They Admit Roles In Charges Against Third Officer Who's Been Indicted Two Memphis police officers pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to charges they extorted cash and planted drugs on motorists in bogus traffic stops. West Precinct officers Adam Gagnier, 29, and Jennifer Vickery, 35, have agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors investigating similar incidents involving at least one other officer currently under indictment. Both admitted playing roles in charges pending against fellow officer James Fetter. Fetter, who's in federal custody, was indicted last week on charges of violating the civil rights of his estranged wife and her employer. [continues 408 words]
Latest Stings Cite Stereo Theft, Robbery Of 'Drug Couriers' In what the local FBI chief called a "sad chapter" in a series of stings, three Memphis police officers and a Shelby County sheriff's deputy are accused of on-the-job corruption. Memphis officers Deshone Skinner, 32, and Roderick K. Smith, 37, are charged with robbing people they thought were drug couriers of several thousand dollars in dope money. The couriers were actually FBI informants. "In the book of public corruption, this is a sad chapter, and the chapter is called Tarnished Blue," FBI agent-in-charge My Harrison said. [continues 796 words]
Violent crime in the United States dropped for the third year in a row last year, property crime for the second. Crime is down in metropolitan counties and rural counties. It's down in the South, in the West, in the Midwest, in the Northeast. Either property crimes or violent crimes or both decreased last year in Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Little Rock, Jackson, Miss., Atlanta, Louisville, Ky., and New Orleans. Experts disagree on why. No doubt demographic issues play a role. In "Freakonomics," a provocative best-seller, University of Chicago economist Steven D. Levitt argues that legalized abortion began reducing the demographic cohort responsible for most crime in the 1990s. [continues 1186 words]
Former Memphis Police Officer David Tate pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to 9 of 11 counts in an indictment alleging extortion, conspiracy and transportation of drugs, as well as plotting to burglarize the home of Jerry 'The King' Lawler. In exchange for his plea agreement the government agreed to drop two of the drug charges, one of which carried a possible life sentence. Prosecutors will also dismiss a second indictment for child pornography possession. In accordance with agreements between his attorneys and federal prosecutors, Tate will serve 168 months in a federal prison. He will be sentenced August 23 in front of Judge Bernice Donald. [end]
I have a copy of the written ruling made last week by Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan (May 21 article, "Drug bust is erased by judge/ Says suspect with 33 pounds of cocaine not nervous enough"). Your letter writers (May 23-24) seem justifiably concerned that this ruling suppressed the seizure of a large amount of cocaine as evidence in the case. However, what they overlook is that it is the duty of the courts -- the judicial branch of government -- to protect citizens from excessive and abusive behavior by police -- part of the executive branch of our government. This is the classic check-and-balance our state Constitution provides. [continues 409 words]
Judges are sworn to follow the law; it appears Skahan did this. Although no one wins when police do a shoddy job and violate people's rights, the courts are there as a part of a check-and-balance system that makes our government work. Gov. Phil Bredesen has given us a judge who will do what she was sworn to do: uphold and apply the laws regardless of her self-interests. Many countries have a system of justice some of your misinformed readers seem to admire. China and North Korea are the first two that come to mind. Pete Brebeck Memphis [end]
I don't claim to know any facts about the case, but I know the Supreme Court created the exclusionary rule for the sole purpose of creating a disincentive for law enforcement to act in a vigilante manner. I applaud Skahan for evenhandedly enforcing the law as she believes the Constitution requires. Michael J. Stengel Memphis [end]
Criminal Court judges are not police officers or crime fighters. They are sworn to uphold and enforce the laws created by our legislature. The letter writers who suggested Skahan should be replaced because they don't like this ruling must have missed their seventh-grade social studies class when the teacher explained the separation of powers of our three branches of government. From the facts you reported, it unfortunately appears the deputy violated the rights of the driver. That is not Skahan's fault. She upheld the law. That is what I expect from all of our judges. Kim Burkhead Cordova [end]
Skahan made the hard decision her oath of office mandates her to make. Too bad the sheriff's deputy overstepped his authority and violated the Constitution. Is the right against unlawful search and seizure a mere "technicality" for protecting alleged drug couriers, or is it a real protection for us all against overzealous law enforcement? If police were more concerned with understanding the law and upholding the Constitution, which they also take an oath to follow, I would feel much more safe and secure in my rights as an American. Police officers trampling constitutional rights are a much greater threat to our freedom than the release of one drug courier whose rights are designated a mere "technicality." James A. Carraway Jr. Cordova [end]
I remember the good and bad growing up in South Memphis, but I mostly remember being stereotyped by the police departments of Memphis and surrounding areas. I remember being pulled over and never being asked for permission to search my vehicle, and watching it ransacked by individuals who had sworn to uphold the law. Ninety-nine percent of the time the stops weren't justified (I sped sometimes). People who have been the victim of so-called police saturation and harassment, racially motivated or not, have to ask this whether the officer in the Eric Berrios case studied psychology. Police have stopped me few times in my older years, and every time have asked to search my vehicle. Why, because I seem nervous? When I was younger, I was never asked permission for a search; now that I am older, I tend to refuse because I learned at an early age what stereotyping was. When I refuse, police suggest I have something to hide. [continues 116 words]
As an 11-year veteran of the former Memphis-Shelby County Metro Narcotics Unit, I wanted to send a note of thanks to newly appointed Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan (May 19 article, "Drug bust is erased by judge"). Because of her broad interpretation of the Constitution, she said Mr. Drug Runner was not nervous enough so let him go and reduce his bond. From all the many Memphis police and Shelby County sheriff's deputies who gave our blood, sweat and tears to stem the flood of drugs in the Memphis community, we express our heartfelt thanks that she has let another doper loose on a "technicality" to return again in the near future. [continues 54 words]
Thanks to Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan for filling us in on how to have a successful, rewarding career as a drug courier (May 21 article, "Drug bust is erased by judge"). Last year Shelby County Deputy Kelly Nichols stopped Eric Berrios for driving 53 mph in a 45-mph construction zone. Nichols said Berrios was nervous, got permission to search the vehicle and found 33 pounds of cocaine, worth $1 million. I guess Nichols missed a few training classes because after review of the police video, Skahan determined Berrios was not quite nervous enough to merit a search. Berrios walks away. The lesson: If you passed acting 101 and don't speed, you can pretty much transport anything, anywhere, anytime. Since Berrios was the victim of an illegal search and seizure, why don't we give him back his 33 pounds of cocaine? Steve Butler Memphis [end]
In October 2002, Memphis narcotics officer Dion Cicinelli wanted to see 1,500 pounds of marijuana he had seized. Property room supervisor Kenneth Dansberry, panicking, at first tried to show the officer 1,500 grams of the drug. That's a little more than 3 pounds. =09 He eventually scraped together 1,500 pounds of pot -- but Cicinelli knew it wasn't the dope he had seized. That realization was a turning point in the investigation into massive drug and money theft from the property room, court records show. [continues 604 words]
Put On Probation, To Work 600 Hours A former Memphis police employee who stole from the department's property room -- after he was brought in to clean it up -- was sentenced Friday. U.S. Dist. Judge Jon McCalla sentenced Jay T. Liner to three years of probation, 600 hours of community service and fined him $3,000. Liner, 54, faced up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but prosecutors recommended that he not go to prison, based on information he gave them about others involved in the high-profile property room scandal. [continues 198 words]
12th Deputy Jailer Quits Amid Smuggling Allegations Shelby County sheriff's officials have fired 10 deputy jailers and a technician during administrative hearings this week that spawned from federal drug-smuggling charges. A twelfth jailer resigned before the hearings. The deputy jailers, two former jailers, and three others, including a Postal Service worker, were indicted March 9. During the past year the jailers took money, usually $500 or $1,000, to sneak what they believed to be Oxycontin and crack cocaine in to Shelby County Jail inmates, the indictments said. [continues 278 words]
Crawford Enters Plea To Bribery, Laundering Charges A well-known Memphis attorney facing charges of bribing a police officer and laundering profits from drugs swiped from the police evidence room pleaded guilty Monday. Scott Crawford made the surprise announcement that he was pleading guilty to most of the charges minutes before the jury picked to hear his case was brought into the courtroom. Crawford, a "special judge" who filled in for absent General Sessions judges from 1998 through 2004, pleaded guilty to seven counts of laundering drug money through his law practice, and to an array of bribery charges. [continues 295 words]
Indictments Also Accuse 5 Others Of Conspiracy A dozen Shelby County deputy jailers were invited to a special training session at the department's East Memphis training academy Wednesday morning. Instead they got a ride Downtown in the back of a U.S. Marshal's van in handcuffs -- compliments of the FBI. The deputy jailers, two former jailers, and three others, including a Postal Service worker, were named in indictments unsealed Wednesday that describe a pervasive conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the jail. [continues 385 words]
Pleads Guilty To Drug, Prostitution Charges A former Memphis police officer pleaded guilty Friday to eight counts of drug and prostitution charges in exchange for minimal sentencing and an agreement to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Billy Scott, 28, former officers David Tate and John D. Vaughn, and topless dancer April Veach were charged after an eight-month undercover FBI investigation yielded bribery, drug, corruption and civil rights violations charges. Scott is the third of the four defendants to plea. All but Tate have pleaded guilty. Tate's court date will be set after his mental evaluation, said Leigh Ann Jordan, spokeswoman for the local U.S. Attorney's office. [continues 284 words]
The "Meth is Death" film the state is showing to middle and high-school students to fight methamphetamine addiction is a great idea. I've thought there should be a meth makeover show so people could see the before and after of meth addiction. What a beauty treatment -- a high that makes you look like a zombie reject from "Dawn of the Dead." You lose your looks, your self-respect and eventually your life. This would be a reality show that could do some good. I encourage the three Middle Tennessee prosecutors who produced the "Meth is Death" video to keep up the good work. Chucky Moody Dyersburg, Tenn. [end]
COPS BUST KID'S BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR DOPE Children Cry As Pregnant Woman Arrested LITTLE ROCK -- Police on a drug raid burst into a suburban home during a child's birthday party, startling children who had not yet eaten their cake. Amid wails from children and a few parents, officers arrested a pregnant woman and accused her of selling marijuana from the house, which had been under surveillance for weeks. Shannon Hills Police Chief Richard Friend, who led the raid, found parents about to light candles on a cake adorned with green and white cartoon characters and a big "2" on top. [continues 287 words]
City Negotiates With Son Of Gravedigger; $1 Million-Plus At Stake A botched drug raid by Memphis police that killed a gravedigger in 2002 has spawned a probe into whether evidence was planted, and it could cost taxpayers more than $1 million. The federal civil case against three narcotics officers, which went to trial in October and ended with a nearly $3 million award for Jeffery Robinson's family, raises questions about department policy on drug raids. A second case against the City of Memphis is separate. [continues 672 words]
Ark. Seeks To Cut Labs' Numbers By Regulating A Key Ingredient LITTLE ROCK - Among issues under debate at the Arkansas Capitol this legislative session, none have included drama like the fight to rid the state of methamphetamine. From tales of young children with their throats and stomachs permanently scarred by drinking sulfuric acid used in meth labs, to stories of toddlers addicted to the drug because it entered their systems under their fingernails while crawling on meth-contaminated floors, stories of the drug's devastation fill committee hearings. [continues 576 words]
Until Now, They Remained On Force Even After Jury Finding Two-and-a-half years after a botched drug raid that led to a deadly shooting, eight Memphis police officers have been suspended. Narcotics officers Mark Lucas, Albert Bonner, Jeffrey Simcox, Felipe Boyce, Veronica Crutchfield, Juan Gonzalez, Dariet Wallace and Lt. Anthony Berryhill were put on paid leave Friday, police said. The suspensions came the same day that The Commercial Appeal reported that city attorneys and victim Jeffery Robinson's family are negotiating a settlement of about $1 million. [continues 552 words]
Admits Taking $4,500 to Protect Drug Deal A Memphis police officer pleaded guilty Monday to federal drug conspiracy charges stemming from his role in a police corruption case. John D. Vaughan admitted accepting $4,500 in November to help provide security for a drug deal that he didn't know involved undercover FBI agents. Vaughan also agreed to continue cooperating with prosecutors who say they'll recommend he get a break when he's sentenced in May. He could receive up to 10 years in prison. [continues 251 words]
Vaughan Facing Drug Charges, Out On Bond A Memphis cop, charged with having drugs to sell, was silent in court Wednesday as his attorney told a judge he wasn't guilty. John D. Vaughan, with fellow officers David Tate and Billy Scott, is charged with having 150 tablets of Ecstasy and 10 kilograms of a substance containing methamphetamine. Vaughan, 28, who's out on bond, pleaded not guilty Wednesday, a day after Scott, also 28, was released from jail after admitting guilt. [continues 269 words]
'Just Gave In' To Theft Of $1 Million, Cocaine A former Memphis police property room boss told a judge he's sorry he ripped off more than $1 million cash and 150 kilos of cocaine while he worked there. "I gave in. I just gave in," Kenneth Dansberry said Tuesday in federal court. U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald sentenced Dansberry to 10 years in prison for turning the property room into what she called a "drug distribution hub." From 2000 through Sept. 24, 2003, Dansberry, a 21-year MPD employee, stole cocaine and marijuana and sold it to Patrick Maxwell, an Atlanta drug dealer and former property room employee. [continues 275 words]
No Bond Set in Case Involving Drugs, Prostitution Two Memphis police officers, dressed in orange prison jumpsuits, pleaded not guilty to prostitution and drug charges Wednesday. David Tate, 37, and Billy Scott, 28, didn't ask for bond and will remain detained. Tate, Scott and fellow officer John D. Vaughan are charged in an 11-count federal indictment. Vaughan, who hasn't entered a plea, was released on $10,000 bond. He'll be back in court next week. Tate, a policeman for 18 years, is charged with taking bribes to tip off topless nightclubs when raids were coming, ferrying prostitutes to "high-rollers" at Tunica casinos, and protecting couriers taking Ecstasy and high-grade methamphetamine to Tunica. [continues 193 words]
Sheriff Investigates Why Material Not Tested Why a lawyer bringing a lotion bottle filled with a "green, leafy substance" into the Shelby County Jail was allowed to take the bottle and leave is the subject of an internal affairs investigation, officials said Wednesday. The material was inside the briefcase of the attorney, who was visiting a client in the jail. It was discovered during a routine X-ray machine screening Monday night at the jail annex entrance, Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell said. [continues 151 words]
A former Shelby County sheriff's deputy admitted he raided a drug dealer's hotel room, stole his drugs and cash, piled the goods in his patrol car and kept most of it for himself. Jodie Chambers, who was fired from the department soon after he was charged in a 14-count indictment in April, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two of the counts. "Let's get this over with," he told family across the courtroom. Chambers, 39, didn't know his accomplice and the drug dealer, Jorge Garcia, were Federal Bureau of Investigation informants, Asst. U.S. Atty. Steve Parker told the judge. [continues 221 words]
Jury Awards Victim's Family A federal jury's award of nearly $3 million to the family of a cemetery worker killed by police in a drug raid two years ago is the first step in a two-phase lawsuit, attorneys said Monday. The jury's verdict of about $2.85 million Friday established damages and liability against three Memphis officers in the death of Jeffrey Robinson, 41, who was shot in the face by police July 30, 2002, at his home at 1523 Rozelle next to the Baron Hirsch cemetery. He died about six weeks later on Sept. 16. [continues 224 words]
Afghanistan's crop of opium poppies has increased sharply, creating concern that this will undermine the stability of the government. Recently I saw a reporter talk to a young Afghan farmer standing in his field of opium poppies. He said they required little water to grow, but if deep wells were dug he would prefer to grow other crops. So instead of more guns, let's dig wells and see if irrigation will help solve this problem. And let's subsidize the price of coffee to exceed the money that is made growing cocaine in Colombia and see if that isn't cheaper than trying to suppress that trade by military force. Jean McCommon, Byhalia, Miss. [end]
Methamphetamine is a powerful, addictive drug that is reaching epidemic proportions across the country and has become a major challenge for law enforcement in Tennessee. According to the U.S. Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center, meth production, distribution and abuse are frequently associated with violent crime in Tennessee. The state accounts for 75 percent of all methamphetamine produced, sold, used or transported in the southeastern United States. In addition, 10.2 percent of high school students surveyed in Tennessee report having abused methamphetamine at least one time. The national average is 9.1 percent. [continues 498 words]
Tennessee had two dubious honors in your Sept. 10 edition. The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration reported that Tennessee in 2003 had the most methamphetamine labs cleaned up of any state for the third year in a row ("Meth's family destruction worsens, report says; more kids taken from their parents"), and that Tennessee is home to 75 percent of the meth labs in the Southeast. Meanwhile the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation reported that Tennessee had the lowest state and local tax burden of any state in 2002 ("Tenn. tops in low taxes, group says"). I guess you get what you pay for. Joe Gillis, Adamsville, Tenn. [end]
Want to buy cold medicine for you and your child at the Walgreens in Frayser? Be forewarned that you might get caught in a tug-of-war between well-intentioned efforts to deter drug dealers and an innocent attempt to stop a runny nose. A week ago a co-worker tried to buy a bottle of Dimetapp syrup for her son and a box of 12 Tylenol Cold pills for herself at the store on Thomas. "Exceeding drug limit," read the cash register. [continues 396 words]
