Pubdate: Thu, 20 Jan 2000
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AR)
Copyright: 2000 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Contact:  121 East Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201
Website: http://www.ardemgaz.com/
Forum: http://www.ardemgaz.com/info/voices.html
Author: Linda Satter, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

INFORMER NETS 9-YEAR TERM FOR WRECKING DRUG CASES

A Dumas police informant whose turncoat behavior led to the dismissal
of 18 federal drug cases must spend nine years in prison and repay the
full $36,253 in taxpayer money that he received for his six months of
informant work, U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. ruled Wednesday.

"The court is persuaded, after considering all the circumstances
surrounding the case, that the sentence is consistent with the
[federal sentencing] guidelines and with justice," Howard said in
sentencing Roy Lee Russell, 38, on two convictions handed him by a
jury on Sept. 13, 1999.

On the first count, obstruction of justice, where guidelines
recommended 110-120 months, Howard gave Russell 110 months, or a
little more than nine years.

On the second count, perjury, Howard sentenced Russell to the maximum
five-year term recommended in the guidelines, which take into account
the facts surrounding the crimes and the defendant's criminal record,
among other things.

Howard ordered Russell to serve both sentences concurrently, for a
total of 110 months, followed by three years of supervised release.

Though the law allowed for fines of up to $250,000 on each count,
Howard didn't impose any, noting that a review of Russell's financial
situation indicated he wouldn't be able to pay it, even in
installments.

Restitution will consist of $14,400 to the FBI and $21,853 to the
Arkansas State Police, agencies for which Russell agreed to act as a
confidential informant during a drug operation that lasted from Sept.
8, 1997, to March 27, 1998.

Dubbed Operation Wholesale, the joint state-federal investigation
targeted drug trafficking in five southern Arkansas counties and
resulted in 53 federal grand jury indictments -- 41 in the state's
eastern district, which includes Little Rock, and the remaining 12 in
the western district that includes Fort Smith.

Imprisoning Russell "will take him out of circulation and give him
time to reflect" on his actions, Howard said, adding that the prison
time also should serve as a message "to deter others from similar conduct."

Of the 41 cases indicted in the eastern district, 15 were dismissed
before Russell's trial -- and thus were the cases that led to his
convictions. The dismissals were caused by contradictory statements he
gave -- first saying the defendants conducted drug transactions with
him and an undercover state trooper, then saying the buys never happened.

After Russell's trial, the government dropped charges against two more
people when the trooper, Clayton Richardson, indicated he couldn't
identify them as those involved in the drug transactions, Assistant
U.S. Attorney Bob Govar told the judge on Wednesday.

Of the 12 cases that resulted in indictments in the state's western
district, two cases were dismissed because of Russell, though one of
them later led to a re-indictment based on other evidence, U.S.
Attorney P.K. Holmes in Fort Smith said in September. He said the
other cases resulted in convictions.

Though some of the cases in the state's eastern district have gone to
trial and resulted in convictions, only one conviction stemmed from
Russell's assistance, and that conviction was later thrown out because
it was found to have been largely based on Russell's unreliable
testimony, Govar said.

FBI special agent Stephen Pinkstone testified Wednesday that Russell
was hired as an informant because the operation needed the help of
someone who was familiar with the people in the targeted areas, which
included Dumas, Eudora, Monticello, Hamburg and Crossett.

Russell's job was to arrange drug buys, identify the sellers and later
verify the transactions in court, according to testimony at his trial.
He was paid $250 per buy and was given $900 monthly for living expenses.

But when the drug-buying part of the operation stopped and the
courtroom work began, Russell, growing disenchanted with law
enforcement and his requested presence at hearings, switched sides,
Govar said. He said Russell swore out affidavits denying that some of
the buys occurred and sometimes asked for money in return.

Richardson, who was unfamiliar with the buyers, couldn't verify some
of the purchases himself.

Govar said part of Russell's anger at the government stemmed from the
discontinuation of the drug-buy money and a reduction in pay for his
living expenses, as well as the government's insistence that he report
the pay he had already received to the IRS for tax purposes -- which
Russell never did.

Represented Wednesday by Little Rock attorneys James Massie and
Brannon Sloan, Russell questioned several aspects of the case against
him. After listening at length to the defense team's questions, Howard
ordered the attorneys to stop talking, saying he'd already heard the
evidence at trial and didn't intend to retry the case.

Among the defense attorneys' complaints were that the amounts of drugs
allegedly purchased in each of the 15 cases dismissed before Russell's
trial were counted against Russell in a pre-sentencing report,
increasing his penalty range.

Russell told the judge Wednesday that he agreed to help police get
drugs off the street because he had overdosed on drugs himself. But he
said he couldn't bring himself to testify on the government's behalf
because the buys didn't actually occur and "I just couldn't see
innocent people being sent to jail."

His charges grew out of two 1999 federal trials. In the first, on Jan.
20, he testified that he bought cocaine from Steve Block of
Monticello. Later, on March 29, he testified in the trial of Michael
Evans that Block never sold him drugs.

In asking Howard to hand down the maximum sentence, Govar said, "I
can't begin to estimate the harm this has done." He noted that if
Russell really believed the defendants were innocent, he caused a lot
of people to be falsely arrested and indicted. 
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