Pubdate: Sun, 28 Jul 2002
Source: Daily Southtown (IL)
Copyright: 2002 Daily Southtown
Contact:  http://www.dailysouthtown.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/810
Author: John Dobberstein

BADGEHOLDER'S BUSINESS WAS FRONT FOR DRUG SMUGGLING

Perhaps the most shocking abuse of Dolton's deputy marshal program did not 
involve a politician, campaign worker or lobbyist.

Arthur Veal, a major drug dealer and con man from South Holland with a 
taste for gambling and expensive cars, claims he paid Mayor William Shaw 
tens of thousands of dollars for a badge.

Veal's criminal record spans 25 years, with convictions for possession of a 
stolen vehicle, impersonating a police officer and burglary. He was once 
indicted in a conspiracy to sell stolen truck parts.

All of that apparently went undetected by Dolton police when the village 
awarded him a deputy marshal badge in January 1998.

After being arrested in 2000 by federal agents on drug charges, Veal became 
a government informant.

In May, he took the witness stand during the trial of two corrupt Chicago 
police officers. Under cross examination, Veal revealed that Shaw sold him 
a deputy marshal badge for $30,000 to $40,000. He also told the court Shaw 
once warned him a drug dealer was acting as an FBI informant and going 
after him.

Shaw immediately denied taking any bribes from Veal. He acknowledged 
attending a party at Veal's home and having drinks with him occasionally at 
a Dolton tavern.

"Just like anything else ... I meet the employees that come aboard, I 
welcome them on board, and that's the extent of my meeting with them," Shaw 
said. "I think that's my job as a mayor, to meet the people who work for me."

Veal owned a trucking firm in Dolton called Libby Transportation - a small, 
unimpressive brick building tucked away in an industrial park off Sibley 
Boulevard.

Shaw has said he thought Veal was a legitimate businessman. Between 1997 
and 2000, Shaw accepted $2,540 in campaign contributions from Veal's business.

But Veal's business was not, in fact, legitimate.

During the 1990s, Veal used Libby Transportation as a front to ship tons of 
cocaine and millions in drug money between the Texas border and Chicago, 
according to an affidavit filed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration 
in November 2000. Veal's customers were street-level dealers and 
high-ranking gang members, according to court documents.

Veal lived lavishly while he carried a Dolton badge.

He spent millions of dollars at riverboat casinos in Indiana and Illinois 
between 1996 and 2000. Veal frequently gambled in Las Vegas as well, court 
records show.

Through his exploits, Veal - who sometimes used the alias "Pete Patton" - 
had enough money to purchase a local business, buy homes in Chicago and 
Texas, and purchase several expensive cars.

An informant told the DEA Veal made roughly $50,000 to $100,000 for each 
shipment of cocaine he received, and Veal's net worth was $6 million. Veal 
often flew to Texas to oversee transactions with high- level Mexican drug 
dealers, according to government records.

Veal's Enterprise Unravels

Federal investigators were keeping Veal under watch, but his downfall began 
in earnest in June 2000 when he was stopped by U.S. Border Patrol agents at 
Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas.

Veal showed his Dolton deputy marshal badge and said he was a narcotics 
officer. Agents seized more than $5,000 in cash from Veal, but let him go.

In October 2000, agents from the DEA and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco 
and Firearms agents began surveillance of Veal's business.

About a month later, one of Veal's drivers arrived with a shipment of 
cocaine. Veal called one of his regular customers, who picked up 17 
kilograms of cocaine, according to court records.

Veal also gave someone working as a government informant a kilogram of 
cocaine, then one of his drivers put $455,313 in drug money into a semi 
truck, a DEA affidavit said.

As they drove away, Veal and the driver were stopped by DEA agents and 
arrested.

The very next day, Veal began cooperating with the government.

Among other things, he told FBI agents about several corrupt Chicago police 
officers - some of whom he knew personally - who had "crews" ripping off 
drug dealers.

Dolton officials were notified of Veal's arrest by the FBI in early 
December 2000. Later that month, Veal was fired as a deputy marshal, even 
though he denied being involved in illegal activity.

In January, Veal, 51, pleaded guilty to drug-smuggling charges. Suffering 
heart trouble, Veal was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors touted 
Veal for doing "substantial work" as a government informant.

"Veal's cooperation extended over a long period of time, involving a number 
of significant targets," including corrupt Chicago police officers and drug 
traffickers, wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Havey.

In May, Veal's testimony helped the feds take down two corrupt Chicago 
police officers, William Patterson and Daryl Smith, who were arrested after 
stealing fake cocaine and drug money from a stash house set up by the FBI.

Patterson and Veal actually knew each other for many years, according to 
court records. But in January, Veal wore a wire for the FBI and met with 
William Patterson at a Hyde Park restaurant to discuss the drug rip-off 
that would soon doom his friend.

Veal also helped the federal government indict two former Chicago police 
officers, Eddie Hicks and Matthew Moran, last year for ripping off drug 
dealers. Hicks and Moran have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

Havey said Veal's cooperation resulted in more than 20 indictments on drug 
cases in Chicago and Texas.

When asked why Veal eagerly rolled over, Havey said, "part of it obviously 
was to benefit himself ... and part of it, I believe, was a genuine change 
of character and him making good after a lot of years of criminal activity."

Veal's Associate Ousted, Too

Another deputy marshal in Dolton, Lee Roy Elam, was one of Veal's 
associates in the drug trade.

A Matteson resident, Elam was awarded a badge on May 26, 1998, and it was 
stripped from him the same month as Veal.

On Sept. 1, 1999, Elam was arrested at a border checkpoint in Falfurrias, 
Texas, after U.S. Border Patrol Agents discovered 1,275 pounds of cocaine 
concealed in a tractor-trailer driven by Elam.

Elam was in possession of a gun, and he told agents he was a deputy with 
the Dolton Police Department, according to court records.

When DEA agents called Dolton police, the village said Elam was not a 
full-time cop.

Between November 1999 and June 2000, DEA agents said Elam was seen 
discussing cocaine transactions with drug traffickers in Texas, and picking 
up boxes of money in Bolingbrook and Carol Stream and driving the cash to 
southern Texas.

In April 2001, Elam was indicted by federal prosecutors in Texas on drug 
and money laundering charges. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to 12 
1/2 years in prison.

Elam gave evasive answers when Dolton officials asked him about his drug 
activity, and he was quickly fired, according to Dolton Police Department 
memos.

Pair 'Fell Through The Cracks'

When asked how two prominent drug smugglers were able to get deputy marshal 
badges, village officials said they had no way of knowing.

"If the government caught these people two years ago, they wouldn't have 
gotten a badge, because they would have been incarcerated," said Village 
Attorney Everett McLeary.

"They happened to have gone through the process, and they fell through the 
cracks someplace. They didn't walk in and tell us they were drug dealers."

That explanation doesn't satisfy everyone, especially Shaw's harshest critics.

"Who's actually running the town?" said Myron Smith, a self-proclaimed 
community activist who recently won a court battle with Shaw after the 
mayor allegedly ordered campaign signs removed from Smith's front lawn.

"If I report to the police about some drug dealing going on, do I have to 
worry about drug dealers finding out who called?"

Shaw said the village didn't overlook anything with Veal and Elam.

He said Dolton's former police chief, Howard Patterson, was supposed to 
check the backgrounds of anyone applying for a deputy marshal badge.

"Everything bothers me, because I would have put them in jail myself," Shaw 
said of Veal and Elam.

"I don't tolerate that kind of b.s. out here. I'm certain (Patterson) 
would've put them in jail. Ain't nobody overlooking it."
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