Pubdate: Fri, 18 Jul 2003
Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
Copyright: 2003 The Palm Beach Post
Contact:  http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333
Author: Bill Douthat, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

OFFICER TESTIFIES IN DIRTY CASH TRIAL

WEST PALM BEACH -- The officer said he had no idea his business
partner was one of the city's most notorious drug dealers -- a dealer
with so much power that his ring put 11 pounds of crack cocaine onto
the city's streets each week.

Jerry Hampton drove a Nissan Maxima, used the mundane nickname "Mike"
and did not fit the flashy image of a drug kingpin, West Palm Beach
police officer Herman Tureaud told a jury Thursday.

"He wasn't the kind of person who wore a lot of gold chains," said
Tureaud, who is on trial in federal court on charges that he laundered
Hampton's drug money. "He was kind of conservative."

Although Tureaud has patrolled the city's streets for 14 years, he
said he was not aware that his partner in developing low-cost housing
had a reputation in the police department as a drug dealer.

Tureaud, 48, testified Thursday that he started to become suspicious
just a few weeks before March 2002, when Hampton was indicted for
distributing crack cocaine to street dealers. Hampton has pleaded
guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

"I had suspicions. I didn't know for sure," Tureaud
testified.

Prosecutors say Tureaud met Hampton in parking lots to receive paper
and plastic bags filled with cash to invest in the housing. About
$100,000 was laundered in the construction of three houses,
prosecutors say.

Tureaud said the payments were reimbursements for building supplies
and other expenses Tureaud put into the houses.

Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rolando Garcia, Tureaud
denied being aware that Hampton was identified as a suspect in
gunshots fired at West Palm Beach officers. Hampton was named in a
1991 police memo distributed within the department.

Tureaud also denied that a narcotics officer warned him in early 2001
to avoid Hampton.

The trial, before U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley, resumes
Monday in federal court in West Palm Beach. The jury is expected to
begin deliberations late Monday or early Tuesday.

Tureaud is free on $150,000 bond. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake