrested.

In Texarkana, Arkansas, a former Miller County jail guard was sentenced February 26 to a whopping 28 years in prison for smuggling contraband hidden in food items to inmates. Jordan Michael Waller, 26, carried tacos, pizzas, and chili to work with him and used the food to hide cell phones, chargers, methamphetamine, marijuana, syringes, tobacco, and rolling papers. Family members testified that Waller suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, but that it was manageable with medication.

In Alameda, California, an Alameda police officer was arrested February 26 for visiting the residence of a terminally ill person and telling the family police provided medication disposal services, but keeping the pills for his own use. It did not appear to be an isolated incident, said police commanders. Sgt. Ronald Jones, a 26-year-year veteran of the department, was charged with two felony counts of using fraud, deceit or misrepresentation to obtain a controlled substance. He is on administrative leave.

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)

That is why prohibition was declared unconstitutional years ago. This proves that corruption is the goal of unconstitutional leaders and the fraudulent laws they force on people. Needless to say this comes as no surprise. Things will remain the same unless the frauds are removed from power and are treated for their mental illness.

Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:58am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Police often let drug dealers go but line their own pockets with the money police get from drug dealers. Many of these corrupt cops are not first generation cops. This could go on for years. Some call it shake downs. Brutality and corruption in Philadelphia, PA is worse now than it was during the Rizzo era. Things really get bad for people on the streets whenever an officer is killed. Often when this happens police turn on Black men and beat them up. A member of my family made the mistake of going out on the day of a police officer's funeral and he was not only beat by the police but jailed. He sits in jail now for all the offenses the police actually committed against him.

Sat, 03/07/2009 - 7:27pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

I think cops should be microchipped like stray dogs and under 24/7 surveillance..that might help a bit in the "war on drugs" ..No seriously...
soon we'll all either be COPS (no thanks) INFORMANTS (he who shuts up lives a hundred years) or CRIMINALS ( now pass me the bong and get me on the line to the President)
I read somewhere.there are actually "professional informants" ... cant anyone find a stray bullet for these kind of parassites?

Sun, 03/08/2009 - 9:03pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

police see our vaunted lawmakers tapping the till so they figure they should factor in a little of the take for themselves.Now this country is being extorted with political correctiveness laws which are pure distilled nonsense.people of color are automatically exonerated from any wrongdoing for fear of lawsuits by race racketeers.We know people of color commit most of the crimes but are not held accountable .The police see how this nonsense prevents them from doing their job.They eventually get frustrated ,lose their integrity and become corrupt.It is time we hold the race racketers and politically correct extortionists accountable before this country explodes.

Mon, 03/16/2009 - 3:58am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

and conditioned into a police culture of brutality, and making out the citizens--especially the brownskinned ones--as the Other Team and the Enemy, and we gotta watch out for ourselves and Our Team if we aren't gonna be fearful of losing the competition to the Other!

Sat, 07/25/2009 - 11:36am Permalink

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.