Police Corruption

A former Pennsyvlania prosecutor gets caught peddling pot, and a TSA agent and an Alabama cop head to prison for taking bribes from drug dealers. Let's get to it:

In Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, a former Centre County assistant DA was arraigned Tuesday on charges he distributed marijuana. Former Assistant DA Steve Sloane faces seven felony counts after he got caught accepting Fedex packages from California that contained drugs. Sloane has admitted he had been addicted to Oxycontin and also admitted receiving several packages containing hydrocodone pills and marijuana from an old friend in California. Sloane denied selling pot to anyone, but police interviewed several witnesses who said they bought from him. He is currently free on a $100,000 bond.

In Birmingham, Alabama, a former Jasper police officer was sentenced last Wednesday to 15 months in federal prison for accepting a bribe from a drug dealer. Scottie Wilkins, 30, had borrowed money from the dealer, who was on probation, then paid him back by selling him drugs out of the evidence room. He also took a bribe from the dealer to help him out with a probation matter.

In New Haven, Connecticut, a former TSA officer was sentenced Tuesday to six years and four months in federal prison for accepting bribes to allow prescription pain pills to travel unimpeded through airport security. Jonathan Best, 31, had pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone. Best admitted accepting cash from a drug dealer to allow oxycodone pills through airport security and agreed last year to travel to Connecticut to help the trafficker launder drug proceeds. Two other former TSA officers, a former New York police officer and an ex-Florida state trooper have also pleaded guilty in the case.

A Virginia prison guard smuggles heroin, a Pennsylvania cop steals and uses it, and a New Jersey cop pays off a prostitute with it, and that's just some of the crooked cop action this week. Let's get to it:

In Camden, New Jersey, a Camden sheriff's officer is facing possible criminal charges for trading seized heroin for sex with a prostitute for more than a year. Officer Thomas Smith told investigators the prostitute was a confidential informant and he only gave her cigarettes. He has been offered a deal by prosecutors: plead guilty to a third degree crime and resign, or face more serious official misconduct charges. In a letter received by his attorney, prosecutors said the prostitute told investigators he gave her drugs he was supposed to destroy in an incinerator.

In Monroe, Louisiana, a former Monroe K-9 officer was arrested last Monday for stealing methamphetamine that was being used to train his drug dog. Kenneth Johnson, 40, was holding 36 grams of meth when he was arrested. He is charged with theft, malfeasance, and meth possession. He had resigned the previous week after the police chief announced he was under investigation.

In Berwick, Pennsylvania, a former Berwick police officer was arrested last Friday on charges he ripped off more than 800 packets of heroin from the evidence locker to support his drug habit. Christian Wilson, 30, faces four counts of theft and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Wilson went down after the Berwick Police Special Operations Group got information that he was using and requested the Attorney General's Office take over the investigation. The investigation turned up video surveillance footage of Wilson taking packages of syringes from the station, and when he was interviewed in July, he admitted being strung out. He then gave agents consent to search his home, where they found an empty evidence envelope that at one time contained 831 packages of heroin. Wilson admitted using all the dope himself.

In Little Rock, Arkansas, a state probation and parole officer was arrested Monday on charges she accepted money from drug traffickers under her supervision. Roxanne Davis, 38, is accused of accepting payments from a paroled murderer and a man who was on probation for two drug trafficking convictions. In return for the cash, Davis didn't enforce their parole and probation conditions and alerted the probationer to investigators looking into his trafficking activities. Davis went down as part of Operation Delta Blues, which has snared a dozen law enforcement personnel and dozens of others in its investigation of trafficking and corruption in the West Memphis area.

In Newark, New Jersey, a Paterson police officer was arrested Monday on charges he conspired to plant drugs on a person and then falsely arrest him. Officer Marmoud Rabboh, 43, allegedly plotted with three other persons to do the dirty deed, and they actually pulled it off in February, falsely arresting an innocent man, with Rabboh pulling him over in his police squad car. But one of the co-conspirators was actually an FBI snitch, and now Rabboh is charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights and with deprivation of civil rights under color of law. The first charge carries s a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The second charge carries a maximum potential penalty of one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

In Richmond, Virginia, a former federal prison guard was sentenced last Friday to a year in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle heroin into the Federal Correctional Complex in Petersburg over a three-year period. Former guard Kief Jackson, 49, conspired with an inmate in the prison to smuggle heroin in from 2008 until October 2011. Jackson met with acquaintances of the inmate to obtain heroin on multiple occasions, and after the inmate was released, he provided the heroin directly to Jackson. He went down after the FBI opened an investigation, then stopped him on his way to work last October and found a package of heroin in his vehicle.

The Murray County, Georgia, scandal keeps unraveling, another prison guard goes down, and a pair of South Texas deputies are going away for awhile. Let's get to it:

In Spring Place, Georgia, a Murray County sheriff's deputy was fired last Wednesday for arresting a woman on drug charges after she refused the sexual advances of a magistrate court judge before whom she was appearing. Deputy Josh Greeson got the boot for pulling over Angela Garmley and charging her with ecstasy possession after she rejected and complained about advances from Chief Magistrate Bryant Cochran. After the Georgia Bureau of Investigation got involved last month, the charges were quickly dropped. Now Cochran has resigned, although he said it was not because of these allegations, and Greeson is gone, but Capt. Michael Henderson, Cochran's cousin is still under investigation and on paid leave. No word yet on any possible criminal charges, which Garmley's attorney is calling for.

In Lost Gap, Mississippi, a prison guard was arrested last Friday after being caught bringing drugs into the prison. Elena Lindsey, 26, was employed at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility. She is charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine in a correctional facility. Her bond was set at $20,000.

In Corpus Christi, Texas, two former Duval County sheriff's deputies pleaded guilty last Thursday to ripping off 22 pounds of cocaine from a drug supplier. Former deputies Ruben Silva, 35, and Victor Carrillo, 27, conducted a traffic stop using a patrol vehicle while in uniform so the drug dealer would think law enforcement had seized the drugs. They then delivered 13 pounds of the drugs to a third man, who paid them $6,000 for their efforts. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and are looking at from 10 years to life in prison when they are sentenced November 16.

It never stops, and there are so many varieties of law enforcement misdoing. Let's get to it:

In Wagner, South Dakota, the Wagner police chief resigned August 8, one week after he first appeared in court over accusations he covered up his girlfriend's methamphetamine use. Jim Chaney had been suspended since being indicted a week earlier on one count of misprision of a felony. Chaney went down after his girlfriend was arrested for possession of a controlled substance in mid-July and told investigators he had stored used needles for her at the police station. The case comes as the Yankton Sioux community in Wagner is still reeling over the death of two-year-old from ingesting meth earlier this summer.

In Bridgeport, Connecticut, two Bridgeport narcs were suspended last Thursday after testing positive for drugs. Now, the entire Narcotics and Vice Unit faces a possible shutdown after Tactical Narcotics Team members Ivan Clayton and David Uliano tested dirty. They have been suspended with pay. Meanwhile, the police chief, the head of the narcotics unit, representatives of the city attorney's office, and police union reps are holding meetings about how to proceed. One option is to disband the entire dope squad and let State Police handle those investigations.

In Hammond, Indiana, a Gary police officer was arrested last Tuesday on charges he was involved in drug sales and illicit gun purchases. Officer David Finley, 31, went down after a weeks-long investigation by the FBI and the Gary Police Department, which started after he was involved in a car crash and appeared intoxicated. No word yet on specific charges.

In Cincinnati, a North College Hill police officer was indicted Tuesday on federal marijuana trafficking conspiracy charges. Officer Bryon Roos was one of 11 men indicted on charges of conspiring to bring hundreds of pounds of marijuana to southern Ohio from Texas. All 11 are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, while Roos also is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and illegally structuring financial transactions. Roos is accused of opening used car businesses to launder drug profits from the marijuana sales. He has been suspended. He is looking at up to life in prison.

In Trenton, New Jersey, a former Newark police officer was sentenced August 10 to three years' probation for conspiring with other officers to steal cash, drugs and weapons from suspected drug dealers and others. Darius Smith, 41, was convicted of conspiracy, official misconduct, and theft. The case goes back to 2004, when Smith and other Newark police officers were arrested for shaking down criminal suspects, from whom they stole drugs, money, and weapons.

In Mansfield, Ohio, a former Mansfield police officer was sentenced August 14 to a year in prison for accepting bribes from a drug dealer. David Minard, 44, was convicted of accepting $1,500 in bribes from the dealer in exchange for tipping him off to investigations. He could have gotten up to three years.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, a former Winn County sheriff was sentenced last Friday to 13 years and four months in federal prison after being convicted earlier this year on meth and other charges. Albert "Bodie" Little, 62, was convicted in February of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of meth, one count of possession with intent to distribute meth, and two counts of use of a police communication facility to facilitate drug trafficking. He and 10 others were indicted on the drug charges in July 2011. All the others have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison. Little still faces state charges of malfeasance in office, abuse of office and perjury.