Pubdate: Tue, 11 Apr 2000
Source: Advocate, The (LA)
Copyright: 2000 The Advocate, Capital City Press
Contact:  525 Lafayette St., Baton Rouge, LA  70802
Website: http://www.theadvocate.com/
Author: Angela Simoneaux

DEALER SAYS OFFICER KEPT HIM IN CRIME

LAFAYETTE -- Patrick Ray Colomb, Lafayette's biggest drug dealer for
more than a decade, says he was going to get out of the drug business
until a police officer stopped him.

Colomb, described by authorities as the city's biggest drug dealer in
the 1980s, testified Monday during a sentencing hearing that former
Police Capt. Paul Richard Green talked him out of going straight at a
time when Colomb was a penny-ante speed dealer.

"I said I was out of the game. He told me I didn't have to do that,
that he could help me out," Colomb said of Green. "He said I could
last if I was smart."

Testimony resumes this morning in a hearing to determine a new prison
sentence for Green, a 20-year veteran of the Lafayette Police Department.

Green was convicted in 1997 of possession with intent to distribute
more than 50 kilograms of cocaine and 50,000 Preludes -- prescription
diet pills -- and harboring a fugitive.

A jury decided that Green was paid by Colomb for more than 12 years
for protection, advice and information that helped Colomb's drug ring
flourish, and, after his indictment, kept Colomb a step ahead of
authorities.

In May 1998, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty sentenced Green to 10
years in prison, stating that she believed existing case law limited
her to the maximum sentence allowed for distribution of Preludes.

In essence, Doherty ruled that she couldn't sentence Green on the
cocaine charge, only on the Preludes charge, which carries a less
severe sentence than cocaine dealing.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year threw out Doherty's
sentence, stating that a subsequent U.S. Supreme Court decision
changed the case law, and that "it was error to limit Green's sentence
to the statutory maximum for Preludes."

At issue in the hearing is the amount of cocaine Colomb's drug ring
distributed during the time he was paying Green for protection, and
what portion of that amount Green could be expected to foresee,
Doherty said.

Colomb, who pleaded guilty to drug charges in state court and was
originally sentenced to 50 years in prison, is now serving a reduced
sentence of 10 years.

Colomb testified at length Monday, reiterating the testimony he gave
during Green's two trials -- the first ended in a hung jury -- about
Green's involvement in his drug business and his years as a fugitive.

Colomb testified that he met Green when Green busted him at the
airport in 1981. Colomb had two stashes of cash in his car: $40,000 in
the trunk and $5,000 in the car.

Green hid the $5,000 from the other officers, and told Colomb he would
hold it, Colomb testified.

Colomb bonded out later that day, and the following day went to Green
to get his money. Colomb told Green then that he was going to get out
of the drug business -- something he hadn't testified about before.

During that meeting, Colomb testified, he offered Green $500 of the
$5,000, which Green accepted with the comment that his mother told him
never to refuse money.

Colomb testified that his ring distributed speed -- at least 50,000
Preludes -- until spring 1983, when he met a cocaine connection in
prison.

Between 1983 and 1994, Colomb estimated that his drug ring distributed
at least 212 kilograms of cocaine in Lafayette. Colomb also testified
that he paid Green on a monthly basis between 1981 and 1994.

In return, Green notified Colomb with a special code on his pager
every time he knew of an impending sting or raid on Colomb's
operation. Green also gave Colomb tips on how to avoid prosecution,
and tried to keep tabs on police activity when Colomb had a load of
drugs coming into town, Colomb testified.

In 1988, Green let Colomb know that an indictment was returned against
him, so Colomb had time to get out of town. During the years Colomb
was a fugitive, Green provided information to Colomb about
authorities' attempts to locate him, including an intelligence report
that detailed the investigation into Colomb's whereabouts, Colomb testified.

When Colomb decided to get out of the drug business and get a straight
job, he had Green run an alias through police computers to determine
if the name was clean, Colomb testified.

Also testifying Monday was Sheryl Wiltz, the former girlfriend of
Colomb lieutenant Alton Miller. Wiltz testified that Miller began as a
runner for Colomb, and later ran the business himself after Colomb
left town.

She said she accompanied Miller on a trip to a furniture store where
he bought an expensive cherry bedroom set for Green's daughter, and
told of an occasion when Miller bought a car from Green for much more
than she felt it was worth.

Miller told her several times that Green was "watching his back,"
Wiltz testified.

Also testifying Monday was FBI Special Agent Jean "Pete" St. Pierre,
the case agent who located Colomb in Houston seven years after his
indictment. St. Pierre testified about his first conversations with
Colomb about Green -- who was the real target of St. Pierre's
investigation.

St. Pierre's testimony resumes this morning at 9:30.
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