WORMSCAN: WORMSCAN.& [PART 6]
Involvement of Politicians, Judges, Lawyers, & Police in the Drug Business
NOTES: I made a few corrections to spellings but left the original document mainly untouched. Some dates are in YYMMDD format. These files are only a portion of the entire WORMSCAN.& file. I had to break it up due to length. There are hundreds of pages. Notice the change in format. There are much more details added to this file.
This is a continuation of the file named WORMSCAN.&.
WORMSCAN: WORMSCAN.& [PART 1]
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951209, Mexico City, Los Angeles Times.
Mexico and all seven Operation Unidos: Mexico, Central American countries join forces
MEXICO CITY - Mexico and all seven Central American countries have carried out what a U.S. official Friday called the biggest multinational counternarcotics blitz in history, a ten-day operation enlisting the Mexican army, navy and police forces.
The operation seized more than five tons of cocaine, nearly forty tons of marijuana, two aircraft, six ships and more than 650 alleged drug traffickers in Mexico alone.
In unveiling the operation, confirmed Friday by Mexican authorities, U.S. officials also said the Drug Enforcement Administration played a key "support" role in the crackdown, dubbed Operation Unidos.
Friday, officials on both sides of the U.S. border agreed that the quantity of drugs confiscated during the operation was less important than the unprecedented level of multinational cooperation.
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951212, Canberra, Australia, Extracted from The Canberra Times.
A policeman who cared for children at police service "Blue Light Discos" was filmed secretly, ordering a child sex pornographic movie, watching X-rated videos and engaging in oral sex with a woman who gave him cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis.
Detective Sergeant Wayne James Eade, former head of the Gosford drug unit and father of teenagers, told the police Royal commission yesterday that he was not corrupt.
Sergeant Eade, who was suspended last night without pay, covered his eyes as the first of four videotapes was played, showing him - evidently drunk - with a "friend" who had let her home be bugged. His visits, in August and September, usually ended with sex (edited out).
At his first appearance at the commission in September, he had described the woman as an informant who gave valuable information on drug traffickers, but when she was shown trying to give him information on how the ST Triad at Cabramatta was spreading heroin to the Central Coast, he ignored her and pressed for sex.
Apart from his initial shock, he seemed unflappable as he was grilled all day by Commissioner Wood and counsel assisting, Virginia Bell, about the tapes.
Ms Bell: "You have been confronted today with evidence ... that is damning."
Eade: "Agreed."
In the surveillance film of August 27, GDU7 is seen telling him, "I'll see if I can get that kid's movie too by the end of the week," and on September 12, "Now listen, as these kids' porno movies go ... $150 okay? And I can't do any deals for that ... if you want one of those, I'll have to fork out 150 bucks."
Eade: "I can afford it."
On August 30 she says she has information about "a big heroin job for you - bloody massive ... You know the Triad in Cabramatta ... are you listening to me at all?"
Eade: "I'm listening."
GDU7: "Are you interested in the job or not?"
Eade: "Yeah, I am, of course I am. Come on."
GDU7: "Can you just wait a minute ... I'm talking to you about something very important."
Eade: "I am too."
GDU7: "Yes, your [penis is] very important, can you just wait for ...get off!"
On September 7: "You put any on that and I won't ..."
At this point of the viewing, Ms Bell suggested, "GDU7 was telling you that you were not to place any of that cocaine on the tip of your penis."
Eade: "That's how I'd construe that conversation."
Extracted from The Canberra Times, 12 December 1995
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951221, Minneapolis, MN, Star Tribune. Stanley J. Capistrant,
Date: Mon, 1 Jan 96 17:13:00 UTC 0000
From: j.paff1@genie.com
To: fear-list@svpal.org
Subject: Cops dipping into loot again
Message-ID: <199601011722.AA189266950@RELAY1.GEIS.COM>
ANOTHER ILLEGAL DIP INTO THE FORFEITURE FUNDS
According to the Minneapolis _Star Tribune_ of December 21 and 22, 1995, a veteran city police narcotics officer is under investigation for stealing nearly $200,000 from the city's asset forfeiture trust fund. Stanley J. Capistrant, the officer under investigation, handled the forfeited funds for the past six years.
According to police captain Stephen Strehlow, the forfeiture fund accounting system has "built in checks" to prevent embezzlement. Unfortunately, no one had monitored the accounting records for years, and it wasn't until a recent audit that anyone realized that the cash was missing.
Narcotics unit supervisor Bernie Bottema, who was "devastated" by the incident, partially attributed the embezzlement to the brisk business the city's forfeiture squads were doing lately. He was quoted as saying, "When the seizure business started, it probably could have been handled by one person on a book. But it became too much for one person to handle."
The FBI and U.S. Attorney were called in to investigate, because it was felt that the Hennepin County Attorney's office, which would ordinarily conduct the investigation, may have a conflict of interest since that office receives a share of the city's forfeited funds.
A 1989 analysis of the forfeiture fund by the city's Budget and Evaluation Division had found several "severe trouble spots" in the procedures for handling seized and forfeited cash and property. According to an internal audit that followed the Division's report, cash receipt were not numbered, leading the auditor to conclude that the procedure "appears to be an opportunity for an officer to, for example, seize $1,000, list that amount on one form and give a copy to the suspect, then prepare a second form stating that the seized amount was only $500 and pocket the balance."
Unfortunately, the city elected not to implement all the financial safeguards recommended by the Division and the auditor.
==end
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951222, Cuyahoga County, OH, New York Times. Cuyahoga County,
Date: Tue Dec 26, 1995 11:46 pm CST
From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse
EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414
MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org
TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762
Subject: Ohio Dope Dealing Judge
Posted: Bob Witanek 12/26/95
OHIO JUDGE PLEADS GUILTY TO DOPE DEALING CHARGES
Cuyahoga County, Ohio Judge Michael Gallagher faces up to 20 years in prison, $1 million in fines and loss of his law license after pleading guilty to federal cocaine distribution charges. He was arrested on August 3 by Drug Enforcement Administration agents. Gallagher, who supports drug legalization, once said "Anyone who uses drugs is an idiot, but I do not feel it is an illegal matter."
(Source: New York Times, 12/22/95)
Posted in: pol-abuse@igc.apc.org
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To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 1995 12:01:31 -0800
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen )
To: DRCTalk@drcnet.org
Subject: Pro-Decrim Judge Pleads Guilty to Drug Charge
Message-ID: <199512272001.MAA02261@IX11.IX.NETCOM.COM>
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A county judge who favored legalizing drugs yet said only an idiot would use them has pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine.
Michael Gallagher, 39, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court. He faces as much as 20 years in prison, a maximum $1 million in fines and the possible loss of his law license.
He was released on bond and ordered to report to a substance abuse program.
"Judge Gallagher has confronted his problem and looks forward to the day when he can once again make a positive contribution to society," said his lawyer, Mark Marein.
Gallagher, who was elected to the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in 1990, has no listed telephone, so he could not be reached for comment.
Gallagher was arrested Aug. 3 when he invited an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent to snort a line of cocaine during a drug deal at the judge's home, federal officials said.
The Ohio Supreme Court will determine his future as a judge and lawyer after sentencing, which has not been set. He was suspended from the bench at the time he was charged.
Asked once during a newspaper interview whether he had used drugs, Gallagher responded, "Let's say it's been a long time, and make any implication you want to. Anyone who uses drugs is an idiot, but I do not feel it is an illegal matter."
Gallagher was elected despite a Cleveland Bar Association poll in which 94 percent of respondents rated him "not recommended."
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 15:26:47 GMT
From: adbryan@onramp.net (Alan Bryan)
To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Subject: Judge sentenced for drug distribution
Message-ID: <199603211437.IAA00255@MAILHOST.ONRAMP.NET>
Wed, 20 Mar 1996:
CLEVELAND, March 20 (UPI) -- A former Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge was sentenced Wednesday in Cleveland federal court to a one-year prison term for distributing cocaine.
Michael Gallagher previously pleaded guilty to the charge he distributed the drug to a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.
U.S. District Court Judge Lesley Wells also fined Gallagher $20,000 and ordered him to serve three years supervised probation after his release from prison.
Last summer, the U.S. Secret Service, the DEA and the FBI received information Gallagher was engaged in the use and distribution of cocaine.
During the investigation, the judge met with a DEA agent who, unknown to Gallagher, was acting undercover.
At the meetings that took place at Gallagher's Lakewood home, the judge reportedly discussed his cocaine use, and was observed using crack cocaine with another person.
The undercover agent reported Gallagher told him he could obtain the drug for him, and that the DEA agent overheard Gallagher talking with other people about buying cocaine.
Closure came to the investigation when, as a test, Gallagher offered cocaine to the agent. Gallagher had received tips from suspected drug dealers that the person meeting with the judge was a DEA agent.
[adb--was the judge nuts or what?]
The agent said the judge wanted to see whether the agent snorted the white powder.
Once the cocaine was offered to the agent, the sitting county judge was arrested by FBI agents.
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951227, Los Angeles, CA, LA Times. The Los Angeles County
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 1995 14:47:51 GMT
From: Jim Rosenfield
To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Subject: Drug War Continues to Corrupt L.A. Sheriffs Dept
Message-ID: <199512271447.OAA15771@HOLLYWOOD.CINENET.NET>
Dear LEOs:
Found this in this morning's L.A. Times. Not unlike many, many other such stories this past year. Could this corruption of our noble public servants have anything to do with the dreadful failure of the War on Drugs?
Apparently this is not a *rare* phenomenon, but consistent with and endemic to drug prohibition.
***************************************************************************
Couple accuses Sheriff's Department of planting evidence.
Ex-deputy says she was harassed into resigning because of her protests. Her deputy husband contends minorities were targeted.
By KENNETH REICH, Times Staff Writer, 12/27/95
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, beset in recent years by charges of racial discrimination and harassment, was accused Tuesday of falsely arresting and routinely planting evidence on minority group members in heavily black and Latino communities.
"It's happening every day," eight-year deputy Michael G.
Osborne asserted at a news conference to announce a legal claim against the department. Osborne, who is on paid leave for stress disability, said he has seen it happen in the Firestone, Lynwood, Compton and Willowbrook communities, all patrolled by deputies.
Osborne's wife, Aurora Alonso Mellado, a five-year deputy who resigned last Friday, filed the damage claim against the county and the Sheriff's Department, charging that she was harassed and forced out after she alleged that her training officer, Deputy Jeffrey Jones, had planted narcotics on suspects. At the news conference, she said that the incident involved two black suspects and that she was asked to write false reports against them.
In her claim, Mellado says that in seven weeks of being trained by Jones as a patrol deputy last summer, she found that he was "engaging in illegal activities, including planting evidence, using throwaway guns, transferring drugs, assaulting and battery of civilians, and violating of suspects' civil rights." Such claims, if rejected by the county, are usually followed by lawsuits.
Since she first made the allegations to department officials, Mellado and Osborne said at the news conference, both have repeatedly received death and other threats directed at them and their two small children from people they believe to be department employees who have access to their unlisted home telephone number and address.
The race-related allegations are reminiscent of testimony by a lead prosecution witness in a string of federal cases in recent years involving drug money skimming. Robert R. Sobel testified that as a former sheriff's sergeant in Lynwood and nearby communities, he frequently arrested African Americans who were simply walking the streets and had committed no crime. Sobel later acknowledged in court lying more than 100 times in his testimony in such cases.
The Sheriff's Department, which videotaped Tuesday's news conference, made only a brief statement about the allegations.
Capt. Jeff Springs, Sheriff Sherman Block's chief spokesman, said: "When the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department became aware of the allegations, an internal investigation was initiated. Because that investigation is still active and our department has not formally received the complainant's claim, it would be inappropriate at this time to discuss the specifics of the case."
Jones is on leave and efforts to reach him Tuesday through the department for comment were unsuccessful.
Mellado, Osborne and their attorney, James H. Davis of Los Angeles, said they have been informed that on Nov. 14, Sheriff's Department investigators asked the district attorney to file three criminal charges against Jones in connection with Mellado's complaints against him. They said the district attorney has made no decision on whether to act.
A spokeswoman for Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti said the office could neither confirm nor deny whether charges were pending against Jones.
She added, however, that it was not uncommon for weeks to pass before a decision is made on whether to file charges. "Sometimes, further investigation is required, so it can take a long time," she said.
Mellado and Osborne said it has been made clear to them by investigators that if charges are filed against Jones, she will be a principal witness against the deputy.
What has angered them, they said, is that when the death threats began, including threats to her well-being at the sheriff's pistol range where she was temporarily assigned, they could not persuade sheriff's investigators to take action to protect them.
Osborne said both now believe that as perceived "snitches" they have no future in the department.
"If we require deputies to report misconduct of other deputies, then we must protect those who make the complaints," said their attorney, Davis.
Osborne said that in his three years at the Century Station, fake drug arrests were very common, most always against minorities, and that one reason is that deputies get overtime pay when they are required to testify in such cases.
Osborne said both now believe that as perceived 'snitches' they have no future in the department.
Jim Rosenfield
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tel: 310-836-0926 fax: 310-836-0592
jnr@cinenet.net
cis: 103034,352 http://metro.turnpike.net/~jnr/
------------------------------
Date: Fri Dec 29, 1995 2:13 am CST
From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse
EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414
MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org
TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762
Subject: LA Sheriffs: Evidence Planting Alleged
From: Bob Witanek
Subject: LA Sheriffs: Evidence Planting Alleged
Posted mnovickttt Wed Dec 27 22:14:20 1995
From: Michael Novick
Subject: evidence planting by la sheriff's deputies
Evidence-Planting Claims Probed
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two sheriff's deputies have accused their co-workers of routinely planting evidence on black and Hispanic suspects, an accusation that the sheriff said Wednesday was being investigated.
"It's happening every day," said Deputy Michael G. Osborne, an eight-year veteran on paid leave for stress disability.
The allegations were made Tuesday by Osborne and his wife, Aurora Alonso Mellado, a five-year deputy who resigned last week. She claimed she was harassed and forced out after she accused her training officer, Deputy Jeffrey Jones, of planting narcotics on suspects.
The couple filed a legal claim against the county sheriff's department. Such claims, if rejected by the county, are generally followed by lawsuits.
Mellado said she was asked to write false reports on two suspects and regularly saw evidence planted during seven weeks of patrol training. Jones is on paid administrative leave and could not be located for comment.
Osborne said fake drug arrests, largely of minorities, were common. He said many deputies make such arrests because they get overtime pay when they have to testify.
"I certainly cannot say that the allegations are not true, because I don't know," Sheriff Sherman Block said at a news conference. "In fact, that's why the district attorney now has the matter before them as to whether or not they'll proceed with criminal prosecution." There are 8,110 deputies in the sheriff's department.
AP-NY-12-27-95 1947EST
Copied from the PRODIGY(R) service 12/28/95 00:28
12/28/95
DRUGS: Evidence-planting case goes to D.A. Sheriff confirms that officials will investigate deputy accused of framing minorities. He also denies assertions by former officer that department ignored accusations.
By KENNETH REICH, Times Staff Writer
Sheriff Sherman Block confirmed Wednesday that the case of a deputy accused of planting drug evidence on minority group members in heavily black and Latino communities has been submitted to the district attorney for possible prosecution.
But the sheriff denied the assertions of another deputy who resigned last Friday, Aurora Alonso Mellado, that she had brought allegations that the deputy had planted the evidence to the attention of superiors first herself.
Block asserted at his monthly news conference that it was a supervisor who overheard a conversation about possible improprieties by Deputy Jeffrey Jones and then asked Mellado, whom Jones had been training, about them.
Block also contested assertions by Mellado and her husband, an eight-year deputy on stress leave, that they had provided documentation to Internal Affairs investigators of death threats they said they had received since the investigation began.
Mellado, a five-year deputy, and her husband, Michael G. Osborne, stood firm on their assertions in interviews Wednesday. They insisted that Mellado had reported alleged unlawful conduct by Jones before any supervisor asked her about it, and that they had documented written threats.
At a news conference Tuesday, Osborne accused sheriff's deputies of routinely planting evidence on minority group members. Mellado, meanwhile, also announced the filing of a legal damages claim in which she said she was harassed and forced out of the department after she told authorities that Jones had planted narcotics on suspects.
Such claims, if rejected by the county, are usually followed by lawsuits. Mellado has been granted criminal immunity for her testimony against Jones, but the district attorney's office has not yet decided whether to prosecute him.
Answering a barrage of questions on the matter, Block said he was aware that discriminatory treatment of minorities exists in his ranks, but added: "I believe there are very few people in this department at any level who will knowingly tolerate that kind of activity. "When you say minorities are targeted in an area, the area [Firestone, Lynwood, Compton and Willowbrook] is about 100% minority, so it's hardly a targeting issue," Block said.
"If you're asking me if deputy sheriffs ever engage in inappropriate conduct," the sheriff continued, "I'd be a fool to say it never occurs.
"But I'm also secure in saying that when it is determined that such behavior does occur that we move very aggressively in dealing with it."
Mellado and Osborne had suggested during their news conference that a "code of silence" exists in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that not only keeps deputies from reporting wrongdoing by other deputies but also leads to threats against those who do.
In their case, they said, it resulted in threats against them and their children after the allegations against Jones surfaced.
They said the department had done little to inquire into or stem the threats.
Block responded Wednesday: "I don't think there is such a thing as a 'code of silence,' but I would be less than truthful if I didn't believe that there were people that on occasion saw things that they knew were improper and rather than reporting it as they should decided for reasons best known to them that they would not."
When this happens, Block went on, the reputation of the department is "tarnished" and "everybody's badge is just a little duller because of that kind of activity."
Block said the couple had been given equipment to record threats phoned into their home. However, no evidence of such threats has been returned to investigators, the sheriff added.
Mellado later countered that she submitted copies of certain written threats to a departmental investigator as early as late August.
As for Block's assertions that the department had questioned her about Jones' conduct before she made allegations of wrongdoing, Mellado said she had made the allegations to a former supervisor and to a sergeant who was her supervisor at the time. Her husband also said he told another supervisor -- all before she was first questioned Aug. 18.
Block, who said at his news conference that Mellado had filed false reports on Jones' drug arrests and therefore also was implicated in wrongdoing, responded late in the day:
"To date, and until the investigation reveals otherwise, it appears that Ms. Mellado did not initiate a report to her supervisors or anyone else in her chain of command."
Copyright Los Angeles Times
Copied from the PRODIGY(R) service 12/28/95 00:48
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960102, Urbandale, IA, The Des Moines Register. Urbandale Police
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 1996 19:41:55 -0600
From: carlolsen@dsmnet.com (Carl E. Olsen)
To: drctalk@calyx.com
Subject: DARE cop busted for meth
Message-ID: <9601030141.AA20249@DSM7.DSMNET.COM>
The Des Moines Register, Tuesday, January 2, 1995, Page 1A
DRUG POSSESSION CHARGE
Urbandale officer arrested in D.M.
'Scores' of sex-oriented items are also found in the van driven by police veteran James Trimble.
By MICHAEL McNARNEY
Register Staff Writer
James R. Trimble, Urbandale police officer and school liaison officer for the Urbandale district, was arrested early Monday for allegedly possessing methamphetamine with the intent to deliver.
Also found were "scores" of sex-oriented pictures and letters. No charges relating to those had been filed by Monday night.
Trimble, an 18-year Urbandale police veteran, will likely be suspended until the investigation is completed, Urbandale Police Chief David Hamlin said.
Trimble, 43 was pulled over by Des Moines police about 4 a.m. in the 600 block of Clark Street. In a police report, Officer Steven Kees said, "There was a substantial amount of what appeared to be meth in the van.
Besides Trimble, of 501 Second St., West Des Moines, a woman with him in the van was also arrested: Lorrie K. Breiholz, 34, of 433 S.E. Phillip St., No. 106, in Des Moines. Both were charged with possession of narcotics with the intent to deliver them.
Wife Is Arrested, Too
Trimble's wife was arrested six hours after he was when police raided their home. Robin Lynn Trimble, 41, was charged with possession of narcotics. A police report of the search alleged she was in possession of marijuana.
Trimble's mother, Beverly, let police search her home at 7213 Palm Drive in Urbandale. They found nothing. Police said the van Trimble was driving, which belongs to his mother, was circling a neighborhood north of downtown when Breiholz was seen by police not wearing a seat belt. They said when Trimble pulled over, he made movements toward the center of the van "as if he was trying to hide or reach for something."
Trimble got out of the van and walked toward officers, and he did not get back in the van as ordered. The police report said he was "extremely nervous."
While Trimble was detained in a police car, he told Kees that he was an Urbandale police officer. Officers found a substance in the van, and a field test indicated that it was methamphetamine. Des Moines police also called Hamlin, Urbandale's chief, to tell him what happened.
In a telephone interview Monday night, Hamlin said he was shocked when he got the news.
"He had a good work record, a good reputation with the department," Hamlin said. "I found it rather stunning to hear about it."
Hamlin said he had not consulted with the city attorney, but he said he intends to suspend Trimble pending further investigation. "At that time, I'll determine his long-term status," he said.
Hamlin said Trimble had been the school liaison officer for five years.
"I had no idea," Superintendent Tom Davis said of the news Monday. He referred questions to school attorney Jeff Krausman.
Krausman said officials could not comment because Trimble is employed jointly by the school district and the city.
Trimble was active in D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), an anti-drug education program. "We don't just teach kids what drugs look like," Trimble said in a 1992 interview. "We teach life skills needed to say no to drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
Trimble was being held at the Des Moines City Jail Monday night. Bond was set at $19,500.
******************************************************************
* Carl E. Olsen * carlolsen@dsmnet.com *
* Post Office Box 4091 * http://www.calyx.com/~olsen/ *
* Des Moines, Iowa 50333 * Carl_E._Olsen@commonlink.com *
* (515) 262-6957 voice & fax * 73043.414@compuserve.com *
******************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 03 Jan 1996 23:48:43 -0800
From: "Carl E. Olsen"
To: drctalk@calyx.com
Cc: evans@calyx.com
Subject: DARE cop busted for meth #2
Message-ID: <30EB865B.5A57@DSMNET.COM>
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* Carl E. Olsen * carlolsen@dsmnet.com *
* Post Office Box 4091 * http://www.calyx.com/~olsen/ *
* Des Moines, Iowa 50333 * Carl_E._Olsen@commonlink.com *
* (515) 262-6957 voice & fax * 73043.414@compuserve.com *
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The Des Moines Register, Wednesday, January 3, 1996, 1A
'I feel we have to be more careful of who we put in charge of your kids.'
-- Brad Van Horn, parent
Shock, anger follow arrest of policeman
Urbadale youths looked up to James Trimble, who encouraged them to lead responsible, drug-free lives.
By STEPHANIE ARMOUR
Register Staff Writer
Urbandale, Ia. -- For years. Angie Van Horn believed her basketball coach was dedicated to keeping kids off drugs.
Now the 15-year-old doesn't know what to believe.
Early Tuesday morning, her parents told her that James R. Trimble -- an Urbandale police officer and long-time coach -- had been arrested. The liaison officer with the Urbandale school district is charged with trafficking in marijuana and methamphetamine.
Police also say Trimble -- found with a sexual device inserted in his body -- was driving around with scores of sex-oriented videotapes and pictures, including photos of himself. A Des Moines woman was arrested with him.
"I looked up to him as a teacher," Angie said of Trimble, who had been the ninth-grade girls' basketball coach. "He would tell us not to do drugs and what they can do to you, I'm kind of angry, because he was teaching me not to do that kind of stuff."
Angie's not alone. Parents, students and co-workers who know Trimble expressed anger and shock at news of the arrest.
Trimble, an 18-year veteran of the Urbandale force, coached ninth-grade girls' basketball and volleyball. He also was an officer with the district's Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program.
"A Hollow Spot"
Family members also said they were stunned.
"I just have a big hollow spot," said his mother, Beverly Trimble. "I'm too upset. Until I have a chance to talk to my son, I have no comment. If you would let this subject drop, it would give the family some peace."
Starting today, the Urbandale district will launch a "crisis plan" -- holding group meetings and visits with counselors to discuss Trimble's arrest.
In light of some of the sexual material found with Trimble, administrators said they will probably talk with students to see if anyone felt uncomfortable with, or was threatened by, the officer.
Trimble has been suspended by the police department and the school district.
As a D.A.R.E. officer, he was one of several police members who would talk to young people about staying off drugs. The 17-week program is aimed at fifth-graders.
He was described as a somewhat temperamental basketball coach who would cheer at football games and sit in on drug-abuse panels. His daughter is a student in the Urbandale school district.
"People Are In Shock"
"A lot of people are in shock," said Urbandale Police Chief David Hamlin. "He had a good background and devoted the last five years to working with young people. It makes it more difficult to understand."
But some parents said they don't understand why Trimble was working with kids in the first place.
"We're very surprised and upset at the school system," said Brad Van Horn, Angie's father. "I feel we have to be more careful of who we put in charge of your kids. It stands to reason you can trust a police officer."
Some said they were troubled by the sexual smorgasbord discovered with Trimble.
He had "all kinds of sexually explicit" material, said Des Moines police Sgt. Bill Judkins. Police said Trimble had a sexual device connected to a battery pack inserted in his body.
School officials described Trimble as "very active" in student activities, although not at the elementary level.
"We are shocked and saddened by this," said Len Cockman, an Urbandale school spokesman.
But some said there should be few surprises when it comes to methamphetamine.
"Quite frankly, I can tell you we've been involved in investigating every race, every nationality, almost every occupation you can think of," said Des Moines police Lt. Russell Underwood. "Now there's a police officer, which is devastating."
SCHOOL ROLES
Urbandale officer James Trimble was involved in:
* Coaching ninth-grade girls' basketball and volleyball in the Urbandale school district.
* Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E., as a school liaison officer.
* Quest, a program at Urbandale Middle School that aims to build character and values.
-----------------------------266471058114054--
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 1996 00:14:43 -0800
From: "Carl E. Olsen"
To: drctalk@calyx.com
Cc: carlolsen@dsmnet.com
Subject: DARE cop busted for meth #3
Message-ID: <30EB8C73.5438@DSMNET.COM>
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* Carl E. Olsen * carlolsen@dsmnet.com *
* Post Office Box 4091 * http://www.calyx.com/~olsen/ *
* Des Moines, Iowa 50333 * Carl_E._Olsen@commonlink.com *
* (515) 262-6957 voice & fax * 73043.414@compuserve.com *
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The Des Moines Register, Wednesday, January 3, 1996, 1A
Trimble's wife accuses him of domestic abuse after dispute
He is ordered to stay away from his spouse after allegedly threatening to kill her and himself in a dispute hours before his arrest.
By TOM ALEX
Register Staff Writer
An Urbandale police officer arrested on drug trafficking charges is also facing a charge of domestic abuse.
James R. Trimble threatened to kill his wife and then commit suicide early New Year's Day, according to a no-contact order issued Tuesday in Polk County District Court. The order was issued after police said Trimble's wife turned up at the West Des Moines police station, saying she had been the victim of domestic abuse.
Under the order, Trimble must stay away from his wife, Robin Lynn, until Jan. 24.
The incident is said to have occured two hour's into 1996 and about two hours before James Trimble was arrested by Des Moines police.
Trimble, 43, an 18-year veteran of the Urbandale department who has been active in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (D.A.R.E.), was arrested early Monday. Police said they found a little over 7 ounces of methamphetamine -- $20,000 worth -- in the van he was driving.
He was charged with two counts of possession of narcotics with intent to deliver and with a tax stamp violation.
Authorities said he also had sexually explicit videotapes and pictures when Des Moines police pulled him over in the 600 block of Clark Street. He has been suspended from his work with the department and the school.
A Des Moines woman with Trimble also was arrested: Lorrie Breiholz, 34, of 433 Philip St. was charged with possession of narcotics with the intent to deliver. Police said Trimble apparently picked her up at Seventh Street and College Avenue earlier in the morning.
Police said they did not show a prior arrest record for Breiholz and did not say how she came to be in the car.
Police raided the Trimble home at 50l Second St., West Des Moines, hours after the arrests. Robin Lynn, Trimble's wife, was charged with possession of narcotics after a "dime size" amount of marijuana was found, police said. She was later released.
According to the report filed by Trimble's wife, he allegedly grabbed her by the arms during an argument and left a bruise the size of a quarter on her upper right arm.
Meanwhile, Urbandale Police Chief David Hamlin said officers were checking to see whether any confiscated drugs held for court cases were missing from evidence lockers.
Hamlin said that Trimble, who until Monday headed the five-officer drug prevention unit, has been entrusted in the past with the task of destroying illegal narcotics by burning them.
As with any police officer on the department, Trimble was hired only after an extensive background check, Hamlin said.
"Regardless of the procedures you set up, if an officer wants to be crooked there's a way to do it," Hamlin said.
At a news conference Tuesday, Des Moines police Sgt. William Judkins described the arrest as traumatic.
"I feel badly for the image of the police department," Judkins said.
No charges were filed in connection with the "large amount" of sexually oriented photographs and videos police said they found on Trimble. Judkins, noting that Trimble has been a school
liaison officer in Urbandale, made a point of saying none of the pictures or videos included anyone of school age.
Following an initial appearance Tuesday in Polk County District Court, Trimble was released from the Polk County Jail under the county's pretrial release program. He is scheduled to appear in court on the two drug counts on Feb. 6.
THIS ARTICLE includes a report from Register Staff Writer Stephanie Armour.
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960105, Newark, NJ, Star Ledger. Police Officer Darrell
Date: Fri Jan 05, 1996 12:35 am CST
From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse
EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414
MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org
TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762
Subject: Newark, NJ - Cocaine Positive Cop Dis Overturned
Posted by Bob Witanek 1/4/96
JUDGE ORDERS OVERTURNING OF NEWARK, NJ COP DISMISSAL DUE TO POSITIVE COCAINE TEST
Administrative Law Judge Ken Springer ordered the reinstatement and reimbursement of back pay, benefits and legal fees of a Newark Police Officer who was dismissed from his job after testing positive for cocaine. Officer Darrel Armstrong was ordered to have a drug test after missing an average of 40 days per year between 1991 and 1993. The judge stated that the police cannot order a drug test simply on the basis of missed days for work. An attorney for the city of Newark stated that the city will appeal the decision. Armstrong tested positive for cocaine in April of 1994 and was fired after an administrative hearing in July of 1994. The cop claims he testified that his wife had put cocaine in his juice, unbeknownst to him, to relieve pain he suffers from a work related injury. Armstrong stated that it was due to the injury that he had taken so many days off. Up to 10 Newark police officers have been fired for testing positive for drugs in recent years according to a city attorney. Many of those cases will not be effected by this decision, because the fired cops failed to appeal within 45 days.
The attorney stated that he is awaiting a decision in the case of another dismissed cop, Michael Gugliotta, as he expects to handle others. If this decision is allowed to stand, it could have implications for other police departments, as well as for other public workers, throughout NJ. (Source: Star Ledger, 1/3/96)
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960105, New York City, NY, NY Times. Police Officer, Steven L
Date: Fri Jan 12, 1996 10:39 pm CST
From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse
EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414
MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org
TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762
Subject: NYPD - 'Dirty Thirty' Perjury Conviction
Posted Bob Witanek 1/12/96
'DIRTY THIRTY' PERJURY CONVICTION - NY Times, 1/5/96
Still declaring his innocence, a former police officer from the corruption-plagued 30th Precinct in Harlem was sentenced to three months in prison for testifying falsely about a drug arrest. "I am neither a corrupt cop nor a rogue cop nor a Dirty 30 cop," said the officer, Steven L. Pataki, who fought to control his emotions as his Hungarian-immigrant parents looked on sadly. Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam of State Supreme Court in Manhattan told Mr. Pataki, 32, she had agonized over the sentence because she believed him to be a good person. But while she rejected a request by the District Attorney's office for a long sentence, she said she also thought that some jail time would make the point that police must not commit perjury. The judge noted that one defendant in the case in which Mr. Pataki gave false testimony spent three years in jail. Of 33 officers from the northwest Harlem precinct arrested since March 1994 on corruption charges, 17 were charged with perjury. Mr. Pataki's lawyer, Bruce Smirti, told the court that his client was an innocent man who had become a Kafkaesque victim. Mr. Smirti said that Mr. Pataki was never linked to any of the more serious crimes in the corruption case, like drug trafficking, but instead was convicted of lying under oath by two witnesses who Mr. Smirti said lied themselves in testifying against him.
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960106, Peru & Columbia, NBC. WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The United
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 1996 13:17:51 -0800
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen )
To: DRCTalk@drcnet.org
Subject: NBC: US-South America campaign to kill smugglers
Message-ID: <199601062117.NAA15200@IX7.IX.NETCOM.COM>
WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The United States is quietly directing Peru and Colombia in a campaign to shoot down planes operated by South American drug cartels, NBC News reported Friday.
Quoting unidentified sources, the network said the Pentagon, the Customs Service and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were involved in directing tracking and intelligence gathering outposts in Peru and Colombia.
With U.S. guidance, according to the report, Peru and Colombia have machine-gunned two dozen planes in flight and destroyed or confiscated 70 others on the ground.
NBC said each of the tracking stations was staffed with about 40 U.S. Army and Air Force troops who operate the surveillance gear.
Officially, they work as advisers only.
When a radar operator detects a suspicious aircraft, an American pursuit plane is called in. When the Americans are satisfied that they have locked on to a drug plane, the Peruvians scramble in lightly armed attack planes for an aerial confrontation, NBC said.
The Peruvian pilots first try to talk the suspect planes down, and if that fails, they fire a machine-gun burst as a warning. As a last resort, they fire on the aircraft, according to the report.
NBC said the Pentagon was spending $120 million on the project. It added that, based on information provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the CIA, Peru and Colombia often bombed drug airfields and raided hideouts.
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960107, New York City, NY, Trenton Times. Police Officer Darryl
Date: Wed Jan 10, 1996 1:51 am CST
From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse
EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414
MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org
TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762
Subject: NYPD - Cop on Gang's Payroll
Posted: Bob Witanek 1/9/96
COP ON GANG'S PAYROLL THWARTS INVESTIGATION
Trenton Times, 1/7/96
NEW YORK (AP) - Three leaders of a wealthy and homicidal Upper West Side drug gang known as the Young Talented Children (YTC) were convicted yesterday in Manhattan on narcotics, conspiracy and four murder charges.
The jury deliberated 2 days before convicting Angel Ayala, 22, Omar Alvarez, 21, and Pedro Diaz, 24. The three face maximum sentences of 100 years to life when Justice Leslie Crocker Snyder sentences them Jan. 30.
The YTC gang operated in the Manhattan Valley area around 107th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Central Park West. Prosecutors said the gang's crack cocaine business grossed $100,000 a week. It was disclosed during the 2 month trial that investigators were unable to infiltrate the gang or catch its members in any illegal activity because a uniformed police officer was on the gang's payroll. Officer Darryl Edmunds, now on modified assignment at the 24th Precinct, warned gang leaders when police planned to move on them, former YTC member Raymond Rivera, 25, testified. He said Edmunds even carried a YTC beeper. Edmunds is under investigation.
One of the gang's murder victims was Lamont Williams, 14, an I.S. 195 eighth-grader gunned down Nov. 17, 1993, on a West 112th Street park bench because the YTC shooters could not find the rival gangsters they sought.
Rivera said the Alvarez bragged he "blew the kid's melon off." The gang, most of whom attended Brandeis High School at Columbus Avenue and 84th Street, killed the teen "to teach the block a lesson," prosecutors said.
A law enforcement official familiar with the case said YTC members turned to crack dealing and murder after "they became bored playing video games. They constructed their own fantasy world where they played God, decided for real instead of on a video screen who lived and who died."
The jury acquitted Alvarez on one drug count, but that will have no practical effect on his sentence since he still faces 100 years to life."
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960110, New York City, NY, NY Times. In the perjury trial of
Date: Fri Jan 12, 1996 12:48 am CST
From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse
EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414
MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org
TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762
Subject: NYPD - Dirty 30 - "Booming"
Posted: Bob Witanek 1/11/96
SERGEANT ADMITS ILLEGAL APARTMENT BREAK-INS IN CORRUPTION PLAGUED "DIRTY 30th." PRECINCT
NY Times, 1/10/96 - Excerpted
BY GEORGE JAMES
A rogue police sergeant from the corruption-plagued 30th Precinct testified yesterday that the precinct's commander and his top aide led him on a drug raid of a building in which they illegally entered apartments by breaking down doors to gain entry - a practice that came to 'be known as "booming." Kevin P. Nannery, who supervised a band of corrupt officers called "Nannery's Raiders," said in a Manhattan courtroom yesterday that the aide, Capt. Lewis T. Manetta, even handed him a sledgehammer for smashing into apartments in a Harlem building where they thought drugs were being sold in September 1990. "It was kind of implied that this was what they wanted," Mr. Nannery said, referring to Captain Manetta and the precinct's commander, Peter J. Buccino, who was also a captain at the time and now heads the department's bias unit.
Mr. Nannery said that because the precinct's most senior officers had led the raid and were conducting a search of the building at 555 West 151 st Street without first obtaining a warrant, he took it to mean he should adopt such tactics in fighting drug dealers. So, he testified, he told his own men: "If this is what they wanted, then that's what we would do."
Mr. Nannery's testimony in State Supreme Court yesterday at the perjury trial of a fellow officer, Michael Dauphinee, marked the first time that Mr. Buccino's name has surfaced in connection with the 30th Precinct corruption scandal. Mr. Buccino now holds the higher rank of deputy inspector in overseeing the bias unit. But Captain Manetta, who went on to command the newly formed 33th Precinct in Washington Heights, has been dogged by allegations he condoned corruption while he was the executive officer in the 30th Precinct, in 1990 and 1991. He has put in his retirement papers after twice being passed over for promotion to deputy inspector.
Law enforcement officials said they could not talk about the accusations in a case that is under way, but Deputy Inspector Robert K. Cividanes, a spokesman for the police department, said, "the police department, the District Attorney and the U.S. Attorney are aware of the allegations being made by Nannery." He would not discuss the matter further. . . . . . .
Sergeant Nannery, along with another sergeant, was the highest ranking officer arrested in the 30th Precinct scandal, which saw police officers charged with drug trafficking, taking bribes from dealers, stealing cash and drugs, conducting illegal searches and seizures, and then lying under oath to cover up the illegal arrests they made. Yesterday was the first time Sergeant Nannery, a slim, dark-haired man in his mid-30's, testified since his arrest in September 1994.
In an agreement to become a cooperating witness and testify against his former colleagues, he pleaded guilty in November 1994 to Federal charges of conspiring to violate civil rights by knocking down doors and stealing keys of suspects in order to enter and search their apartments for guns and drugs. He also pleaded guilty to evading taxes by not reporting $10,000 in stolen cash as income. Mr. Nannery acknowledged on the witness stand to developing a drinking problem shortly after being assigned to the 30th Precinct in April 1990, and said he was soon making illegal arrests, at times vouchering the money recovered or sharing it with other officers. Once he stole four tires from a suspected drug dealer's car and another time stole st dozen railroad ties from a Metro North storage yard for use as a wall in his backyard.
He said that in September 1990, acting on information that Captains Buccino and Manetta received, they raided 555 West 151st Street, where he said he could hear the sounds of doors being broken throughout the building. This was the first time he recalled in which they "boomed" doors. When asked on direct questioning by Florence Finkle, the prosecutor in the case, whether Captain Manetta had led other booming raids after that, Mr. Nannery said, "There were a few others where Captain Manetta participated."
Eventually, however, the precinct was getting so many complaints of broken-down doors, he said, that he and others officers invented new ways to get into apartments.
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960111, Boston, MA, PRN. Bernard G Sylvia, "corrections" officer
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996 07:41:28 -0600 (CST)
From: adbryan@onramp.net
To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Subject: Corruption
Message-ID: <199601121341.HAA08223@MAILHOST.ONRAMP.NET>
<---- INCLUDED ---- MESSAGE BEGIN>
From: ADBryan@aol.com
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996 08:25:02 -0500
To: adbryan@onramp.net
Subject: Corruption
BOSTON, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- A Massachusetts corrections officer pleaded guilty today to an indictment charging him with laundering drug proceeds.
United States Attorney Donald K. Stern announced that BERNARD G. SYLVIA, 51 years old, of 315 Loftus Street, New Bedford, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty today to 30 counts of money laundering in a hearing at the federal courthouse in Worcester, Massachusetts, before United States District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton.
At that hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark W. Pearlstein stated that if the case had gone to trial the government would have proved the following:
SYLVIA was a corrections officer at the Bristol County House of Correction.
Between 1990 and 1994, while he was out on disability leave, SYLVIA began laundering money for a Massachusetts drug trafficker. Acting at the drug trafficker's request, SYLVIA conducted 94 separate transactions with the proceeds of cocaine sales. The trafficker would give cash to SYLVIA - typically in amounts in excess of $3,000 - and ask him to send the money to persons in Florida. SYLVIA would take the cash to Western Union agents in New Bedford, and transmit the funds, through Western Union's money transfer system, to the designated recipients in Florida.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Pearlstein stated that SYLVIA transmitted a total of $247,240 to persons in Florida in this manner. SYLVIA knew these funds represented the proceeds of cocaine trafficking, and that the purpose of the transactions was to conceal the trafficker's interest in the funds. Each time SYLVIA conducted a transaction he was paid with a $50 bag of cocaine.
Judge Gorton scheduled sentencing for April 2, 1996. SYLVIA faces up to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of $500,000 on each count.
The case was investigated by special agents of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark W. Pearlstein, Chief of Stern's Economic Crimes Unit.
CO: U.S. Attorney's Office
ST: Massachusetts
IN:
SU:
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960112, New York City, NY Times. Police Commissioner William J.
Date: Fri Jan 12, 1996 10:44 pm CST
From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse
EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414
MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org
TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762
Subject: NYPD - Bratton in Denial Over 'Dirty 30' Testimony
Posted Bob Witanek 1/12/96
BRATTON TRIES TO DENY HIERARCHICAL CORRUPTION IN DIRTY 30 PRECINCT
(NY TIMES, 1/12/96)
BY DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI
Police Commissioner William J. Bratton yesterday rebutted a rogue police officer's court testimony that the 30th Precinct's rampant corruption was encouraged and initiated by the precinct's two top commanders. Sgt. Kevin P. Nannery, testifying on Tuesday in the State Supreme Court trial of another 30th Precinct officer, said his precinct commander, Capt. Peter J. Buccino, accompanied him on his first illegal raid in 1992. He said he also broke down apartment doors with a sledgehammer provided by the commander's top aide, Capt. Lewis T. Manetta. But Mr. Bratton said the department's internal affairs unit had known about Mr. Nannery's assertions for months, investigated them and found them groundless. "I don't think Buccino was even assigned to the precinct." he said.
Sergeant Nannery, who led a crew of rogue officers known as Nannery's Raiders, has pleaded guilty to civil rights violations and was testifying for the prosecution as part of a plea agreement. Captain Manetta, has filed for retirement after twice being passed over for promotion, and Captain Buccino has been promoted to deputy inspector and now heads the bias investigation unit.
Mr. Bratton said that he purposely declined to promote Captain Manetta while the corruption allegations were pending but that he now considers the charges unsubstantiated. Yesterday, the officer whom Sergeant Nannery was testifying against, Michael Dauphinee, was convicted of four counts of perjury arising from an arrest he made with Mr. Nannery.
=================
COMMENT: While Bratton is in denial over Nannery's testimony, a court found the testimony believable enough for this conviction.
Bratton's comment that he doesn't 'think' Buccino was assigned to the precinct on the date of events described by Nannery is worded vaguely enough that Bratton can back out of it if need be. In fact, if Bratton has evidence that Nannery's testimony is false, perhaps he ought to bring that evidence before the court. Otherwise, he is just creating a media smog to hide the rampant corruption within the NYPD! - Bob
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COMMENT#2: "I don't think Buccino was even assigned to the precinct." Are you saying that there are no records kept of where these cops are??? --byter
COMMENT#3: Can we get the Police Commissioner on perjury????
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960115, Sydney, Australia, AP. New South Wales Police
Date: Thu Feb 15, 1996 11:05 pm CST
From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse
EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414
MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org
TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762
Subject: Aussie Cops
From: Bob Witanek
Posted: pinknoiz@ccnet.com (Bob Gonsalves)
Subject: Aussie Officer Steps Down
1/15/96
Aussie Officer Steps Down
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - The police commissioner of Australia's most populous state announced his resignation on Monday as a government inquiry continues to unearth evidence of widespread corruption within his force.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Tony Lauer said he was stepping down to allow someone else to clean up the organization.
The inquiry has startled the citizens of New South Wales for more than year with evidence that senior officers have taken bribes from underworld figures for years. Other have dealt in narcotics and prostitution.
Much of the evidence has come from officers who informed on colleagues after admitting their own bad deeds.
On several occasions investigators used hidden cameras and microphones to catch corrupt officers in the act.
The inquiry is due to release an interim report on its work on Jan. 31. It will then continue to take more evidence.
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960118, New York, NY, NY Times. Police Officers Hilton Velez
Date: Sun Jan 21, 1996 12:39 am CST
From: Moderator of conference justice.polabuse
EMS: INTERNET / MCI ID: 376-5414
MBX: bwitanek@igc.apc.org
TO: * David Beiter / MCI ID: 635-1762
Subject: NYPD - Cops Charged in Burglary
Posted by Bob Witanek 1/20/96
2 NYPD COPS CHARGED IN BURGLARY OF CASH AND FAKE COCAINE
(NY Times, 1/18/96 ) - By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI
Two New York City police officers were arraigned on burglary and drug charges yesterday after cash and simulated cocaine were stolen from an apartment in the East New York section of Brooklyn during a sting operation, police officials said. The officers, Hilton Velez, 28, and Bienveni Rodriguez, 25, were formerly partners in the 75th Precinct in East New York, the center of a major police corruption scandal in 1992, but officials said there was no evidence that other officers were involved in the current case.
The two officers were accused of conspiring with a civilian police employee, Felix Acosta, 28, to steal $10,000 and two kilograms of simulated cocaine from an apartment that investigators had set up to look like a drug dealer's home, said the First Deputy Police Commissioner, John F. Timoney. I
The investigation began after informers told the Brooklyn District Attorney's office and the Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau that an officer in the East New York precinct was planning to rob the apartments of suspected drug dealers there. Within 48 hours of receiving the tip, Commissioner Timoney said, Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Amundson hid video cameras and tape recorders in a sparsely furnished apartment designed to look as if it was used only for storing and dealing in cocaine.
After Officer Rodriguez and Mr. Acosta stole the cash and counterfeit cocaine, the two officers arranged
to sell the drugs to an undercover detective who was posing as a drug dealer, Commissioner Timoney said. The Chief of Internal Affairs, Patrick E. Kelleher, said investigators followed Officer Velez and Officer Rodriguez for 10 days before their arrests to determine whether other police officers were involved.
Neither officer had previously been suspected of using or selling drugs, but Officer Velez was transferred to the Manhattan Court Section last September when he was accused of public lewdness for "exposing himself to a young person," Chief Kelleher said. The 75th Precinct was previously the base of Officer Michael Dowd, who admitted running a drug ring from the station house between 1986 and 1992 and accepting tens of thousands of dollars in payoffs from dealers. In court testimony and statements made before a special city commission on police corruption, Mr. Dowd said he and five other officers had frequently stolen cocaine, guns and cash from drug dealers, then sold the narcotics themselves on Long Island.
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…..and the hits keep coming. So much corruption. 😔