HEADLINE: Judge sentences man to 13 years for thefts from drug task force

BYLINE: ROY PITCHFORD Westside bureau

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Former Iberville sheriff’s deputy also implicated in case

PLAQUEMINE — A state judge sentenced Joseph Jenkins of Baton Rouge on Thursday to 13 years in prison after Jenkins entered a guilty plea in a July case involving thefts from the headquarters of Law Enforcement Against Drugs, a narcotics task force.

Deputies arrested Joseph Jenkins,  along with his cousin, Lt. Gerald Jenkins of Plaquemine, a veteran of 20 years of service with the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office who was assigned to command the drug task force.

Investigators arrested the Jenkins cousins in connection with entry into the evidence room at the task force headquarters, where drugs, cash and a gun were taken. The intruders unsuccessfully attempted to set the building on fire, investigators said at the time.

The case has attracted widespread attention in Iberville Parish since the defendants suggested others in law enforcement also were involved in thefts of drugs and cash from the task force headquarters. But the cousins have not given any names.

Joseph Jenkins was sentenced under a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to attempted possession of more than 400 grams of cocaine.

Judge William Dupont of 18th Judicial District Court noted that Joseph Jenkins originally was arrested “for several felonies” before reaching an agreement with the District Attorney’s Office to testify against his cousin.

Gerald Jenkins, the former deputy, reached a plea agreement minutes before opening statements were to begin in his trial. He pleaded guilty to possessing more than 400 grams of cocaine, attempted arson and obstruction of justice. Charges of theft of cash and drugs were dropped in exchange for the plea, and other charges were dropped before the trial began.

Gerald Jenkins is scheduled to be sentenced April 10.

Judge Dupont told Gerald Jenkins after the defendant pleaded guilty to the charges that the length of his prison sentence could be determined by the level of his cooperation in an investigation of allegations that others were involved in illegal activities at the task force headquarters and its evidence room.

Dupont asked Joseph Jenkins if he wished to make a statement in court Thursday.

“Let’s get it over with,” the defendant replied.

“I have read your pre-sentence report,” Dupont said. “I have looked at your record and I have heard you.”

Dupont said Joseph Jenkins had a “20-year record” of criminal involvement.

“You say you don’t have a drug problem, but you tested positive for marijuana and cocaine on the morning you were arrested,” Dupont continued.

Dupont said he had seen no sign of remorse from the defendant and said he had seen no evidence of community involvement, “except for trying to put drugs on the streets.”

Dupont took note that Joseph Jenkins had said the incident at the task force headquarters was “bigger than me,” but said he, the defendant, produced nothing to back up that claim.

“You chose this life,” Dupont said just before handing down the 13-year sentence.

The judge said Joseph Jenkins must serve seven and a half years without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. 

HEADLINE: APD Targets 2 In Evidence Case;
Police chief plans 'harsh' punishment if officers are involved in cover-up

BYLINE: T.J. WILHAM Journal Staff Writer

The Albuquerque Police Department is investigating two officers to determine whether one - or both - helped cover up missing property from the evidence room while it was being investigated by the state Attorney General's Office.

Although neither officer has been charged, Police Chief Ray Schultz said he plans to issue "harsh" punishment in the case.

The two officers, who were partners, are blaming each other for allowing two civilian evidence room clerks to have access to property logs.

Attorneys for officers Robbin Burge and Scott Lopez say their clients are innocent.

The internal investigation, which started last fall, is the last of many evidence room probes. It started after the city's Independent Review Office noticed discrepancies in evidence room logs.

Schultz said he is awaiting the results of a lie-detector test for Burge.

A temporary restraining order prevents APD from giving her a lie-detector test, and a hearing on the restraining order is scheduled next week. Lopez already took a lie-detector test, which his attorney said he passed.

"We are in a situation where this is someone's word against someone else's word," Schultz said. "There are some questions that still need to be answered. That's why I need the (lie-detector test). ... Based on what I know now, there will be discipline. ... It will be harsh."

According to court records and police reports obtained by the Journal, Burge claims that Lopez was having a relationship with an evidence room clerk who was a target of the attorney general's investigation. That investigation determined that more than $58,000 was missing from the evidence room and that criminal conduct had occurred. However, no one was prosecuted in connection with the missing evidence.

When questioned, both detectives said the other was responsible for allowing the clerks access to the logs.

Both clerks, who were civilians, were terminated from the department for other reasons.

Rob Perry, who is representing Burge, said his client was a primary source in the IRO's investigation.

After she came forward with the information about her partner's involvement, APD launched an investigation into her, Perry said.

   "We don't have a problem taking a fair (lie-detector test). We do have a problem taking theirs," Perry said. "It's concerning they even want to do one given all of the evidence against my client's accuser." Lopez's attorney Peter Schoenburg said his client has done nothing
wrong.

Both officers have remained on duty during the investigation. Burge remains a detective, and Lopez has been promoted to sergeant. "This investigation is the last thing that needs to be done with the evidence room," Schultz said. "This is us making sure that everything with the evidence room is dealt with. "I am doing everything I said I was going to do. We are addressing everything and are not going to brush anything under the carpet."

GRAPHIC: SCHULTZ: Says punishment will be "harsh"

HEADLINE: Evidence Stolen From East St. Louis Police Department; Mayor Suspects Inside Job

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The Illinois State Police are probing a break-in at the East St. Louis police department. What's missing--evidence that was supposed to be used in criminal trials.

East St. Louis Police Chief James Mister would not confirm the break-in, located in the former police station on Main Street.

But Mayor Carl Officer did talk. "When you asked me about it, this is an inside job, pure and simple," said Officer.

Mayor Officer says the break-in occurred last month, and he's convinced someone in the Police Department is responsible. "The last place you go to rob is the police department, unless you're a police officer who has knowledge how to get in or out," said Officer.

If someone did steal evidence collected at crime scenes from the East St. Louis vault, prosecutors could be deprived of the tools they need to take cases to court.

This is the latest in a series of setbacks for East St. Louis. In the past year several city officials included former Police Chief Ronald Matthews have been convicted of felonies ranging from conspiracy to voter fraud. Officer says the betrayal of public trust in his city continues to be a serious problem.

"The depth of political corruption-we haven't even scratched the surface. About nine or ten people have been charged, found guilty and sentenced. I suspect we could look at another 19, 20 to 25 individuals," said Officer

St. Clair county State's Attorney Bob Haida did not return our phone calls. Mayor Officer says Illinois State Police are investigating the theft of evidence, and the city is in the process of moving the vault to a new location.

HEADLINE: Police evidence has to be secure

Most police departments in America operate without ever having their evidence locker robbed. Unbelievably, the East St. Louis Police Department has just let it happen for the third time since 2001.

Guns, drugs, bullets, shell casings, rape kits, you name it are missing. The prosecutions of maybe 100 cases, most of them serious, violent crimes, are in jeopardy as a result. Another worry: The weapons that were stolen may be used to commit yet more crimes.

The police and state's attorney kept this latest evidence heist quiet because they wrongheadedly thought they could keep the bad guys from finding out. But no doubt the bad guys knew immediately. The public deserved to know immediately, also, that the Police Department had grossly compromised their safety.

Who is going to be held responsible? Following theft No. 2, the department's leadership assured St. Clair County State's Attorney Robert Haida that changes would be made to prevent a repeat. It didn't happen. James Mister wasn't police chief at the time; however, he shares responsibility. This recent theft occurred on his watch.

This was either an inside job, or done by an incredibly bold outsider. Until the public has some satisfactory answers, East St. Louis should pay another department -- the sheriff's department, the state police -- to store all its evidence. It is abundantly clear that as of today, the Police Department can't be trusted to secure it.

HEADLINE: State's Attorney Assesses Damage From Evidence Room Break-In

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(KSDK) - Calling it an embarrassment to his department, East St. Louis Police Chief James Mister admits someone ransacked the building where they store evidence in criminal cases February Sixth.

Mister stresses no weapons or drugs were stored in the building, once home to the police and fire departments. He adds ninety percent of the evidence stored in the facility has no significance to any outstanding criminal cases.

But St. Clair County States Attorney Bob Haida says they have 130 criminal cases pending from the East St. Louis Police Department. Haida says they must wait for a complete inventory to know what kind of impact the third break-in in six years has had.

As Haida put it, "It's not an absolute that if the evidence is missing or can't be found that the case gets dismissed." Haida says it will require a case by case evaluation. Chief James Mister admits some of the case that could be affected include sexual assaults.

Haida has given the police department until the end of the month to conduct a complete review of all the evidence left in the old structure. Chief Mister stresses much of the evidence from murders and other violent crimes had been moved years ago along with the storage vault to City Hall.

Mister says, "I'm securing the building so that there will be no further breaches." He adds, "I'm also moving all significant evidence out of that building and into a location at City Hall where it can be monitored 24 hours a day."

Haida says Illinois law requires police departments to preserve evidence in murder or sexual assault cases until a sentence derived by that evidence is completed. But Haida adds the penalty provisions of that law have been removed.

HEADLINE: 3 arrests lead to pilfered-pot confessions

BYLINE: Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News

Police in Cedar City have arrested three St. George-area teenagers -- including the son of a Utah Highway Patrol trooper -- after they allegedly raided the UHP's evidence locker and stole more than 23 pounds of marijuana.

The teens were arrested last week after a police officer spotted a suspicious car parked outside the UHP's Cedar City office, Cedar City Police Sgt. Jerry Womack said.

"It was an alert patrol officer out patrolling a business area at about 3 a.m.," he said. "The people in the vehicle fled from him. There was a short pursuit through town."

The teens bailed out of the car and tried to run on foot, Womack said.  Officers arrested two of the teens a short time later and a third was apprehended the next day.

"We recovered a bunch of evidence," Womack said, adding they retrieved several pounds of marijuana as well as prescription drugs. "The majority of it was marijuana, pipes, bongs and stuff."

The arrest of the teens helped police discover who broke into the UHP's evidence locker and stole 23 1/2 pounds of marijuana back in October 2005.

Iron County sheriff's detective David Mitchell said he initially began questioning people within the Utah Highway Patrol's Cedar City office who had access to the building.

"I knew it wasn't a forced entry," Mitchell said Tuesday. "It was someone who had access to the keys."

Last week's arrest by Cedar City police appears to have solved that mystery.

"One of the kids was the son of a trooper, and he got the keys to the evidence room," Mitchell said.

Investigators were unsure how much marijuana was taken in last week's burglary. They believe the marijuana will not be recovered, and Iron County sheriff's deputies were unsure how many criminal cases were compromised as a result.

The Utah Highway Patrol said Tuesday it was cooperating with the Iron County Sheriff Office's investigation but did not anticipate any disciplinary action against the trooper whose keys were pilfered.

"The actions that happened do not reflect the officer or the organization," Utah Highway Patrol trooper Jeff Nigbur said. "It was a dumb decision that these juveniles made. They shouldn't have been doing that. They have some facing up to do."

Police would not release much information about the juveniles, except to say they are 17-year-olds from the St. George area.

Iron County sheriff's deputies refused to release the name of the Utah Highway Patrol trooper whose keys were taken, but said he was unaware of his son 's alleged involvement in the marijuana caper until the teen was arrested.

"He definitely caught his father off guard," Mitchell said of the trooper's son. "The father didn't see it coming."

Two of the teens have confessed to their roles in the UHP evidence locker break-in, Mitchell said. A warrant has been issued for a fourth teen in the case.

The teens were booked into juvenile detention on investigation of burglary, theft, evading arrest, drug possession, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

HEADLINE: Thefts of evidence may sink pot cases in court

Several criminal cases may not stand up in court because key evidence - about 23 pounds of marijuana, plus paraphernalia - was stolen from a Utah Highway Patrol locker in Cedar City.

Now three juveniles are in custody and two more are being sought in connection with the burglaries, said Iron County Sheriff's Detective David Mitchell.

The locker was first burglarized sometime between October and January, he said. The exact date is unknown because no one noticed the marijuana was missing and the evidence locker is not under video surveillance.

During the second burglary, on Feb. 27, a Cedar City police officer noticed a suspicious-looking car in the UHP parking lot. The police officer initiated a traffic stop, during which three juveniles fled the scene. Two were caught and arrested that night, while a third juvenile was arrested the next day.

One of the juveniles, who is related to a UHP employee, allegedly swiped his keys and used them to gain access to the building, Mitchell said. Once inside, the juveniles allegedly broke the door handle to the evidence room.

The sheriff's office and Cedar City police are investigating the cases to avoid a conflict of interest, said UHP Trooper Jeff Nigbur. The UHP will conduct its own internal affairs investigation, he said.

Whether the burglaries compromised the integrity of the evidence has yet to be determined, Mitchell said. Marijuana stolen in the first burglary had come from a traffic stop of a suspected smuggler. That marijuana has not been recovered.

Marijuana stolen during the second burglary was connected to several cases that were still being logged by police. The stolen marijuana was found in the juveniles' car, officials said.

The juveniles were arrested on suspicion of theft, burglary, tampering with evidence, interfering with an arrest, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

lrosetta@sltrib.com

HEADLINE: Detective can end a lot of suspicion at his sentencing

BYLINE: ROY PITCHFORD Westside bureau

April 10 could be an important day in Iberville Parish.

That is when former drug task-force commander Gerald Jenkins will be sentenced.

Judge William Dupont of the 18th Judicial District has told Jenkins he should be prepared to elaborate on his claim that other members of the law-enforcement community have stolen from the offices of Law Enforcement Against Drugs.

To use a cliché of the street, it will be time to put up or shut up.

Jenkins was a lieutenant with the Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office when cash and drugs were taken from LEAD headquarters near Plaquemine in July, and an attempt was made to set the building on fire.

Jenkins and a cousin from Baton Rouge, Joseph Jenkins, were quickly arrested.

Joseph Jenkins pleaded guilty to one drug charge in the case and agreed to testify against his cousin. He never got that opportunity; Gerald Jenkins pleaded guilty to three felony charges minutes before his trial was to begin.

It would be a closed case except for some things the two men have said and findings made since the break-in about eight months ago.

Gerald Jenkins told state and federal investigators that other law-enforcement officers have stolen from the task-force evidence room.

He has never identified those officers.

During one court hearing, some of Gerald Jenkins' accusations became part of the public court record.

The accusations without identification have left "a cloud of suspicion" hanging over law enforcement in Iberville Parish, Dupont said. That cloud must be removed, "one way or another," Dupont said.

On the morning Gerald Jenkins was remanded into custody, Judge Dupont told him to cooperate in his pre-sentence investigation and, "in the unresolved issues of items missing from the evidence room."

About $150,000 in cash, more than $750,000 in drugs, and some investigative files are missing.

"Your cooperation will go a long way in determining the length of your sentence," Dupont told the 20-year veteran.

Law enforcement in Iberville has already been damaged. In addition to the suspicion, a number of cases involving drug arrests will see people either go free or receive lighter sentences because of the compromised evidence room.

Prosecutors have tried to work with the Jenkins cousins.

Joseph Jenkins was originally charged with seven felonies, and was allowed to plead guilty to one in exchange for testimony that he wound up not giving. Dupont sentenced him to 13 years in prison.

Gerald Jenkins was once charged with 10 crimes.

He went to trial for five, and just before opening statements were to begin, he was allowed to plead guilty to three. One of those three charges, possession of more than 400 grams of cocaine, can bring a sentence of 15 years in prison.

As an officer enforcing anti-drug laws, Gerald Jenkins helped send many people to prison. As a result, he must have secure confinement while in jail.

Normally a man who has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing in about a month would be held in jail in the parish where his sentencing will take place.

Authorities will not say where Gerald Jenkins is being held. Finding a place where he can safely serve his sentence will be a challenge for state prison officials.

But there remains the issue of "the cloud."

Will Gerald Jenkins name names?

As traumatic and unsettling as that may be, it would at least limit suspicion to a few people. Now police, deputies and prosecutors all face the hint of involvement, though none have been named, arrested or charged.

Law-enforcement officers and their families will be watching on April 10 when Judge Dupont asks Gerald Jenkins if he has anything to say before he is sentenced.

When Joseph Jenkins was asked that question, he replied, "Let's get it over with."

It has been said that sentencing in criminal matters brings closure. That is exactly what the Iberville Parish law-enforcement community needs.

Roy Pitchford covers Iberville, Pointe Coupee and West Baton Rouge parishes for The Advocate.

HEADLINE: Who's looting Akron vaults?

BYLINE: Phil Trexler Beacon Journal staff writer

Three evidence vaults in separate downtown Akron buildings have been burglarized, and thousands of dollars in cash and cocaine is gone.

Revelations of missing money and drugs from the vaults -- run separately by Summit County prosecutors, Akron police and the Common Pleas Court -- have led to criminal investigations, a pending grand jury hearing and changes in how authorities will protect evidence in the future.

It is not clear if the thefts have compromised any criminal cases because police and prosecutors are reluctant to talk about the investigation.

Akron police Maj. Michael Madden refused to comment on the probe, referring questions to Mary Ann Kovach, chief assistant criminal prosecutor.

Kovach said she fears any publicity about the thefts would hamper the investigation. She would not say what law enforcement agency was contacted regarding the thefts or when.

She did confirm that evidence vaults in the Prosecutor's Office are sealed pending an audit.

``We've closed them down. No one is bringing evidence in, no one is bringing evidence out,'' she said.

She did not know when the audit would begin or who would perform it. Nor would she discuss which employees had access to the vaults.

Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said of the thefts:

``It's a confidential investigation and I'm certainly concerned if it is publicized.''

Thousands stolen

Two people familiar with the investigation say about $7,000 in cash was discovered missing in January from the prosecution evidence vault in the county Safety Building adjacent to the Akron Police Department.

Akron police won't comment on their losses. The two sources said about $37,000 was discovered missing several months ago from their evidence room, which is located in the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center on South High Street.

The individuals who confirmed the probe asked for anonymity because prosecutors have threatened to lodge obstruction of justice charges against anyone publicly discussing the case.

Prosecutors say they expect to take the results of their investigation to the grand jury sometime this month.

Security questioned

Johanna Nelson, a longtime worker in the evidence room at the Prosecutor's Office, resigned earlier this month after she raised questions over lax security policies, the sources say.

A request by the Beacon Journal to inspect the personnel records of Nelson and two other evidence room workers was not granted Thursday.

Kovach said Nelson's resignation letter is being ``reviewed,'' but would be available Monday.

Nelson, who had worked for the Prosecutor's Office for 20 years, declined to comment when reached at her home Wednesday. She has accepted a new position with the county.

Workers report thefts

In the third case, two common pleas court reporters, who are responsible for handling evidence introduced at trial, reported two separate thefts from the court vault. These thefts were reported to Summit County sheriff's officials, who released seven pages related to the case on Wednesday.

In one instance, $2,015 in cash and 1 ounce of powder cocaine was discovered missing in December, a month after the case ended. The defendant is appealing his conviction, but his attorney said she was not made aware of the missing evidence.

That same month, another court reporter told investigators that $510 in cash was missing from the vault.

No suspects have been identified in either courthouse theft.

The court's executive officer, Andrew Bauer, said it appears that a government worker is responsible, since only court personnel had access to the area.

Access tightened

Since the theft from the court reporter's vault, county judges and administrators have changed policies on the handling of evidence and tightened access.

In the past, evidence collected by police was transferred to prosecutors and secured in their vault until trial or the disposal of the case. Once evidence is used in court, the court reporter assumed custody.

The evidence was supposed to be locked in a vault, but court officials acknowledge that some evidence was kept in the court reporter's offices or desks.

In the future, a vault shared by the court and prosecutors will be opened and staffed in the county Safety Building, Bauer said.

In the past, he said, dozens, if not hundreds, of county workers could access the evidence room.

In one example, a key to the vault was accompanied with the combination to the safe and stored in an office, he said.

``I think what we found was the amount of access gained into the vault was ridiculous,'' Bauer said.

Bauer said that evidence accumulated in the courthouse vault for years, creating an ``out of control'' evidence room. Under a new policy, evidence is supposed to be moved back to the arresting agency or the court of appeals for future hearings.

In a December 2005 memo from court officials, court reporters were told they must be accompanied by a witness when entering the courthouse vault. The combination to the vault and the key to the separate vault area, once held by the chief court reporter, are now held by Bauer.

`Breach of integrity'

Akron defense attorney Jana DeLoach represents Calvin Eugene Wells, the defendant whose alleged $2,015 in cash and cocaine was stolen from the court's vault. Wells was convicted of cocaine possession and is serving a 10-year prison sentence.

DeLoach, who learned of the missing drugs this week from a reporter, said the missing evidence in Wells' case and other cases is troubling and is cause for an independent agency to handle evidence retention.

``Absolutely this is a concern. It's a huge breach of integrity and really, I believe, lessens the community's faith in our local law enforcement,'' she said. ``The person or persons responsible has to be somebody from the inside. Because let's face it, no one from the street is walking into the Police Department or Prosecutor's Office and stealing that evidence.''

Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com

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HEADLINE: Fort Valley amends evidence procedures

BYLINE: Ayanna McPhail TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER

FORT VALLEY - The Fort Valley City Council voted Thursday to amend the police department's policy for handling evidence.

The change comes after undisclosed quantities of crack cocaine, powder cocaine and marijuana were discovered missing when needed for a federal case.

In January, Police Chief John David Anderson launched an internal investigation that lead to the firing in February of Capt. W.K. Richardson, who was in charge of the evidence room.

Richardson, a 26-year veteran on the force, was fired not just because of the missing evidence incident, the chief said, but also for other disciplinary and job performance issues.

After appealing to Anderson, the captain was given the opportunity for a demotion and declined, the chief said. Richardson was then told he could resign or be fired, Anderson said. When he refused to resign, he was fired, the chief said. The captain was a year from his expected retirement.

Currently, a sergeant is supervising the evidence room and its contents, said Lawrence Spurgeon, a Fort Valley detective and lieutenant.

The current procedure decreases the perception of impropriety, he said, because the officer who collects the evidence and maintains responsibility for the case is different from the person who actually maintains the evidence room.

This will lessen the chance of there being a perception that evidence is mishandled or tampered, Spurgeon said.

The change in policy also can help the police department as it seeks state and national accreditation, Spurgeon said.

The city council also voted on the following:

Denial of damages claimed by two residents seeking reimbursements for flat tires at Church and Miller streets. Mayor John Stumbo said a worn-down curb has been replaced, and a metal plate drivers were bumping with their tires has been sawed down.

Adoption of an ordinance for the National Incident Management System to prepare for and respond to disaster situations, which could include a terrorist attack and severe weather conditions.

Adoption of a resolution to establish a tree board. This is the first step for the city to regulate the greenery around town for a more pleasant environment. Fort Valley is seeking five members to serve on the board.

Residents also are needed to fill vacancies on the Public Housing Authority and Historical Preservation Commission.

To contact Ayanna McPhail, call 923-3109, extension 238, or e-mail amcphail@macontel.com

HEADLINE: Ex-intern for Summit jailed on theft charge

BYLINE: Phil Trexler Beacon Journal staff writer

$34,000 said taken from evidence vault

The fallout over the spate of thefts of cash and drugs from law enforcement evidence vaults continues with the arrest of a former intern with the Summit County Prosecutor's Office.

Leon Harris III, 25, of Akron, is being held this weekend without bond in the county jail. He is charged with theft and tampering with evidence, a jail official said Saturday.

Harris, hired by Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh for a 2005 summer internship, is accused of stealing $34,000 from the evidence vault in the Akron Police Department.

Investigators are looking into four thefts from law enforcement vaults: one each from the police department and the prosecutor's office, and two from a vault in the county courthouse.

Harris' arrest comes after the resignations of two prosecution evidence-room officers working under Walsh.

On Friday, evidence officer James Peticca abruptly resigned. He had worked for Walsh since 2001, when he retired as an Akron police officer. Peticca and Harris worked together, handling evidence between police, prosecutors and the courthouse.

Earlier in the week, prosecution evidence officer Joanna Nelson resigned after more than 20 years on the job. She resigned in frustration over what she views as lax security policies used by prosecutors, sources say.

On Thursday, Walsh's office did not respond to a public records request by the Beacon Journal to examine personnel files for Harris, Peticca and Nelson. Walsh's chief criminal prosecutor said Nelson's resignation letter would not be available until Monday. The contents of the letter were being ``reviewed.''

An effort to reach Walsh via her cell phone Saturday was unsuccessful. On Friday, she refused to discuss the investigation or Peticca's sudden resignation. Earlier in the week, Walsh voiced concern that news coverage of the vault thefts would hamper the criminal investigation.

The thefts from evidence vaults date back several months. In one case, $7,000 was reported missing from the prosecution vault. At the courthouse, $2,015 and an ounce of cocaine were missing last fall from a vault used by court reporters. In addition, another $500 was taken from the same courthouse vault.

The stolen money had been seized by law enforcement as evidence in criminal cases and was being held until the charges were resolved.

Because authorities have been reluctant to discuss the thefts, it is unclear what impact the missing money and drugs will have on the criminal cases or how many cases might be affected.

The prosecution evidence vault has been sealed pending an audit to determine if anything else is missing.

Court officials have already changed their policies covering the courthouse evidence vault.

Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com

HEADLINE: Probe sees second evidence officer quit;

BYLINE: Phil Trexler, Beacon Journal staff writer

Grand jury hearing likely, prosecutors say

A second evidence officer in the Summit County Prosecutor's Office has resigned amid an investigation into cash and drugs stolen from three law enforcement vaults.

James Peticca, who handled evidence for Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and also served as an investigator for the office, resigned Friday.

When reached at his home. Peticca, 53, would not say why he quit. He joined Walsh's office in 2001 after retiring as an Akron police officer.

Earlier this week, evidence officer Johanna Nelson ended 20-plus years with the prosecutor's office, resigning amid concerns over lax vault-security policies maintained by the office. She has taken another job with the county.

Neither Peticca nor Nelson has been implicated in thefts of cash and drugs from separate evidence vaults in the prosecutor's office, the Akron Police Department and the County Courthouse.

Their resignation letters have been withheld by prosecutors.

Prosecutor Walsh refused to comment Friday. Mary Ann Kovach, the office's chief criminal prosecutor, would not comment on the investigation. Kovach is heading the criminal investigation.

``I don't have any reaction when anybody resigns,'' Kovach said.

According to sheriff's reports, $2,500 and an ounce of cocaine were stolen from the courthouse evidence vault last fall. In addition, two people familiar with the probe say it was learned in January that about $7,000 was missing from the prosecutor's evidence vault and another $37,000 was missing from the evidence room operated by Akron police.

Prosecutors have sealed their vault in anticipation of an audit, Kovach said previously.

Walsh's office has refused to comment or release information about the thefts, fearing publicity would hamper their investigation. Prosecutors say the investigation -- being conducted by a law enforcement agency they won't identify -- is expected to result in a grand jury hearing. A person with knowledge of the probe said the grand jury may hear evidence next week.

Akron police referred all questions to prosecutors.

Until prosecutors release information about the thefts, it is unclear whether any of the thefts of money will compromise criminal cases. The missing money had been seized in criminal investigations and kept in the vaults for safekeeping until the cases were resolved.

The money stolen from the courthouse vaults was in the custody of court reporters, who hold evidence when cases are appealed. In one case, $2,015 and an ounce of cocaine, seized from a man convicted of possessing the drug, was taken sometime after his conviction. Another $500 is missing from an unspecified case.

Court officials say they have bolstered their security practices since the thefts. No suspects have been identified.

Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com

HEADLINE: Ex-officer charged with drug possession

BYLINE: PENNY BROWN ROBERTS; Advocate staff writer;

A former Baton Rouge police officer who once went to jail for selling items from the evidence room now faces more prison time after federal agents allegedly found 6 kilograms of cocaine in a trash can in his garage.

Daryl W. Davis, 38, 18030 Manning Drive, Prairieville, was charged Monday in a criminal complaint with one count of cocaine possession and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

He is being held in the West Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has been investigating Davis - who spent 13 years on the Baton Rouge police force - for nearly a year, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kevin Harrison said Monday.

In an affidavit, DEA Special Agent Mark Lusco writes that investigators believed Davis was "obtaining multikilograms of cocaine from Houston, Texas, and distributing them in the Baton Rouge area."

On Friday, two confidential informants told agents that Davis was about to get "multikilogram" quantities of cocaine, Lusco writes in the affidavit.

Agents began watching Davis that day and stopped him after he made a U-turn to avoid numerous marked police vehicles with their emergency lights activated, the affidavit says. He reportedly gave them permission to search his vehicle and his Prairieville home.

There, according to Lusco, agents seized the 6 kilograms of cocaine from the garbage can. On Davis' property, they also found a loaded .38-caliber revolver, ammunition, an electric money counter and money packaging materials, Lusco's affidavit says.

Before Davis was arrested, Lusco claims in the affidavit, the former officer admitted to cocaine trafficking but said the gun belonged to his live-in girlfriend.

Davis - who joined the Baton Rouge Police force in 1986 - previously was arrested in July of 1999. He was accused of stealing a cell phone cloning device from the evidence room and selling it for $1,000 to the man from whom police seized it.

He also allegedly helped an evidence room student worker and her boyfriend steal a gun that was evidence in a related case.

The Police Department fired Davis two weeks later when he refused to answer questions posed by Internal Affairs investigators.

Davis was convicted in a bench trial of one count of obstruction of justice and one count of public bribery and sentenced to five years in prison in February 2001. His parole ended last month.

At the time he was sentenced, state District Judge Bonnie Jackson said testimony during the trial suggested Davis was involved in drug activity.

Davis made an initial appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Docia Dalby, who appointed a public defender to represent him.

A detention hearing is scheduled for March 27.

HEADLINE: Fired Arcade officer pleads guilty to misdemeanor theft

WINDER - An Arcade police lieutenant Thursday admitted he took a cigarette lighter and a switch-blade knife from the department's evidence locker and gave them to a woman who claimed the officer stalked her.

Former police Lt. Don Eckert pleaded guilty Thursday in Barrow County Superior Court to two counts of misdemeanor theft by taking, exactly one week after he was fired from his post in Arcade. "I'm just ready to move on," Eckert said after pleading guilty. "I made some bad decisions and I'm paying for them."

Superior Court Judge Robert Adamson sentenced the former officer to two years of probation and ordered him to pay a $1,400 fine. As a part of probation, Eckert, 57, will not be allowed to have a gun and was stripped of his police certification.

Although the theft occurred in Jackson County, Eckert was allowed to plead guilty in Barrow County because both counties are part of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit. Eckert, according to Arcade police Chief Dennis Bell, gave the knife and the cigarette lighter to a Jefferson woman - 32-year-old Kristian Huskin - who later filed for a restraining order, claiming Eckert was stalking her.

Eckert denied stalking her and said the woman stole a check and a credit card from him and racked up hundreds of dollars in charges. He said he has since filed a police report in Banks County about the credit card charges and a forgery affidavit with his bank.

"She sure did take my check and use my credit card to her advantage," Eckert said Thursday after pleading guilty to the theft charges.

Eckert was fired after an internal police department investigation into officer misconduct. Before bringing the theft charges against Eckert, Bell met with Jackson County District Attorney Tim Madison and a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent.

"Friendship stops at the door," Bell said. "I'm the chief of police and I have to do my job. He knows that. All of my officers know that."

Of his former lieutenant, Bell added: "He made some poor decisions, some very poor decisions." Charges against Huskin for her  involvement in accepting the stolen evidence are pending.

"She knew that it was illegal to have (the two items) and she accepted them," Bell said. "There will most definitely be charges filed."

Eckert served with the Arcade police department for a little more than two years, Bell said. During his time with the department, he has served as lead investigator and most recently he supervised the department's patrol division.

Arcade police have audited their evidence room and all other items were accounted for, Bell said. The stolen items were evidence in long-resolved cases and were to be destroyed, according to the police chief.

HEADLIINE: How Secure is the Evidence Room?

Link to Article

Many people reacted with surprise to the news this week that former Idaho Falls prosecutor stole guns from the city of Idaho Falls, guns taken for evidence.

But it's not difficult for prosecuting attorneys to get a hold of this old evidence. In fact, they have legal access to it.

Evidence -- it all comes to this dungeon in the Bingham County courthouse. From the minute it comes through these doors, there's a detailed paper trail that follows and there's very limited access to this room where it’s stored.

“It’s pretty secure. There are only three keys available to get in the doors.”

“No one has access to that room. I don't even have a key to it.”

But once the court date has come and gone and the evidence has been used, there are a few routes for it to go. Depending on the case, it can go back to its owner, it can be destroyed or it can be forfeited to the city or county.

“When it’s forfeited, it’s forfeighted to the prosecuting attorney. Not the prosecuting attorney as a person, but the prosecutor as an elected official.”

In Bingham County the majority of forfeitures come from drug cases. The prosecutor says something like 98 percent of the time, the property -- whether it be money, guns or electronics -- are divvied up by the sheriffs office and the prosecutor’s office. They are then used for funding cases and fighting crime, but in Mason's case, some items were allegedly used for his own personal reasons.

“For me, I just can’t imagine freebie giving them away or willynilly spending.”

The county prosecutor says you may see new laws concerning the forfeiture of evidence as a result of the Mason case.

If someone is dead set on beating the system, they can do it. It sometimes takes something like this to wake up the system.

At a meeting for the Idaho Prosecuting Attorney Association, they talked about changing legislation to make it more difficult for things like this to happen.

HEADLINE: Evidence in 100 Hopewell cases missing;
Police evidence room cannot account for drugs and $10,000

BYLINE: DENA SLOAN; Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

DATELINE: HOPEWELL

Evidence including drugs and about $10,000 in cash are missing in roughly 100 criminal cases, highlighting possible mismanagement in the city police department's evidence room.

The missing evidence could pose problems for prosecutors in current and future criminal cases, said Anthony Sylvester, Hopewell's commonwealth's attorney.

"I'm surprised and deeply disturbed," Sylvester said yesterday after a hearing in which a defense attorney raised questions about evidence.

"There was nothing to indicate to be unconfident about [the evidence room],"  he said. "[Missing evidence] is going to raise a lot of issues we don't usually deal with."

Problems with the evidence room are not related to the two-month-old investigation being conducted by the Virginia State Police and the FBI into personnel matters at the police department, Sylvester said.

The issue came to light after defense attorney Mary Martin filed a motion last month to force Hopewell Police Chief Rex Marks to answer questions about allegations of mismanagement in the department's evidence room. Martin is defending 19-year-old Rontal Taylor of Hopewell, who faces drug possession and weapons charges.

Rather than take the stand, Marks provided answers Tuesday to about a dozen written questions that Sylvester's office posed about the evidence room. Those answers point to the missing evidence in drug cases dating to 1997. Money is missing from cases that date to 1989, Sylvester said.

Sylvester said his office is beginning to see if any of the cases are pending. The evidence in Taylor's case is not missing, he said.

A message left on Marks' cell phone yesterday afternoon was not returned.

Martin said Marks' information about the evidence room raises more questions about her client's case. She said she will request that the case be dismissed if more information is not provided by next Wednesday, when Taylor's trial is set to begin.

It is possible that the missing drugs were destroyed but that files were not properly kept showing that they were disposed of, Sylvester said. Cash is rarely destroyed, he said.

He asked the city yesterday to consider providing another location to store evidence.

Contact staff writer Dena Sloan at dsloan@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6860.

HEADLINE: Hopewell Police Chief speaks out about missing money, drugs

BYLINE: Mike Garrity, NBC12 News

Link to Article

Hopewell's Police Chief speaks out about an investigation that's rocked his department. Earlier this week, the city's commonwealth's attorney said money and drug evidence is missing from the city's police evidence room.

Hopewell's police chief says he can't yet explain how the evidence went missing. But, says problems with his department's storage of evidence were only discovered recently and are now being looked into by the FBI.

Hopewell Police Chief Rex Marks said Friday that while there is an FBI investigation into money and drug evidence that cannot be accounted for in his department's evidence storage area  -- there is also nothing to indicate that anything criminal has taken place.

The chief says he's hopeful there's a logical explanation.

Chief Marks says, "Perhaps authorized destructions or something to that effect where the documentation may not be complete -- that's what we're trying to resolve other pieces of evidence, of course, we're hopeful will be found. It may just be they were misplaced."

Hopewell Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Sylvester announced Wednesday that he'd learned drug evidence from some seventy cases was missing along with over $10,000. On Friday, Chief Marks called that announcement premature.

Sylvester has said from now on he'd like to see all new police evidence stored outside the Hopewell Bureau of Police. But, Chief Marks said that wasn't necessary. He says new computer equipment is being installed to better track evidence and tighter access policies are being put in place. 

Chief Marks remained tight-lipped about the nature of separate investigation into allegations of misconduct that have a number of his officers on administrative leave.

An attorney for one of those officers says despite Marks' claims, the officers on leave don't know why they're off the job. George Eliades says, “It is a festering source that is not going to heal until at least some disclosure comes forth.”

At this point no criminal charges have come out of any of the ongoing investigations into the Hopewell Bureau of Police.

There's no definite word on how many court cases could be affected by the missing evidence.

HEADLINE: Hopewell evidence vanishes, but chief finally reappears

BYLINE: Ray McAllister

DATELINE: HOPEWELL

For two months, Police Chief Rex H. Marks has been hibernating rather than talking about investigations of his department.

Yesterday, Marks came out and seemed to be one very annoyed bear.

Marks first issued a news release attacking the town's chief prosecutor for letting the public know too soon about allegations that drugs and money have been disappearing for years from the police evidence room.

Then he held a news conference to say again the prosecutor's release was premature, a defense lawyer's court motion that led to it was simply a pretext, and that the good employees of his 77-member department are suffering a black eye from the news media and public.

Along the way, however, Marks did admit that evidence is missing, that now there is not only a personnel investigation but an FBI criminal investigation under way and that some of his employees may face charges.

Three stops yesterday put the story in perspective:

* Defense lawyer Mary K. Martin's office. During a late-morning interview, Martin said she was shocked this week when she learned the depth of the evidence-handling problem.

Lawyers knew something was amiss when a drug case was dismissed in December after the disappearance of evidence. Rumors have been flying since Marks announced in January that an unspecified number of employees was being placed on paid leave.

Martin filed a motion to force Marks to answer questions about the evidence room. "I thought [I'd find] some procedural problems, a couple of cases where drugs could not be found," she said.

Instead, the totals were whopping, "as we suddenly and breathtakingly learned Monday," she said.

* Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony N. Sylvester's office. During an early afternoon interview, Sylvester said prosecutors have a duty to volunteer "exculpatory evidence," or information helpful to the defense.

Sylvester said he has found drugs are missing from 68 cases, about half of which were never prosecuted, and money totaling more than $10,000 is missing from 30-some others. Most of the cases are from 2001 to the present, though a few are older.

He said no one currently in jail is affected, and he said he believes past convictions are valid. But he stuck by his request that evidence in Hopewell cases be assigned to another locality.

* Chief Marks' news conference. During a 2 p.m. news conference in the parking lot behind the police building, Marks again declined to say which or how many employees were on paid leave.

He criticized Martin's motion, saying she has since been told "the chain of custody" of evidence in her case is intact. (Martin retorted afterward: "He may feel that chain of custody has been established, but I can assure you I disagree." She is concerned her client's evidence may have been handled by those involved with the 25 missing-evidence cases in 2005.)

So is 100 cases with missing evidence a large number? "In the bigger scope," answered Marks, "no."

Marks, who has been chief for 18 months, said that security has been enhanced and that there is now no reason to move Hopewell evidence elsewhere.

He lamented that Hopewell police, whose patrols are being supplemented by state police, are unfairly maligned. Officers are often criticized by residents when they investigate a crime or make a traffic stop.

Marks also defended the secrecy he had maintained until yesterday. "That's the way I operate. I don't feel it's necessary to air our laundry. . . . That is my way of protecting my employees."

And with that, he returned to his office.

GRAPHIC: Ray McAllister col.

HEADLINE: Trust in question in halls of justice

BYLINE: Phil Trexler, Beacon Journal staff writer

Link to Article

College student Leon Harris III stepped inside the Akron Police evidence vault last fall by special invitation.

It was a place he had visited often during a summer internship with the Summit County Prosecutor's Office and his help was needed again -- or so he was told.

Things were different this time, though. Months earlier, money -- and a lot of it -- had been discovered missing from the police vault.

And by the time Harris was invited to return there, suspicions of his guilt had risen in the eyes of law enforcement. He had no real source of income, yet since his internship he was driving a newer model car, he had bought a new computer and he had taken a trip to Las Vegas.

Being alone inside the vault was nothing new to Harris. He had been there many times before, working alongside prosecution evidence officer James Peticca during his internship.

But never before had a camera been watching him.

Investigators hoped their trap would snag a thief. But, as the video shows, Harris didn't bite on the envelope of cash that was left within his reach.

Then, weeks after the sting that snagged no culprit, more thefts were discovered -- not from the police vault, but from the county courthouse evidence vault.

Some $2,500 in cash and an ounce of cocaine were discovered missing in late November and early December.

And then prosecutors made their own discovery: In January, about $7,000 turned up missing from one of their own evidence vaults.

While thefts are routinely reported to the public by law enforcement, none of these incidents would make the news for two more months. Authorities said they wanted it that way to keep their investigation secret.

On March 17, though, news of the thefts broke.

The same day, Harris was arrested and later indicted on charges of grand theft and tampering with evidence in connection with the $34,000 that authorities said was stolen from the police vault.

Prosecutors say they are sure Harris, the 25-year-old University of Akron student, was involved in the police vault theft. His supporters say otherwise.

Harris' attorney did not return a phone call seeking comment.

No one has been charged in the other thefts.

It is unlikely Harris could have hit the vaults inside the prosecutor's office or the courthouse because those thefts happened after his internship ended in July.

And so it has become apparent that there is an undetected thief.

Imposing at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Harris is, by most accounts, disarming with his friendly personality. The Cleveland native served with the National Guard in Kosovo, assisting the unit's chaplain, before enrolling at UA, majoring in sociology and law enforcement. He recently took the law school admission exam.

Fellow guardsman Nikki Simmons, an Ohio State grad working for Franklin County, served with Harris in Kosovo. She called him bright, ambitious and likeable -- anything but a thief.

``What they're accusing him of is totally out of his character,'' she said. ``I just don't see it. He wants to pursue a career in law and I can't see him jeopardizing all that for something temporary. It doesn't make sense.''

Uncommon access

In the eight weeks Harris worked for the prosecutor's office as an unpaid intern under Peticca, the evidence officer, between May and July, he gained uncommon access to sacred places -- most notably the vaults operated by police and prosecutors.

As an Akron police sergeant, Peticca spent years helping run the police evidence room and vault before assuming essentially the same duties for Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh.

As a result of his long-standing reputation, it was not uncommon for Peticca to be inside the police vault, obtaining evidence and bringing it back to his vault in the prosecutor's office.

Harris was hired by prosecutors as an evidence room intern -- one of the first entrusted with such duties. Prosecutors had hoped Harris could help them alleviate the volumes of evidence accumulating in their vaults by determining what cases were closed so evidence could be returned to police.

Evidence piling up

``It was piling up,'' said chief assistant prosecutor Mary Ann Kovach. ``Some people were putting (evidence) in the lunch room area. There was evidence all over the library.''

Based on his relationship with Peticca, wherever the retired officer went, Harris went.

Their relationship was so solid that when his internship ended in July, Harris presented Peticca with a plaque in appreciation of the retired officer's help.

So when investigators wanted to set a trap for the college student, it was Peticca that they tapped for the chore.

Walsh said last week it was only in October that she learned of the police vault theft and Harris' possible involvement. Yet Peticca assured her that Harris was never alone in his evidence vault and there was no need for an audit.

On St. Patrick's Day, the day Leon Harris was arrested, James Peticca abruptly resigned.

Peticca declined comment.

Peticca had worked for Walsh since she took office in 2001. The money that was missing from the prosecutor's vault was held in Peticca's vault, Walsh said.

Another officer resigns

Peticca's departure on March 17 followed the resignation of longtime evidence officer Johanna Nelsen a few days earlier. Nelsen left a stinging letter critical of Walsh and what she called lax management controls over the office's vaults and the office's reluctance to conduct its first audit since 2001.

Last week, Walsh said both resignations are probably appropriate in light of the thefts. She believes her evidence officers knew about the missing $7,000 long before they said anything.

Nelsen's resignation appears to be voluntary. Walsh won't say whether Peticca was asked to resign, but she conceded last week that the veracity of some of his answers about the thefts were ``questionable.''

``Unfortunately, in an office this size, I have to be able to trust that a retired police officer, who worked for me for five years with no problems, will be honest. Whether he was honest or not, I think is questionable based on things,'' Walsh said.

The courthouse has changed its policies, restricting access to its evidence vault. Police have tightened its evidence room. And an audit of the prosecutor's three vaults is in progress.

Walsh's goal, she said, is to account for all evidence and then move it out. No longer, she said, will her office retain evidence. It will be returned to police.

Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com

HEADLINE: Security issues not new; coins stolen in 1980s

BYLINE: Ed Meyer, Beacon Journal staff writer

Link to Article

Concerns over security in the evidence rooms of Summit County authorities and the Akron police have plagued both agencies for more than two decades.

Before the current accusations that money and drugs allegedly were stolen from the evidence vaults of the county prosecutor, the county courthouse and city police, similar concerns surfaced in early 2000 during the Hannah Hill murder case.

Before that, in January 1983, former county coroner A. H. Kyriakides was convicted by a jury of stealing valuable coins from a dead man's estate.  According to trial testimony, the man once affectionately known as ``K-Y'' had taken the coins from the coroner's evidence room after paying the clerk only for their face value.

In early 2000, after Denny Ross had been arrested for Hill's murder, Akron police began collecting evidence and building a case against Ross.

That's when David B. Fechheimer, a prominent West Coast private investigator, began working for defense lawyers on Ross' behalf.

As part of the usual procedure in which the state must share its evidence with the defense, Fechheimer was allowed inside the evidence room of Akron police.

He said he was flabbergasted by what he saw.

``It was just extraordinarily lax,'' Fechheimer said in a telephone interview last week from his home office in San Francisco. ``People were coming and going, and the cop who was running it would take off and leave people inside. (It was) business as usual in Summit County.''

Fechheimer, who worked for the defense in the cases of 1960s radicals such as Black Panther Huey Newton and more recently in the sexual assault allegations against Kobe Bryant, said he has been in ``evidence lockers all over the country, and I never saw anything like Summit County's.''

In what respect?

``No controls,'' Fechheimer said. ``If you leave the bank open, and the bank employees aren't there, you know (what would happen).

``It's been about six years, but what I remember is being left alone, with the doors open. I was thinking: `... you could put anything in here or take anything out of here, and no one would ever know.' ''

Standard controls in many investigative agencies, Fechheimer said, are hardly complex.

``One thing you have there all the time,'' Fechheimer said, ``is an employee.  You don't leave people alone inside the evidence vault. You also have log books.''

Fechheimer voiced the same concerns during interviews with an Akron Beacon Journal reporter five years ago, but his comments were not published then because he asked that his name be withheld while the case remained in the early stages of the appeals process.

A Summit County jury voted to acquit Ross of the most serious charges in the Hill case, but the judge handling it declared a mistrial amid allegations of juror misconduct.

A federal judge upheld a magistrate's decision last year that Ross cannot be tried again for the Hill murder because of constitutional prohibitions of double jeopardy.

Ross, however, is in state prison serving a lengthy sentence for an unrelated conviction.

Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com

HEADLINE: Panel rejects appeal from fired captain

BYLINE: Ayanna McPhail, TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER

Link to Article

FORT VALLEY - The city's police committee on Wednesday rejected an appeal by fired police Capt. W.K. Richardson for reinstatement.

The 26-year veteran of the Fort Valley police force was dismissed last month after the discovery that drugs were missing from the police department evidence room, for which Richardson was responsible.

The police committee, composed of three City Council members and the mayor, deliberated in a closed session for 10 minutes, then decided unanimously to deny the appeal.

"We just feel like it was the right thing to do and we really have no comment right now," Beth Collins, chairwoman of the police committee, said afterward.

Jeff Liipfert, Richardson's lawyer, said he didn't know if he would appeal further to the full six-member council and mayor, since four of them already had voted against the appeal.

"I told W.K. the deck was probably loaded from the beginning," Liipfert said.

Liipfert said he thinks the committee denied the appeal to spare itself embarrassment since the previous police chief quit after only a year and amid conflict within the department.
In the appeal, Liipfert argued that Richardson was not allowed due process.

"Detective Richardson had no choice in the matter, he was either going to take a $10,000 (pay) cut or be fired, and ladies and gentlemen, that ain't right," Liipfert said.

Police Chief John David Anderson had offered Richardson two options in lieu of dismissal, both involving demotions, but the captain refused.

Liipfert said Richardson refused the offers because the chief gave him an ultimatum: Take a demotion and waive his right to appeal, or resign and retain the option to appeal.

March 3, Richardson appealed the firing to City Manager Martha McAfee, who said Wednesday, "The demotion and reassignment, instead of termination, would have been a workable decision, but the two of them couldn't agree on that."

She added, "If Capt. Richardson had been willing to accept that compromise, I would have overturned the decision."

Richardson was terminated Feb. 17 after it was discovered that an undisclosed amount of cocaine was missing from the evidence room, which was the captain's responsibility to maintain.

The drugs were evidence in a federal criminal case to be prosecuted.

Richardson is not suspected of stealing the drugs, the chief has said.

Liipfert argued Richardson was not the only person with access to the room.

The attorney also said other, younger officers have not been punished for similar occurrences. He argued that the new police chief didn't allow time for his officers to correct procedures, including handling evidence.

"He just came in, took the oldest fella in the department, and kicked him out the door," Liipfert said of the chief, who was hired in January.

Anderson rebutted any suggestion of age discrimination. He said Richardson had a pattern of not following procedures and not executing his duties as the leader of the criminal investigations division.

The chief said the inability to keep up with evidence was enough on its own to justify firing Richardson.

"Our whole profession relies on an officer's ability to rely on their integrity, and rely on integrity perceived for the public. We make rules so you don't have problems like this where officers are dismissed and people harmed," Anderson said. "I'm not the best captain in the world, and I am not the best manager in the world, but I know right from wrong."

HEADLINE: Hopewell vice mayor lacks confidence in evidence investigation

BYLINE: F.M. Wiggins, Staff Writer 

Link to Article

HOPEWELL - Vice Mayor Steve Taylor expressed his frustrations Tuesday night at the ongoing investigation into the police evidence storage room.

Taylor even echoed comments by Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Sylvester from March 22 that until the investigation is complete evidence should be stored in another city.

Taylor also motioned that the police be removed as a point of contact on the investigation and that instead the FBI deal directly with City Manager Alan Archer.

"I think everybody will be pleased when this is all wrapped up and behind us," said Taylor. "But currently we're in the midst of a fire storm of stories, from papers and television and radio."

Taylor said that he hadn't seen as much media attention on Hopewell since the Kepone problems plagued the city.

In 1975, Hopewell was the center of a media frenzy due to the amount of Kepone, a toxic chemical produced in the city, that contaminated the James River.

"We can't take a micromanagement approach to this situation, but we can set policy," Taylor said.

Taylor said in a Feb. 17 special closed session council meeting, he requested a short-term plan and a long-term plan on how to improve the issue facing the police evidence room.

Since then Taylor has received two letters from Archer addressing his requests.

"The letters included an update on the progress of the suggestions or requests I had made," said Taylor. "The first letter listed some things which the department was planning on doing. In the second letter it didn't list any of those as having been completed."

Taylor said that because it has been nearly a month and no suggestions were listed as completed in the letter from the city manager, that he lacks confidence that the processes are under control.

"I feel that we are headed in that direction, but I don't think that we're there yet," said Taylor. "I don't feel that a short-term solution has been reached yet."

Taylor then made his motion that police Chief Rex Marks be removed as the point of contact for the FBI for the investigation into the problems in the evidence room and that all new evidence be stored in another locality.

Councilman Randy Sealey provided a second for the motion. However, there was no other support for the motion.

"I don't agree with the motion, and I think we just need to be patient and unbiased and wait for the results of this investigation," said Councilwoman Brenda Pelham.

Councilman Robert Smith said that while Taylor said he did not want to micromanage the police department, the motion seemed to do just that.

"It seems like you're trying to consistently undermine the work of the manager and the chief of police," Councilman Curtis Harris said to Taylor.

On the vote, only Taylor and Sealey voted for the motion. Mayor Vanessa Justice, Harris, Councilman Milton Martin, Pelham and Smith voted against the motion.

* F.M. Wiggins may be reached at 732-3456, ext. 254.

HEADLINE: Broken chain

Link to Article

Missing evidence has led to one indictment, and many questions for the Summit County prosecutor

Questions about the security of evidence vaults in Summit County aren't new. They have cropped up repeatedly, nasty reminders of the need for strict procedures when handling items seized in criminal cases. The worst temptations, drugs and money, are well-known.

That such thefts have cropped up again is bad enough in itself. Weakening the chain of custody damages an essential element of criminal prosecution. It is no accident that news about thefts from three different evidence vaults has caught the interest of defense attorneys in the Akron area.

In addition, cocaine and cash pilfered from under the noses of law enforcement and the courts is perhaps the ultimate irony. These are the people who are supposedly in the business of preventing crime.

But that's just part of the reason the recent thefts are so disturbing. The investigation was kept under close wraps by Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh for months. When it broke into the open, more questions were raised than were answered. Apparent disarray in Walsh's office became part of the story.

Two of Walsh's employees responsible for maintaining the security of evidence abruptly resigned. One submitted a letter criticizing Walsh. The other was silent. Walsh pointed the finger directly at the two, calling the resignations appropriate.

The story doesn't end there. Walsh evidently suspected that a 25-year-old former summer intern may have taken money from the police vault. Leon Harris III had access to the evidence. The prosecutor's office set up a sting operation, hoping to tempt Harris and nab him in the act.

In the fall, Harris returned to work. He didn't take the bait, an envelope of cash.

The odd thing is, once the sting failed and Harris departed (again), Walsh and company encountered additional thefts -- from the county courthouse evidence vault and a prosecutor's vault. The thefts occurred after Harris had completed his internship in July. Yet, when news of all this broke two weeks ago, Harris was the only one arrested and charged, for the theft of $34,000 from the police vault. Doesn't that suggest a need to look for other suspects?

Evidence of past laxness in Summit County presents a troubling record. Most notably, in 1992, in a highly publicized case, a former staff attorney for Diana Zaleski, the clerk of courts, was arrested, and later convicted and disbarred, for stealing cocaine and money from the evidence vault at the 9th District Ohio Court of Appeals. The current situation signals too little has been learned. It casts doubt on how soon this recent mystery of missing money and drugs will be solved.

HEADLINE: Suit: Tamaqua chief helped rig case;

BYLINE: By Bob Laylo Of The Morning Call

But the man suing over planted drugs omits Hartung as defendant.

Tamaqua Police Chief Charles Hartung conspired with police officers who admitted planting drugs in the home of a Coaldale man they later charged, and even provided the drugs, according to a federal lawsuit filed against the state, three boroughs, the former Schuylkill County district attorney and others.

The suit, which George H. Becker III filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, says the police officers planted the drugs and arrested him a day after the state attorney general's Regional Drug Strike Task Force tried unsuccessfully to have him deal drugs to informants.

In addition, the task force five months later charged him in the unsuccessful transactions, the suit says.

The suit, filed last Friday, seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Three officers -- former Coaldale Chief Shawn P. Nihen, former Coaldale Patrolman Michael R. Weaver and former Lansford canine officer Jeremy Sommers -- admitted planting the drugs and were sentenced to prison terms. Although he admitted being involved in the drug planting, Nihen was sentenced only on a weapons charge.

Hartung, who is not a defendant in the suit, was not charged. He denied the suit's allegations Thursday.

"This has been all gone over," Hartung said. "The FBI went over this with us and filed their charges. We did not provide drugs to them."

Efforts Thursday to reach U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod, who prosecuted the case, were unsuccessful. Officials at the U.S. attorney's office in Harrisburg, where Zubrod works, directed a call to the press office and a message left there was not returned.

The Becker suit lists as defendants the state attorney general's Regional Drug Strike Task Force, agents Janene Miller and Joseph Solarczyk, Nihen, Weaver, Sommers, Lansford, Coaldale, Tamaqua and former Schuylkill District Attorney Frank Cori.

The suit says Miller and Solarczyk tried to bait Becker into selling them drugs on March 24, 2003. The day after the state drug agents failed to lure him into a drug deal, Nihen, Sommers and Weaver planted drugs at his home, it says.

Police filed five drug charges against Becker from the March 25, 2003, raid, and he later pleaded guilty to those charges and other drug charges filed by state drug agents. He was sentenced to three to seven years.

Becker later successfully challenged his plea related to the charges filed from the March 25, 2003, raid. At a county court hearing, Becker said he made the plea to protect his family and keep his former girlfriend, Tammy Cromley, out of prison.

Becker's whereabouts are unclear and efforts to reach him were unsuccessful.  His lawyer, William Schwab, did not return repeated telephone calls placed to his office Thursday.

According to court documents and testimony, here's how the case that led to the lawsuit evolved:

The investigation began when citizens complained of police brutality in the Panther Valley. Then Becker and his brother Vincent complained that officers took bribes from them and turned around and arrested them.

The investigation found no evidence of bribery, but uncovered an illegal gun sale from former Lansford Police Chief Joseph Stawiarski to Nihen in 1997.  Stawiarski pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the gun sale, was sentenced to three months of house arrest and two years' probation.

After FBI agents found the gun in Nihen's parents' home in Lansford, Nihen told agents about the drug planting on the condition he would be prosecuted on only the weapons charge. He later wore a wire to help agents in their investigation.

Weaver and Sommers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violating civil rights.

Weaver, who arrested George Becker after Sommers planted cocaine in the home, got 21 months in federal prison and two years' probation. Sommers, who also planted heroin at Vincent Becker's home and arrested him, was sentenced to 23 months in prison and two years' probation.

Nihen got five months in prison and five months of house arrest.

During Nihen's sentencing, Zubrod said drugs already were in the homes of both Beckers, but the officers wanted to "put another nail in their coffin."

Zubrod also said during the hearing that another officer was involved in trying to cover up the drug-planting scheme, but he was not prosecuted because he is terminally ill. Zubrod didn't name the officer.

Hartung has battled cancer in recent years and this weekend will be recognized with the Carbon-Tamaqua Unit of the American Cancer Society's Courage Award.

According to the suit, Hartung took the drugs out of the Tamaqua police evidence room and gave it to Nihen, who then gave it to Sommers or Weaver or both.

The 38-page suit says Cori knew of the drug-planting, but failed to disclose it during a plea agreement with Becker, in violation of state law.

Cori, who lost a bid for re-election, said he withdrew charges related to the planted drugs before the plea, but did not tell attorneys for Cromley or Becker,  because he didn't want to jeopardize the federal investigation of police. Cori did not respond to a message seeking comment Thursday.

The lawsuit also says state drug agents Miller and Solarczyk conspired, or knew of the conspiracy of Weaver, Sommers and Nihen to frame Becker. Attorney general spokesman Kevin Harley did not respond to a telephone message Thursday.

The suit says the three boroughs failed to supervise their officers properly.

Attorney Michael S. Greek, who represents Tamaqua and Coaldale, said he could not comment because he had yet to see the suit. Tamaqua Mayor Christian Morrison said he wants to review the suit and speak with Hartung.

Lansford Mayor Robert Silver said he had expected the suit to be filed.  Council, he said, will probably discuss the suit in private during its meeting Wednesday.

robert.laylo@mcall.com 610-379-3223

GRAPHIC: 2 Photos by Unknown Headshots of Becker and Hartung