Pubdate: Fri, 06 May 2005 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Copyright: 2005 Globe Newspaper Company Contact: http://www.boston.com/globe/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52 Author: Ralph Ranalli Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) STATE POLICE DRUG PROCEDURES AT ISSUE Former Unit Head Testifies At Trial Of Ex-Sergeant DEDHAM -- The former head of the embattled State Police Narcotics Inspection Unit admitted under oath yesterday that he violated his own orders and failed to properly document a large batch of seized marijuana destined for the drug evidence bunker. Lieutenant Michael Kelly testified at the trial of former sergeant Timothy White, who prosecutors say stole up to 27 pounds of cocaine that was supposed to have been destroyed. The inadequate policies and sloppy procedures in the narcotics inspection unit during Kelly's tenure have become a focus of the trial. Prosecutors and defense lawyers are using them to make their case. In the trial that began this week in Norfolk Superior Court, state prosecutors have alleged that lax procedures and supervision in the unit allowed White to steal drugs with impunity. Defense lawyer Robert George, meanwhile, has argued that the records are too unreliable to prove White's guilt and that a common practice of troopers storing drug evidence in their homes overnight allowed White's wife, Maura, to steal them. White, 42, is charged with attempted murder -- accused of holding a gun to his wife's head -- plus cocaine trafficking, marijuana and ecstasy distribution, as well as eight other related charges. Beginning in the fall of 2002, prosecutors allege, White and his wife began to deal large quantities of cocaine with Robert Crisafulli, 49, of Hyde Park, and Nancy White, a family friend who is not related to the couple. Kelly was replaced as commander, and the narcotics unit came under scrutiny after the allegations against White surfaced. Yesterday, Kelly testified that when he took over the unit, there were no written procedures for the sergeants who picked up seized drugs at State Police barracks around the state and brought them back to the drug bunker at State Police headquarters in Framingham. The sergeants assigned to the unit were in charge of keeping an inventory of the drugs and destroying them at an incinerator in Millbury after they were no longer needed as evidence. "Is it fair to say that the record-keeping in your unit was lax at best when you arrived?" George asked Kelly. "It did not meet up with my personal standards," Kelly replied. Kelly testified yesterday that he tried to firm up the standards in the unit. But he also said that, because of manpower shortages, he was sometimes forced to break a longstanding rule that no trooper would be allowed to transport drugs to the bunker from outlying barracks alone. George, however, used the department's records to question Kelly's assertion. George showed the jury a copy of a report that said Kelly took possession of 13 marijuana plants seized by the US Drug Enforcement Agency in 2002. Kelly admitted that there was no corresponding entry on the drug bunker's entry log for that day showing that he brought the drugs to Framingham. Kelly insisted that he did turn in the drugs. "But, just from the paperwork, doesn't it appear that the drugs were never returned?" George said. "It does look like I never signed the ledger," Kelly replied. "But I know for a fact that I did turn them in." Kelly also denied that he allowed troopers to take drugs home with them, despite an assertion by George that a female sergeant under his command told internal affairs investigators that he did. Kelly testified yesterday that procedures were tightened and staffing in the unit was tripled after his departure. A State Police spokeswoman declined to confirm that yesterday or comment on the current procedures for safeguarding drug evidence. Kelly also testified that he participated in a search of Timothy and Maura White's home after the sergeant was arrested on charges that he held his service pistol to his wife's head in January 2003. Kelly said various drugs were found in the home, including cocaine and 15 yellow ecstasy pills marked with a Volkswagen "VW" logo. He said those pills matched the description of ecstasy pills missing from the bunker after White's arrest. Under questioning from George, Kelly also said the pills were found in Maura White's jewelry box and that Timothy White had not been in the home for 11 days before the search. Maura White and Nancy White have been given immunity from prosecution in return for their cooperation with prosecutors. Crisafulli agreed to a deal with prosecutors for his testimony. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom