Pubdate: Thu, 31 Jul 2003
Source: Examiner, The (TX)
Copyright: 2003 The Examiner Corporation
Contact:  http://www.theexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3026
Author: Jerry Jordan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

NARC OFFICERS BUST JAILER DELIVERING CRACK

Working with an informant inside the downtown jail operated by
Correctional Services Corporation (CSC), Jefferson County Narcotics
Task Force agents were able to bring to an end one jailer's private
venture of delivering drugs inside the facility.

The investigation was initiated after someone incarcerated at the
facility alerted jail administration that one of the jailers would
deliver drugs from the outside world into the jail in exchange for
cash. That information was passed along to Sheriff Mitch Woods and the
narcotics team, who began an investigation. Last Thursday, agents
arranged a meeting between the jailer and undercover officers, hoping
that they could prove the jailer was trafficking drugs inside the
jail. It took several phone calls to set up the deal, and some price
negotiating for the delivery, but in the end, as officers staked out
the jail from various parking spaces outside the facility, the
undercover officer delivered more than two ounces of crack cocaine to
Mel Gene Mickles and paid him $100 to deliver it to an inmate inside
the facility.

But Mickles never made the delivery, because the case agent for the
task force had already made arrangements to have Mickles detoured and
arrested when he walked through the door.

According to an affidavit for criminal complaint filed by DEA Special
Agent Mike Willett, an officer met with Mickles as he arrived for his
evening shift at the jail, which was to begin at 11 p.m. Other
officers watched as he arrived in the parking lot. One of the agents
then exited their vehicle and delivered the crack and money as
previously agreed, according to the affidavit. The officer had already
obtained two ounces of crack cocaine to use in the undercover
operation from the Jefferson County Regional Crime Lab.

"At the time Mickles was arrested in the jail facility, he had the
cocaine and money that (officers) had previously delivered to him in
his possession," the affidavit states. "After Mickles' arrest, agents
inventoried Mickles' vehicle, per agency policy, prior to towing the
vehicle. While inventorying Mickles' vehicle, (officers) located
approximately 141.4 grams of suspected crack cocaine inside the vehicle."

Officers then conducted a field test, which showed the substance found
in Mickles' vehicle was indeed cocaine.

Woods praised the work of the narcotics task force and the officers
directly involved in the operations.

"We got information that there was a jailer dealing drugs inside the
facility, and we immediately began an investigation," Woods said. "We
got this case from an inmate, but what they told us turned out to be
true."

Woods said he doesn't want people to think that drug trafficking
behind bars is a rampant problem, but in reality it exists, and
something has to be done about it. "I don't want to paint a picture
that it is out of control, but it is a problem, and it is something
that we continually face," Woods said. "Contraband inside a
correctional facility is something that we have to be on constant
alert for. We hope it doesn't occur, but we have to be realistic about
it, and there are always going to be officers that compromise
themselves to make money."

Woods said such a compromise is a foolish risk, because it is only a
matter of time before those delivering drugs inside the facility are
caught.

A representative of CSC, the company that leases the downtown jail
from the county to house federal inmates, declined to comment on the
case other than to say that when he received the information he
immediately referred it to Sheriff Woods. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake