HEADLINE:  Englewood officer missing

DATELINE:  ENGLEWOOD, Tenn.

An Englewood police officer who reported drugs and cash had disappeared from the evidence locker is himself missing, officials said.

Lt. Herb Adams, the departmental second in command, hasn't been seen by his wife or co-workers since April 29, according to Sgt. Tim Carver of the McMinn County Sheriff's Department.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Lt. Adams, 49, is a "person of interest" in the probe into the missing drugs and money.  "We have interviewed other people, and we were supposed to meet with him on Monday," TBI spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said Friday. "But we found out he had disappeared."

Sgt. Carver said Lt. Adams' wife, Anna, filed a missing persons report on her husband Monday. She reported that she had spoken with him on the previous Friday before she went to work. "At this time we don't have any leads," Sgt. Tim Carver said. "It is being treated as a missing persons report of unknown circumstances." However, Sgt. Carver said authorities are not considering foul play to be involved and are continuing to interview family members and friends.

Days before his disappearance, Lt. Adams told Police Chief Danny McDonald that $540 in cash and 5 grams of cocaine were missing from a safe inside the police evidence room.

Chief McDonald said the TBI was called in when Lt. Adams reported the items missing. He said he doesn't understand why only a small amount of cash and drugs was reported missing. "There is probably five times that amount locked up in there," the chief said. Lt. Adams has been with the Englewood department for four years. Before that, he worked for the McMinn County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities said Lt. Adams has blue eyes and black hair and is thought to be driving a 1993 Maroon GMC Sonoma pickup truck.

HEADLINE: Former Police Employee Learns Fate For Stolen Drugs 53-Year-Old Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison

DETROIT -- A former civilian police employee who admitted stealing at least 220 pounds of cocaine from the department's evidence room -- replacing some of it with baking flour -- was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

John Earl Cole Sr. (pictured, left), 53, of Detroit, pleaded guilty in August 2004 to one count each of conspiracy to distribute at least five kilograms (11 pounds) of cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge John Corbett O'Meara.

Cole used his drug-trafficking proceeds to buy houses and other buildings in Detroit, disguising ownership by placing title to the properties in the names of relatives and associates, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Cole could have received 30 years in prison under maximum sentencing guidelines. But prosecutors agreed to recommend the 15-year sentence because he cooperated in with authorities investigating the evidence room thefts.

A jury on March 28 convicted Donald Hynes, 43, of charges including conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine; distribution of five or more kilograms of cocaine; embezzling and converting police property; and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Hynes faces at least 10 years and up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced July 19.

Prosecutors said the men stole the cocaine from 1994 through 2000 and sold it for at least $840,000.

Six other people also were convicted in the case, which was investigated by Detroit police, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service.

HEADLINE: HEMET: He pleads guilty to embezzlement by a public employee and gets 120 days and probation.

Former police employee sentenced in evidence theft

A former Hemet police employee charged with taking property from a police evidence room received 120 days in county jail and three years probation as part of a plea bargain Thursday, authorities reported. 
Steven John Smith, 43, pleaded guilty to embezzlement by a public employee at the Southwest Justice Center. He will be able to serve the jail time on weekends and remains out of custody, said Mark Mandio, a Riverside County deputy district attorney.
 
"His real crime was violating our public trust because the property would have been destroyed anyway," said Mandio, referring to the dye-stained bank-robbery money that was taken.  Smith's attorney, Dave Angeloff of Hemet, said Smith has learned his lesson. 

"Mr. Smith acknowledges he made a mistake and he is sorry for what he did," Angeloff said. 

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Leonard Torrealva said his office is investigating Smith in connection with items that went missing when Smith worked at the West Covina Police Department. That investigation involves property, including a firearm, which was taken from the West Covina department's evidence area, records show. 

In Hemet, Smith was charged with embezzlement in February, court records show. The charge states that between May 18, 2004 and July 1, 2004, Smith took an undisclosed amount of money from the station's evidence room. That money was evidence in a bank-robbery case, records show. 

Smith was arrested after Hemet police searched his Hemet home, police Lt. Rob Webb said. Inside the home, officers found property they believe was stolen from the Hemet and West Covina police department's evidence rooms, Webb said. 

Smith worked for the Hemet department for less than two years and resigned after an internal investigation, police said. His duties included photography and collecting and booking evidence into the evidence room, police said. 

Six other people also were convicted in the case, which was investigated by Detroit police, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. 

HEADLINE: MONEY MISSING FROM MEIGS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
 
DATELINE: POMEROY, OHIO

The Ohio Bureau of Identification and Investigation is investigating the disappearance of money seized in a pair of drug busts and held in the Meigs County sheriff's office, Sheriff Robert Beegle said yesterday. 

Beegle declined to say how much cash is missing. Some of the money, from a Middleport police case, is missing from a deputy's locker at the sheriff's office, Beegle said. The rest, from a separate case, disappeared from the sheriff's office evidence room, he said.

Beegle said he immediately called the BCI&I and asked the agency to investigate when the money was found to be missing on May 6.

"I can't say any more," Beegle said. "The investigation is continuing."

A topless dancer who enjoyed the high life with money stolen from the Memphis property and evidence room was sentenced to a three-year term of probation Monday.

Crystal Greer was the girlfriend of Carl Johnson, a former city employee who took part in the theft of money and millions of dollars' worth of drugs from the evidence room. Eighteen people have been charged in the case, and all have pleaded guilty.

Greer was accused of accepting a car from Johnson, along with expensive jewelry, money and marijuana stolen from the property room. Johnson was a close friend of Kenneth Dansberry, who engineered the massive thefts.

U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald ordered Greer to serve 10 months of home confinement during her three years of supervised release and promised to put her in prison if she fails drug tests. A probation officer reported that Greer has tested positive for marijuana since being charged.

HEADLINE: Eight Sheriff's Office deputies reassigned 

The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office narcotics division has new leadership after 7 pounds of marijuana and less than a gram of methamphetamine turned up missing.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, Col. Greg Phares said one employee resigned and eight others -- including Capt. Jason Palmer, who oversaw narcotics -- were disciplined after an internal investigation found they were mishandling evidence. No criminal charges are expected.

"Obviously, if the missing marijuana as opposed to just being improperly disposed of was stolen, then we would make every effort to bring criminal charges against whoever is responsible for that," said Phares, the chief criminal deputy. "At this point we haven't established probable cause, and at this point I'm not very optimistic that we will."

The missing methamphetamine was evidence in a criminal case with multiple counts, Phares said -- one of which is now compromised. The marijuana -- which has a street value of $2,100 -- was not. Neither has been found. Phares said the Sheriff's Office launched its investigation June 9 after there was an "indication that we might have a problem."

A subsequent audit of the narcotics division turned up no other missing drugs, Phares said, but it did conclude that other employees were not following procedures for seizing and labeling evidence.

Cpl. Kenath Black -- one of two deputies who seized the marijuana -- quit Thursday after refusing to take a polygraph test while answering questions about the drug. He initially was suspended for 10 days.

Eight other employees were punished for failing to properly secure and document other narcotics evidence, but are not believed to have anything to do with the missing marijuana and methamphetamine.

They include Palmer -- the head of the narcotics division -- who was suspended for 10 days, demoted to sergeant and reassigned to general detectives. He is replaced by Lt. Todd Compton.

The others are:

Lt. Lee Alfred Livingston, who was suspended for 10 days, demoted to corporal and reassigned to armed robbery and burglary.

Deputy Lee Henderson, who was suspended for two days and reassigned to uniformed patrol.

Sgt. John Dempre, a uniformed patrol officer who was suspended for five days and demoted to deputy.

Cpl. Shawn Anderson, Deputy Todd Martin, Cpl. Chad Montgomery and Sgt. David Grunewald all were suspended for one day but were not demoted nor reassigned.

"I think it's important to note that with the exception of the deputy who resigned -- but against whom I'm making no accusation -- the other deputies we do not believe had anything at all to do with the missing marijuana," Phares said. "However, we have acted on our belief that they failed to properly document the seizure of evidence other than the 7 pounds."

The discovery comes less than six months after another Sheriff's Office employee was fired and arrested for allegedly stealing money, drugs and weapons from the evidence room -- possibly jeopardizing an unknown number of criminal cases.

Lt. Gwendolyn Carroll, 66, was arrested after a search of her home at 2016 Government St. turned up scores of evidence envelopes stashed in 18-gallon tubs. Deputies found evidence from about 130 cases.

Carroll is accused of stealing more than $200,000, as well as cocaine, marijuana and guns from the evidence room, which she supervised.

But Phares emphasized the two cases "are not related although clearly they both concern the handling of evidentiary matter."

Despite the loss of top administrators in the narcotics division, Phares said he's optimistic the changes will only "improve it."

"We do have new leadership in the narcotics division and clearly everyone who remains in there has been very strongly instructed … as to proper evidence handling procedures," he said. "So we hope and believe it will improve the performance of the narcotics division."

Phares also said he believes the deputies who were disciplined will "perform well and continue to be valuable to the office and to the parish. Obviously if we had not thought that, we would have dismissed them."