Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jun 2003
Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY)
Copyright: 2003 The Courier-Journal
Contact:  http://www.courier-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97
Author: James Malone, The Courier-Journal

MCCRACKEN DRUG CASES LOST DUE TO ENTRAPMENT

PADUCAH, Ky. - A drug informant who set up suspects as part of a
six-month sting cost officials 15 indictments.

On the other hand, the informant's actions forced authorities to
overhaul how police handle confidential sources and to increase
oversight of drug investigations.

"There was a lot of time and a lot of money spent on this," said
McCracken County Commonwealth's Attorney Tim Kaltenbach.

"It shouldn't have happened," said Paducah Police Chief Randy
Bratton.

A McCracken County grand jury declined yesterday to return indictments
in 15 cases in which prosecutors said an informant crossed the line
into entrapping suspects. The grand jury returned six other
indictments in cases in which police had used a different informant.

"The law says if they were encouraged to commit a crime by a
government agent, then it's entrapment," said Kaltenbach, who said he
expects the grand jury to dismiss another case today.

Bratton said he has reassigned the detective who was working most
closely with the informant; added an additional supervisor to the drug
unit; revamped how police document contacts with informants and the
agreements that are signed; and put in place steps to more closely
monitor informants' conduct before, during and after
transactions.

The dismissed drug cases stem from a widely publicized April 16
cocaine roundup conducted in cooperation with the Drug Enforcement
Administration, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Before dawn, strike teams accompanied by local reporters began fanning
out across the city to serve sealed warrants against 36 people.
Authorities called the arrests a major blow to a crack-cocaine problem
that for years had plagued Paducah's inner city and public housing in
an area known as "The Set."

But when police began interviewing some of the suspects who had been
arrested, a common thread began unfolding - that an informant had
given them cocaine to sell to police or money to buy drugs.

Kaltenbach, the commonwealth's attorney, declined to identify the
informant, citing concern for his safety. However, he said the man was
later indicted on a charge of trafficking in a controlled substance,
cocaine.

Kaltenbach said the police dropped the ball by failing to either
record the informant's conversations or failing to maintain proper
supervision of his actions. But he also credited police for stepping
forward and admitting that some of the cases appeared to be tainted.

Bratton said that when he heard the similar-sounding stories, his
reaction was "shock, disbelief and disappointment."

Speaking of the informant, Kaltenbach said, "He was not watched close
enough."

Kaltenbach said he had mixed feelings about dropping the cases. Some
of the suspects the informant built drug-trafficking cases against
were mere users who had been lured by the informant into selling
cocaine to police so they could get a few dollars or a rock of cocaine
as payment, he said.

But he expressed apprehension at releasing people whose charges
included dealing in crack cocaine and possessing a firearm.

"We obviously have a drug problem here, and I firmly believe the way
you stop murder and thefts is to attack the drug problem," he said.
"Some bad people were arrested and let go.But my belief is
that we have tried to do the right thing."

Bratton agreed.

"A lot of people who should be going to jail are going to go free," he
said.

Kaltenbach said prosecutors informed the grand jury they had no
intention of reviving the dismissed charges.

Detectives had been working on the investigation for about six months.
They reported making 80 buys of crack cocaine, marijuana and illegal
firearms. Bratton's office said Paducah police spent hundreds of hours
in manpower and had thousands of dollars in expenses, including
payments to informants.

The dismissals apparently didn't affect six defendants who were
indicted on federal charges.
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