Pubdate: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 Source: Ada Evening News (OK) Address: 116 N. Broadway, PO Box 485, Ada, OK 74820 Phone: 580-310-7525 Fax: 580-332-8734 Contact: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1600 Author: Leo Kelley CORVIN ADMITS GUILT IN DRUG CASE ADA - A former Ada assistant police chief faces as many as 25 years in prison for his guilty pleas in a drug case, U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling said Wednesday. Dennis Edmond Corvin, 40, admitted establishing a drug manufacturing operation and possessing a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking. Corvin was arrested Feb. 23 following an investigation by Troy Jack and Tommy Cunningham of the District 22 Drug Task Force led by assistant district attorney Chris Ross. Gary Perkinson of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Ada Police Department and the Pontotoc County Sheriff's Office also assisted in the arrest of Corvin. Corvin worked for the Ada Police Department, retiring in 1999 as assistant police chief. U.S. Attorney Sheldon J. Sperling said Wednesday that Corvin had entered pleas of guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma at Muskogee to a two-count felony. "The defendant is a former Ada police officer," Sperling said. "District Attorney investigators in (District Attorney) Bill Peterson's office were committed to an appropriate resolution of this case." Officials of the U.S. Department of Justice praised the efforts of the Drug Task Force for their efforts. "Investigators parlayed information from confidential informants and other sources regarding methamphetamine being manufactured at Corvin's residence in Ada," assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis A. Fries. Fries said Task Force officers obtained a search warrant for the Corvin residence and found marijuana, methamphetamine, chemicals and equipment used to manufacture methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and firearms, which were seized by officers during the Feb. 23 raid. A search of Corvin's home earlier this year turned up marijuana, methamphetamine, manufacturing ingredients, drug paraphernalia and firearms. Authorities said they discovered Corvin was selling drugs while talking to a confidential informant involved in the methamphetamine trade. The informant and the former law officer were planning to cook methamphetamine together, authorities alleged. He will be sentenced in federal court in Muskogee upon completion of a presentence investigation. Corvin was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal. "Corvin faces a possible term of imprisonment of up to 20 years for maintaining a place to manufacture methamphetamine and a consecutive non-parolable 5-year prison term for possessing a firearm during a drug crime," Sperling said. Jack had been investigating drug activities of another individual when Corvin's name surfaced. Three other suspects were arrested on drug charges during the Colvin investigation. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth