Pubdate: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 Source: Tampa Tribune (FL) Copyright: 2000, The Tribune Co. Contact: http://www.tampatrib.com/ Forum: http://tampabayonline.net/interact/welcome.htm Address: P.O. Box 191, Tampa, FL 33601 Section: Front page Author: Sarah Huntley, Ladale Lloyd contributed to this report. Editor's Note: More on DEA's highly paid informant Andrew Chambers PROSECUTORS THROW OUT 4 TAINTED CASES Eight suspected drug dealers won their freedom Monday as a result of reports that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's second-highest-paid informant - a fallen star who helped put 475 dealers behind bars - is a known liar. The Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office dropped all charges in four cases stemming from the informant's work. ``It has come to the state's attention that a particular witness in these cases has some credibility problems,'' Assistant State Attorney Eric Myers told Circuit Judge Florence Foster. ``It is our legal and ethical responsibility, based on the facts before us, not to go forward.'' The decision was lauded by defense attorneys who had argued the cases were tainted. But the controversy may follow Myers, who is being considered for a Hillsborough County judgeship. The Tampa Tribune learned late Monday that The Florida Bar has opened an ethics investigation into Myers, who was responsible for overseeing the narcotics prosecutors assigned to the state cases. The problem, both with the cases and for Myers, centers on Andrew Chambers, a career informant who has earned at least $2 million by tipping off law enforcement to planned drug deals and setting up reverse stings. Chambers, once considered the best in his field, was ``deactivated'' as a DEA informant in February after media reports that he lied during previous trials. The stories questioned why the DEA was still using Chambers after two federal appeals courts ruled that he gave false testimony about his education and his criminal past. In his 15 years as an informant, Chambers, 42, of St. Louis, was arrested at least seven times. He was convicted in 1995 after Denver police charged him with soliciting a prostitute and impersonating a law enforcement officer. Despite this, he has repeatedly denied being in trouble. Chambers started building cases in Tampa in 1998. He has been linked to at least one federal prosecution here, as well as seven state cases. The ethics investigation is believed to focus on what Hillsborough prosecutors knew about Chambers' past and when they knew it. The DEA, amid growing reports about the informant, sent certified letters to the state attorney's office in November referencing a problem with Chambers' previous testimony. Only one prosecutor sought details from the DEA. None shared the warning with defense attorneys. The state attorney's office at first denied receiving the letters. Then the DEA presented copies of them, prosecutors found the originals and Myers began a review. Monday's dismissals bring the number of Florida defendants freed because of Chambers' credibility problems to 12. And defense attorneys are predicting more. ``You are going to start seeing people who are incarcerated come out of the woodwork now,'' said Dario Diaz, an attorney for one of the Chambers defendants. Chambers ``made millions of dollars, but the tragic thing is that 95 percent of the people or better will never know he was involved'' in their case, Diaz said. That's because current law limits the information law enforcement agencies have to reveal about a confidential informant. Even in state court, where the defense is entitled to more advance evidence than in federal court, prosecutors are not always required to disclose an informant's identity if they don't plan to use him as a witness. Despite repeated calls to his home, Myers could not be reached late Monday for comment on the Bar's investigation, which so far includes none of the assistant state attorneys who directly handled the Chambers cases. But in an interview Monday afternoon, Myers said the state would have been forced to put Chambers on the stand in the four cases it dismissed. ``Some may question, `Well, you guys let a lot of drug dealers go,' but that's not how we look at it,'' Myers said. ``We could not knowingly put a witness with credibility problems on the stand. We are not trying to incarcerate anybody and everybody. We have to make sure the justice system works.'' State prosecutors will proceed against two other defendants with whom Chambers was involved because those defendants had only minimal contact with Chambers, Myers said. The state also plans to notify attorneys representing two more state defendants arrested as a result of information supplied by Chambers. One is serving state and federal time after pleading guilty. The other fled after being placed on probation and is considered a fugitive. Defense attorneys involved in the cases said the office ``did the right thing.'' ``It was the only thing they could do,'' said lawyer Mark Ober, who is running against incumbent Harry Lee Coe for state attorney. ``They could not walk into court and vouch for his credibility.'' Added Diaz: ``Sometimes a prosecutor has to fold his cards, but this builds confidence for future cases.'' But Diaz also voiced concern that the cases may not be over. U.S. prosecutors have up to five years to indict any of the defendants on federal charges. Monte Richardson, a spokesman with the U.S. attorney's office, declined to comment on that possibility. But several courthouse observers consider it unlikely. ``If I were still a federal prosecutor, I wouldn't touch this with the proverbial 10-foot pole,'' lawyer John Fitzgibbons said. Tampa's federal prosecutors are still smarting over having to drop charges in an unrelated cocaine case because of a misleading sworn report by a state trooper. And their counterparts in Miami already have decided Chambers is more trouble than he is worth. Last week, the U.S. attorney's office there dismissed two cases made by Chambers. DEA officials acknowledged Monday that they have been stung by the dismissals. ``As a criminal investigator, I can tell you it is always disappointing when the decision is made to dismiss criminal charges,'' DEA spokesman Terry Parham said. ``It is the same in this case.'' Nonetheless, Parham said, prosecutors have the final say. The DEA is considering policy changes that would increase informant oversight. ``Informants who are working for money,`` Fitzgibbons said, ``are the most dangerous entity in the criminal justice system today.'' Staff writer Ladale Lloyd contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Allan Wilkinson