Skip to main content

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #541)
Drug War Issues

An Ohio jailer, a Connecticut cop, and a pair of Florida deputies get busted, a Louisiana cop goes on trial, a Texas constable cops a plea, and so does a Texas US Border Patrol Agent. Let's get to it:

In Toledo, Ohio, a Lucas County corrections officer was arrested June 18 after authorities with a warrant searched his home and found cocaine, scales, baggies, and cash. Thomas Walker, 24, was charged with permitting drug abuse. The two-year veteran of the sheriff's department has been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of his case.

In Waterbury, Connecticut, a Waterbury police officer was arrested Monday for allegedly warning a friend he was the target of a drug investigation. Officer Israel Lugo, 29, is charged with illegally disclosing information about a state police drug investigation that netted 20 pounds of marijuana. He allegedly used a police computer to check the license plate of a state police undercover car for a friend whose home was raided last week. The friend suspected he was being tailed by police and called Lugo for help.

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, two Broward County sheriff's deputies were charged Monday with acting as guards for supposed drug loads in a federal sting. Deputy Richard Tauber, 37, was arrested last week and promptly agreed to snitch on his colleague, Deputy Kevin Frankle, 38. Tauber is accused of helping load a plane with what he thought were 50 kilos of cocaine, while Frankle stood watch. Bail was set at $60,000 for Tauber; Frankle was awaiting a Thursday bail hearing.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, a former Shreveport police officer went on trial this week for alleged drug-peddling. Former Officer Roderick Moore, 52, faces two counts of drug distribution. Moore's downhill slide began last August, when he was suspended from the force after a drunk driving arrest. Then, in November, he was arrested on the drug charges and fired. That bust went down after the Caddo-Shreveport Narcotics Task Force received information he was selling drugs. Moore faces one other drug charge -- a possession beef in Bossier Parish stemming from the November search of his home.

In Brownsville, Texas, a Cameron County constable pleaded guilty June 19 to selling drugs he stole from the evidence locker. Former Precinct 1 Constable Saul Ochoa copped to one federal count of distributing 10 pounds of marijuana. He may have made off with up to 175 pounds of marijuana stored under his control. According to evidence logs, 190 pounds should have been in storage, but federal investigators could only find 15 pounds the day they arrested Ochoa. Now, county authorities are trying to figure out how to handle drug cases where the evidence has gone missing.

In McAllen, Texas, a former Border Patrol agent pleaded guilty Tuesday to lying about his failure to document cocaine he seized. Juan Espinoza, 31, copped a plea to making false statements or entries after internal investigators found a duffel bag full of cocaine he had seized but not reported. Espinoza is free on bond pending a September 16 sentencing date. He faces up to five years in prison.

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)

What is going on with this country these days. Corrupt cops, judges, attorneys, etc. I live in Minot, ND and the cops stick together with the judges and will do what they can to cover up anything and everything they do. Half the cops do drug busts, "marijuana" mostly and stick whatever they can away for their use later. And what happens to them? NOTHING!!! But we get busted with a pinchie and get a year in prison.. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE!?

Fri, 06/27/2008 - 12:09pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

It's the drug war at it's finest, if your on the right side of the fence. Big bucks and lot's of busisness for those willing to take advantage of a social problem.

Sat, 06/28/2008 - 8:49am Permalink
north dakota g… (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Cops are supporting neighbors stalking a family.  Stealing money, credit cards, mail, car keys and house, home break ins, destroying computers, electronics, burning mattresses, carpets, they make them look crazy so cops wont do anything to help the family being stocked.

the cops are on their cell phones, computers/internet, GPS on their cars, surveillance on house, cars, even the mothers it's sick and very sad

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 6:03pm Permalink
francis e petree (not verified)

On Thursday, October 25, 2001 at approximately 8:45 pm our rights to provide a safe and secure environment for our family were rudely taken away.

It was a particularly pleasant evening at our house that night. Dinner and dishes done, homework assignments completed, no TV or radios on; just nice and cozy. My seven-year-old son and I had pulled an extra chair up to the desk, and were playing a game on the computer. We had been playing for maybe five or ten minutes, when the doorbell rang (our backs were toward the front door). I was not even completely out of my chair yet when I heard, “Hey!” Obviously, someone had opened my front door and let themselves in. As I finished turning toward the door, I was flabbergasted to see four (4) uniformed officers, with guns drawn and bullet proof vests on; not only in our house, but within two feet of my son and me. This is when the officer closest to us shouted, “Parole search!”

I was stunned. My mind was racing, trying to find some data that would somehow associate my world with the situation before me. There was none. That same person then yelled directly at me, “Where’s Mike!”

I asked, “Who?”

He responded, “Mike Meyers!” I was confused, and told him that I did not know anyone by that name. With a somewhat sarcastic tone he said to me, “Isn’t this 2113?”

“No. This is 2008,” I said in total disbelief.

At this point, there was some murmuring between officers as they strolled out of my house. Not another word was said to us; NOT EVEN good-bye. No one thought to give my son a wink, pat on the head or any kind of reassurance. You would think someone could have said something like, “Sorry little buddy, hope we didn’t mess up your game,” or something like that.

They walked out the door without even looking back at us. I was worried about going to the open door (not knowing what in the world was going on), but I had to - if I wanted to shut it. That is when I saw that there were even more officers outside of our house. They were all over our property. The main guy that had been shouting the questions was still standing on our front porch; his back to our door, looking down the walkway and driveway. Loudly he said, “What is the number here?” A Modesto Police officer at the end of the driveway answered perfectly, “It’s right over your head.” That’s right! If he had been an inch and a half taller, he probably would have had to duck under the hanging plaque with our address numbers on it. Not to mention, we have nice, newly painted numbers on the curb in front of our house.

After basically just turning around and walking away, without even so much as a “good-bye,” they felt free to leave all of their vehicles in front of our house for an additional hour and 15 minutes. Naturally, my son was intensely focused on the fact that they were “still out there somewhere,” and wondering if there were “bad guys” out there too.

Being the eternal optimist that I am, I gave them the benefit of the doubt; thinking, “Well, they are right in the middle of a potentially dangerous situation. I’m sure after they are done, someone will stop by to apologize and maybe even offer some kind of explanation.” They did have to come right back to my house to get their cars, after all. Sadly, I was mistaken; and this at a time when our children needed to be inspired about our country, its philosophies and our government agencies that are supposed to protect and ensure that those philosophies are lived out. Instead, my son was left fearful. I had to sleep with him that night, and many after that. His routine was totally disrupted.

If I had to choose one word to best describe the way I was left feeling, it would be “BETRAYED.”

At our house, we do not allow playing with any toy guns (not even squirt guns). We do not even let kids pretend to have guns with their fingers, because guns are serious business and children do not have the maturity, judgment or discipline required to even pretend to be shooting firearms. And even though my son was prohibited from “gun play,” he had just told me three days earlier that when he grew up he wanted to be a fireman, a police officer and a soldier. To think, that there are men and women overseas fighting for our country. Fighting to protect us from this kind of treatment. To preserve our rights to have a door that no one walks through, unless invited. The right to control the environment our children are raised in . . . at least in our own home. It had only been a little over a year since our security was rocked in our community by the shooting of an eleven year old child; sleepy eyed, tousled hair, lying face down on the floor, complying with every order shouted to him by our so called “protectors.”
It is very hard for me to understand this kind of incompetence, especially considering the positions they hold (not to mention, the weapons that they hold). At the least, I expect them to have verified, confirmed and checked with another officer, regarding the address numbers. When I have an evening appointment, or maybe an interview the following day, especially when I have never been there before, I literally map out a route, and if possible, drive past the location in order to locate and confirm the address. I do that so I do not have any problems being timely or lost. It is plain old COMMON SENSE! If you don’t have any, I certainly do not want you anywhere near my children with loaded weapons in your possession.

I complained . . . without result. Did I fear retaliation? Yes I did. However, I felt it was my duty as a citizen to report and complain about the incompetence of those that we pay with our tax dollars. If the person before me does not speak up, I do not speak up and the one after me does not speak up; we are just opening the door for much worse “accidents” to happen.

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 5:17pm Permalink
bobodog (not verified)

Its a well known fact that corruption runs the perry co miss sheriffs dept. How many times have the people of perry co. miss heard the stories and been the victims of abuse by this group of gangsters , it is a well known fact that doors have been buisted down and people carted off to jail just so these so called deputies can loot and ransack there property with out interference from the owners. This includes stealing of money', destruction of anything that gets in there way of looting and filling there pockets with whatever items of value they can find. I wonder if they get back to there headquarters and divide up the proceeds from there latest hiest . Does anybody reading this comment know of anyone who has a similar experiance with this group of thugs . If so reply to this comment .

Sun, 04/25/2010 - 6:12am 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.