HEADLINE: Ex-Caddo deputy gets 71-month prison term

 SHREVEPORT - A former Caddo Parish sheriff's K-9 deputy assigned to drug interdiction has been sentenced to 71 months in prison for trafficking in stolen cocaine to help cover gambling debts.

U.S. District Court Judge Tom Stagg sentenced Danny Joe Williams, 44, Thursday and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine, U.S. Attorney Bill Flanagan  said. Williams pleaded guilty in May to possession of cocaine with intent to  distribute. A federal investigation began when information was received that Sheila Hardin, 36, of Keithville was distributing cocaine that she received from a
 Caddo Parish sheriff's deputy, Flanagan said. At the same time, the Sheriff's Office confirmed that 2.2 pounds of cocaine was missing from its custody. The cocaine was worth up to $140,000 on the street and had been seized by the Sheriff's Office in an earlier drug case, Sheriff
 Steve Prator said.

The cocaine was stolen from a K-9 supervisor's vehicle and had been used to train dogs that detect narcotics. The cocaine had been checked out of evidence for training, Prator said.

Authorities said they searched Hardin's home and found almost all the stolen cocaine, 5 1/2 pounds of marijuana and a handgun. Hardin admitted she got the cocaine from Williams, sold part of it and split the money with him, Flanagan said. Williams was arrested and fired in May and admitted he supplied the cocaine to Hardin.

Williams also admitted he had stolen drugs from the Sheriff's Office on prior occasions over the past 18 months, using the money from drug sales to pay gambling debts, Prator said. Hardin pleaded guilty Aug. 24 to possession of cocaine with intent todistribute. She is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 3.

HEADLINE: Police chief convicted of 1 federal charge, acquitted of another

DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. 

The town of Midway's police chief was convicted of a federal charge of selling a Beretta handgun from the department's evidence room. But jurors acquitted Eugene Gardner of another charge that he illegally sold a 12-gauge shotgun and .22-caliber rifle that also had been in police evidence. Gardner, who has been suspended from duty, is free until his Nov. 15 sentencing. 
"We're disappointed in the verdict, but we'll meet and explore our options," Gardner's attorney Robert Harper said after the jury's decision Thursday. "We may appeal or we may not." Gardner, 39, originally was indicted on federal charges of raiding the Midway Police Department's evidence rooms, selling confiscated guns and other items, then pocketing the money. 
Gardner has been police chief in Midway, northwest of Tallahassee, from since 1998. His predecessor, Antonio Jefferson, was also indicted on the same charges. Jefferson was Midway chief from 1996 to 1998 and is now Gretna police chief; his trial starts Monday. 
Prosecutors contended that Jefferson began the practice of taking or selling evidence, then Gardner continued it when he became chief. Harper had argued that Gardner is innocent because he did not intend any wrongdoing, though the government said that both chiefs knew or should have known the law. According to federal agents, the two men illegally sold or took items such as guns, an air conditioner, an air compressor and a Sony PlayStation. 

HEADLINE: EX-POLICE CHIEF IN COWAN TO ANSWER TO METH CHARGES -- AND MORE 

Harvey 'Mack' Shook didn't have to look far when he wanted to use methamphetamine and other drugs, authorities said. 

There was plenty in the evidence room at the police department in Cowan, a small town of 1,770 in eastern Franklin County, about 80 miles south of Nashville. As police chief, Shook had the key. 

Now the former head of the town's police department faces arraignment Friday after being indicted on 16 criminal counts, including theft, evidence tampering and official misconduct. Among the allegations is that the lawman got high from drugs stored in his department's evidence room. 

'The indication is that he was using drugs, including methamphetamine," said District Attorney General Mike Taylor. About $1,200 was misappropriated, too, authorities said. 

'The theft indictment alleges improprieties involving the police department's drug fund. All cities have these funds that they use to pay informants who make drug buys," said Assistant District 

Attorney Steve Blount. Shook could not be reached for comment yesterday. Directory assistance said his phone number was unlisted. 

Shook, 32, was police chief from November 2000 until June, when he was relieved of his duties by the City Council. Before that, he had been a police officer since December 1999. 

Prosecutors said the drugs were in the custody of Shook's department pending trials against numerous defendants. The tampered evidence may compromise many cases. 

"He would substitute different narcotics for the ones he took or he would adulterate them in some way," Taylor said. 

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has returned numerous samples of drug evidence to the state crime lab for retesting. Several samples revealed they had been tampered with since being first tested, prosecutors said. 

'It gives us a big headache," Blount said. 

September 19, 2001, Wednesday, BC cycle 

HEADLINE: Ex-Tazewell officers plead no contest 

DATELINE: TAZEWELL, Va. 

Three former Tazewell County law enforcement officers pleaded no contest to misdemeanor embezzlement charges. Former Sheriff D.J. "Joe" Johnson, Lt. George M. Horne and Sgt. E.L. "Skip" Honaker entered the pleas in Tazewell County Circuit Court on Monday. 
The men confiscated coins they believed were stolen during a 1989 traffic stop, and the coins were placed in the sheriff's evidence locker. Horne allegedly sold the coins in 1999 for $600, which he split with Johnson and Honaker, prosecutors said. 
The charges will be dismissed in one year if the men abide by the court's terms. 
Substitute Judge Nick Persin ordered them to perform 100 hours of community service, pay $200 restitution plus court costs, maintain good behavior during the next year and never again seek law enforcement employment. 
Johnson retired in December 1999 after eight years as sheriff. Horne and Honaker were fired by current Sheriff H.S. Caudill early last year. 

September 27, 2001, Thursday 

HEADLINE: SHERIFF: WORKER STOLE DRUGS 

A Clark County Sheriff's property technician stole drugs from the department's evidence room for five years before he was caught, Sheriff Garry Lucas said Wednesday. 

The discovery, which called into question the competence and integrity of the sheriff's office, helped spark a seven-month investigation of 250,000 pieces of evidence now stored in the sheriff's warehouse at 906 Harney St. in west Vancouver. 

In a press conference Wednesday, officials said the probe has resulted in changes in procedures that failed to detect missing or misplaced evidence and erroneous or nonexistent documentation. 
"I think it would be much more difficult now to compromise the system without detection," Lucas said. 

The property technician, Jim Washer, was placed on administrative leave in January, after the department received an anonymous tip about Washer stealing small quantities of marijuana and methamphetamine being stored as evidence in criminal cases. He resigned in February after working for the sheriff for about nine years.  Washer was not charged or arrested at the time. 
Detectives on Wednesday asked the Prosecutor's Office to charge Washer with theft. Besides the drugs, officials said, Washer also is suspected of taking two women's rings, said to be of little value, and a pair of nylon prisoner restraints. 

Deputy prosecutor Jim Miller said Wednesday that his office has not decided whether to file criminal charges against Washer. The sheriff said he is not sure where Washer now lives. 

The department ran up $ 50,000 in overtime expenses to investigate, Lucas said.  Lucas said no criminal prosecutions were compromised by the missing drug evidence. He said Washer stole the drugs after they no longer were needed to make a case, Lucas said. "He was taking items scheduled for destruction because there was much less likelihood of being caught," Lucas said. 
Vancouver attorney Barry Brandenburg, who represents drug defendants, said Wednesday he was not aware of any criminal cases being compromised by the missing evidence.  But he said he wasn't satisfied by the sheriff investigating his own agency. 

"To me it screams for a case-by-case analysis," Brandenburg said. "I think another agency has to look at it. I'm not confident when the agency charged with auditing the problem is the same agency that would suffer a consequence if the audit showed wrongdoing." Sheriff's officials said Washer has admitted stealing the drugs over a period of five years for his own use. Washer couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday. 

In a final report released Wednesday, Chief Civil Deputy Ric Bishop listed several problems that were discovered in the investigation: 

* Evidence listed as destroyed was found during the probe. 
* Evidence was destroyed, but supporting documentation couldn't be located. 
* Evidence was found, but there was no documentation that connects it with a
   case. 
* Drugs that were supposed to be destroyed were found hidden on shelves in
   the drug room. 
* Sheets of bar codes that should have been used to catalog evidence were 
   found hidden in the drug room. 
* Bags of evidence had been cut open and not resealed. 
* Weights of drugs were not the same as when they originally were logged in. 
* Items listed as pornographic had been opened or could not be found. 

Bishop's report made several recommendations, including random drug testing of evidence employees, that two employees be present when drugs are received, and that the drug room be videotaped 24 hours a day. 

Lucas said the investigation has made his agency stronger, but the theft of drugs has taken its toll. 

"We have an employee who goes and intentionally destroys the integrity of our system," Lucas said. "Yes, we are very upset and his co-workers are very upset. It's another of those incidences where the negative action of one person affects an entire agency and sometimes a profession." 
Officials said a 20-inch thick stack of documents dealing with the investigation will be made public today.