Drug War Issues
A massively crooked sheriff, a massively enraged DEA agent, a couple of greedy cops, and a woman police officer married to the wrong guy all made the news this week. Let's get to it:
In Benton, Illinois, the Gallatin County sheriff was convicted September 23 of marijuana trafficking and plotting to kill two people who planned to testify against him. Sheriff Raymond Martin was convicted on 15 counts in the drug trafficking and murder-for-hire scheme. Ten of them carry possible life sentences. According to the DEA, Martin supplied a drug dealer with pot, threatened the dealer with death after he said he wanted out, and told him he could make up crimes against him. The dealer went to the feds, and Martin went down. While Martin was in jail awaiting trial, he conspired with his wife and son to offer two cellmates $17,000 to kill the witnesses. That plot unraveled when one of the would-be hit men got cold feet and went to the authorities. Martin had refused to resign from his job, forcing the county to continue to pay him his $40,000 annual salary even while in jail. Now, the county can fire him. It did so Tuesday.
In Laredo, Texas, a Laredo police officer was convicted Monday on cocaine trafficking and firearms charges for escorting loads of what he thought was cocaine through the city. Officer Orlando Jesus Hale, 27, was found guilty of of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and using a firearm in furtherance of that drug offense. Hale and fellow Laredo police officer Pedro Martinez III were snagged in an FBI sting after they each agreed to transport 20 kilos of fake cocaine through the city, then went to San Antonio, where they were each paid $1,000. Martinez copped a plea earlier and testified against Hale. Hale is looking at a mandatory minimum 10-year federal prison sentence on the coke charge and a mandatory minimum five-year sentence for the gun charge. Sentencing is set for January 10.
In Kansas City, Kansas, a DEA agent was found liable for damages Friday for beating a motorist in a 2003 road rage incident. DEA Agent Timothy McCue was found liable for attacking motorist Barron Bowling, leaving him with severe brain damage and post-traumatic stress. US District Judge Julie Robinson ruled that McCue inflicted assault, battery, and excessive force in what she called "road rage fueled by egos and unwarranted self-righteousness." McCue must pay damages to the tune of $833,250. Robinson also chided Wyandotte County police and prosecutors for falsely blaming Bowling for the minor collision that precipitated the incident and charging him with leaving the scene of an accident for moving his car off the roadway in a bid to protect the DEA agent. Wyandotte County earlier agreed to pay $425,000 to Bowling for its misbehavior.
In Washington, DC, a DC Metro police officer was indicted last week on charges she protected her drug-dealing boyfriend as he packaged large amounts of crack cocaine and heroin at the couple's home in District Heights. Officer Tamara McGuire faces drug trafficking conspiracy charges. She was one of 12 people arrested in raids aimed at stopping what prosecutors described as a major crack and heroin trafficking ring in the District. She has been on administrative leave since May, and the department said last week it was considering suspending her without pay.
In San Diego, a Customs and Border Protection officer was arrested September 23 for taking bribes to allow vehicles he thought were smuggling drugs to pass unimpeded through his entry lane at the Calexico border crossing. Oscar Ortiz Martinez, 30, is charged with bribery and conspiracy to smuggle drugs. Ortiz Martinez took $22,000 in bribes from a former coworker and was arrested on his way to pick up what he thought was another $30,000 payment. But the former coworker was getting the money from an undercover narc posing as a drug dealer. The co-worker has also been arrested.
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Comments
to view a partial list of
to view a partial list of crimes committed by FBI agents over 1500 pages long see
forums.signonsandiego. com/showthread.php?t=59139
to view a partial list of FBI agents arrested for pedophilia see
campusactivism. org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=29
also see
ctka.net/pr500-king.html
I have sympathies except for the dea agent
Most of those corrupt cops are heroes in my books... except for the DEA agent and the sheriff trying to kill people... if your in the marijuana business dont kill people it gives the rest of marijuana afficiandos a bad rap
In reply to I have sympathies except for the dea agent by RC MAN (not verified)
 It is people like you that
It is people like you that help these crooked cops think they are above the law. They are in no way hero`s. They are just as bad a drug smugglers and dealers. Wait until they kick in YOUR door and kill one of YOUR family members because of a "mistake".
Crooked cops
RC MAN, if these corrupt police are your idea of heroes..you need your head examined. The police have gotten away with so much and there are so many people in jail who never deserved to be there in the first place because the police have gotten away with lying up to this point, I say Hallelujah..it's time to get these asses off the streets. I saw and experienced the corruption of these people for years and am glad they are no longer getting away with lying through their teeth. Some of them are still getting away with illegal busts, but sooner or later, they will pay too and I can't wait to read about it here.
Drug War Employment Opportunities
It was ten years ago in Washington, D.C., at the 13th International Conference on Drug Policy reform, that I listened to former Chief of Police Joe MacNamara speak about the 500% increase in police corruption since Ronnie Reagan amped up his "zero-tolerance" war on (some) drugs.
Almost every week since that time I've read the Corrupt Cops section of the Chronicle to which I now post my comment.
Some to whom I've forwarded these stories have commented on the over-all size of our population, vs. the relatively small numbers of infractions each week. To them, I respond now, as UI have in the past, with this; the arrests and convictions of those corrupted by this rouse called the War On (Some) Drugs represent only ONE WEEK at a time, only those that were reported to the reporters or easily found in research, and do not include those who have been either brighter or luckier, and who've not been caught... yet..
There are those in enforcement, as in the various judicial branches and legislatures, who see themselves as being superior to the citizenry 'cattle' they control, manipulate, coerce, etc. There are those who simply see their positions as opportunities to make extra money by virtue of access, authority, etc.
But the fact remains; any time that prohibition of basic human desires exists (such as the literally-ancient tendency or propensity of homo sapiens (and even some critters) to willfully modify their state of mind or physical realities, there -will- be those persons who capitalize on that prohibition, knowing it to be truly unwinnable, but a fairly reliable source of extra-curricular financial aid of sizable proportion..
You'd think such an evolved and intelligent society would've recognized this feature of failed efforts to control human urges and impulses long ago... Perhaps the industry now built around this 'war,' forming what can literally be described as an economy unto itself, is what, indeed, prevents a more clear vision as to the unwinnable nature of these sorts of lofty brain farts.
Time for the totalitarians to free my brothers and sisters, beg forgiveness for the almost-100 years of selective enforcement and violations of persons' inherent rights to be left alone in their walk in this physical life, and to focus on cleaning up this tainted beast called 'Policing in Amerika.'.
Regarding the guy from Laredo, Texas
Regarding the guy from Laredo, Texas... Orlando Hale... I have to admit that when I was reading the story and came to the part that said he was carrying a firearm with him, I got sick to my stomach.
I knew what that meant. It meant that he would be looking at a mandatory minimum. Even though these people are the enemies of freedom and civil liberties, it doesn't make me ever feel good to think that somebody is going to be spending the next 10 or 15 years behind bars for a non-violent 'crime'. Every Christmas, every New Year's, every Easter, every Thanksgiving, every birthday... that's just too much and hard to think about. Of course, the guy that beat the motorist is a different story. No pity for a guy that caused brain damage and PTSD, but this Orlando Hale guy is looking at far too long a sentence.
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