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This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #672)
Drug War Issues

A California dope squad leader goes bad, a Rhode Island narc goes to prison, and, of course, there are a couple of jail guards in trouble. Let's get to it:

Oh, temptation! (Image via Wikimedia)
In Martinez, California, the former commander of the Central Contra Costa Narcotics Enforcement Team was arraigned last Friday on charges he stole seized drugs and resold them on the black market. Norman Wielsch, 49, faces 28 felony counts around the alleged theft and sale of marijuana, steroids, prescription pills, methamphetamine, and meth precursor chemicals. Prosecutors said in court that Wielsch had confessed to stealing and dealing drugs with the help of a friend who was a private investigator. The friend has also been arrested. Prosecutors said that since November, the pair had made at least six drug sales and netted more than $13,000. The drug task force Wielsch ran until last week has been put on hiatus while officials review its drug-handling practices. Wielsch's family said he was under financial stress. His bail was reduced from $1 million to $400,000 after he handed in his passport.

In Providence, Rhode Island, a former Providence narcotics detective was sentenced February 17 to eight years in prison in a drug scandal that has already netted two other officers. Joseph Colanduono, who had been assigned to a DEA task force, had pleaded guilty in December to two counts of conspiracy to deliver drugs, larceny over $500, and harboring a criminal. He admitted he helped arrange cocaine deals between one of his informants and another police officer.

In Corpus Christi, Texas, a former Nueces County jail guard was sentenced last Friday to six years in prison for attempting to smuggle drugs into the jail. Jamyrria Reed, 29, went down after an inmate tipped off officials that Reed was offering to supply drugs to prisoners. She pleaded guilty to bribery and possession of cocaine. She could have faced up to 99 years behind bars, but will probably be out in about one year.

In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a Lancaster County prison guard was arrested February 17 for selling drugs. Guard Douglas Brosey, 42, went down after selling $750 worth of cocaine to a snitch. He is charged with possession and delivery of a controlled substance. Oh, and he's been fired, too. There is no word on bail.

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

tripp (not verified)

I don't even call when I need them.  You cant trust them.  They are worse than the criminals I try to protect myself from.  Only the cops have the power of law on their side and they can use it anyway they want.

Fri, 03/11/2011 - 5:34pm Permalink
NoJustice (not verified)

This is her husband.

I am saddened to see so many people ignorantly badmouth my wife. So I will divulge a bit of the situation to you.

We have a system established where criminals help catch criminals through inmates fingering guilty parties and be rewarded should an arrest be lead to. There was clearly someone dealing on the inside and wanted to get the attention off of themselves. Thus they paid an inmate to finger my wife in which the inmate gets double the reward should it lead to an arrest (one from the under handed party and one from the county).

My wife is far from a drug dealer but is guilty of being a coward. Anyone who knows her understands she is easily manipulated and doesn't belong in this line of work, however that is a side topic for another time.

My wife afraid to get me involved went to her sister who you will also see arrested in this case and was given a plea for 7 years despite being a Multi-Felon. Her sister gave her bad advise and was going to make this all go away. My wife never had any intention of dealing the drugs however her sisters intentions were far from pure, and went as far as to hold the drugs and say how "Beautiful" they were.

Luckily it was a sting operation as my wife doesn't understand how the drug world works. If drugs would have been taken and not distributed where agreed to and to whom agreed, then her sister, herself, her family, and myself would all have been killed.

My wife should have come to me or made any of the many other decisions that would have led to all of this going away, instead I am without her for a long time. She deserved to lose the right to work for the government or use her degree within the criminal justice field. She is not guilty of dealing or being a drug dealer or even doing drugs of any kind.

The sad part is that the one who was truly dealing is likely transferred out to another facility as it has been over a year since the original bust happened. He is going to be harder than ever to find and will continue to deal and contaminate our facilities. Using criminals to catch criminals is not the way to do it. My wife always tried to see the best in people, it is to bad that she did not understand how terrible people really are.

The rest of this is simply politics. The judge must look hard on criminals, especially educated ones in law-enforcement. This was no longer a fight for truth or justice, but an attempt at public favor. It was successful it seems, as it did not take long for many of you to come in here and judge my wife without knowing her.

In time this will all pass, my wife will be back with me and life will go on. Taking this to trial was not worth the risk/reward, better a future than to risk it all in a me against the world scenario.

I hope this little bit of insight can help you understand that the world is not black and white and that my wife is not "SCUM" as some would say. Take care and GOD bless.

Fri, 03/11/2011 - 6:59pm Permalink
Douglas (not verified)

In reply to by NoJustice (not verified)

If drugs where legal  then this would not have happen. Its sounds like she just got carry away with the money it can bring and u can tell she is way to trusting of a person. I will pray for her and y'all family. I am very glad to here she will be out in less of a year .God bless your family

Sun, 11/06/2011 - 11:37am Permalink

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