Pubdate: Wed, 23 Aug 2006
Source: Hattiesburg American (MS)
Copyright: 2006 Hattiesburg American
Contact:  http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1646
Author: Nikki Davis Maute
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

EX-DEPUTIES ON TASK FORCE PLEAD GUILTY

LAUREL - Sheriff Larry Dykes has spent many days in the Jones County 
Circuit Courthouse, sometimes as a witness.

On Tuesday, though, he was witness to three of his former deputies 
pleading guilty to various charges ranging from embezzlement to 
beating and torturing handcuffed suspects and planting illegal drugs 
on residents. "This is the hardest day I've ever spent in this 
courtroom," Dykes said as he quietly watched Roger Williams, 43; 
Chris Smith, 34; and Randall Parker, 32, plead guilty before Circuit 
Judge Billy Joe Landrum. "You grow up with people and work with them 
and trust them. When something like this happens, it's a detriment to 
all law enforcement in the state of Mississippi," Dykes added.

The charges against the three former deputies were the product of a 
five-month investigation of the Southeast Mississippi Drug Task Force 
of which they were members. The task force, which also included 
deputies from Covington and Smith counties, was shut down earlier 
this year as a result of the investigation. Task force members from 
Covington and Smith counties were not implicated in wrongdoing, 
District Attorney Tony Buckley said Monday. The former Jones County 
deputies are scheduled to be sentenced in January. Williams, the task 
force commander, faces up to 10 years in prison. Smith and Parker 
each face up to five years behind bars.

The ex-deputies had nothing to say after Landrum accepted their 
guilty pleas. Each of the former officers pleaded guilty to planting 
cocaine on one suspect and methamphetamine on three other suspects. 
They also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice by providing the 
district attorney's office with false information.

Williams pleaded guilty to hitting a handcuffed suspect with an ax 
handle. Smith pleaded guilty to hitting a defendant with his fist, 
shocking a suspect with a stun gun in his private area and kicking a 
handcuffed defendant. Parker and Williams also pleaded guilty to 
embezzling more than $2,000 from the task force. The indictment did 
not detail the exact amount of money taken. Assistant District 
Attorney J. Ronald Parrish said the state Department of Audit is 
looking at the task force's financial records. Jesse Bingham, 
director of the state auditor's investigative division, said his 
office neither confirms nor denies the department's work.

The deputies' arrests forced the district attorney's office to 
dismiss 34 drug cases that were investigated by the task force. The 
investigation began in April after Dykes uncovered evidence of 
wrongdoing. The sheriff turned the investigation over to the 
Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

The three former officers were released on signature bonds which 
means they didn't have to put up any money to stay out of jail. 
Landrum warned them that if they got into any trouble while they are 
out on bond, any agreements reached with prosecutors would be tossed 
out. "You have been in this court many times and you know the law," 
Landrum said. "If you do anything against the law, you will 
jeopardize what happened in court today."

The judge also questioned why sentencing would be delayed by more 
than four months. Normally, defendants are sentenced when they plead 
guilty or are convicted. Parrish said his office needed the delay in 
sentencing in the event all three former deputies did not plead guilty.

"If we had to go to trial on any one of the cases, any testimony 
would be needed before they were sentenced," Parrish said.

Parrish said Parker cooperated with investigators once the 
investigation began. Williams later worked with investigators.

Landrum singled out two state investigators Roy Clingon and Jimmy 
Herzon for special praise.

"You have performed a service for the citizens of Jones County and 
this court and the district attorney's office is appreciative of 
that," Landrum told the investigators.

"This state is well served to have men of this caliber working," 
Buckley said of the investigators.

In an unrelated case, another former task force deputy, Jason Scott 
Sims, was allowed to resign Friday after prosecutors filed a motion 
calling for his dismissal from office.

Sims is accused of engaging in inappropriate physical contact with a 
17-year-old West Jones High School student.

Although Sims faces no criminal charges, Parrish said information 
about Sims will be sent to the state office that certifies law 
enforcement officers.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman