Law Enforcement: This Weeks Corrupt Cop Stories

From sea to shining sea, cops, jail guards, and court officers go bad. This week, in addition to the usual rogues' gallery of corrupt cops, we get an abusive one, too. Let's get to it:

In Jackson, Alabama, a Madison County deputy resigned last month after an internal investigation found that he either gave narcotics to an inmate or allowed the inmate to take them himself. Deputy Dustin Newman, 24, resigned on August 18 after investigators determined that "the only fact disputed is whether Newman took the drugs from a property box himself or just provided information which led to the drugs being taken by the trusty."

In Knoxville, Tennessee, a University of Tennessee Police Department officer was arrested September 17 for selling drugs in student housing. Officer Matthew Chambers, 35, faces one count of sale and distribution of Schedule II narcotics for selling one oxycodone tablet to a snitch. In a perhaps not so surprising twist, Chambers' attorney claims the snitch is his client's former girlfriend, who ratted him off in an effort to get charges she is facing reduced.

In Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, a Mt. Juliet police officer faces aggravated assault charges after being caught on video using a chokehold on a man suspected of hiding marijuana in his mouth. Mt. Juliet Police Corporal William Crosby pleaded not guilty September 18. Police car video showed Cosby choking James Lawrence Anders Jr. until he passed out during an April traffic stop. Anders was charged with marijuana possession, but those charges have now been dropped, and Anders has filed a civil lawsuit over the incident.

In St. Helens, Oregon, the Columbia County drug court coordinator was arrested over the weekend for allegedly selling drug investigation information to drug dealers and users. Emily Davis Cayton, 30, was initially charged with drug possession, but prosecutors said her case could go before a grand jury and result in further charges any day now. Investigators said they got a tip through their "informant system," but are unsure what information was leaked or how much Cayton was paid. She was arrested after a weeks-long investigation, they said. Cayton is now on paid administrative leave from her drug court gig.

In Walla Walla, Washington, a state prison guard was arrested Monday after being caught bringing "a substantial amount" of drugs into the prison. Prison guard Camren James Jones, 20, was jailed on suspicion of delivering cocaine, heroin, methadone and marijuana. Authorities described the amount of heroin as about the size of two golf balls.

In McAllen, Texas, a former Border Patrol agent was sentenced September 16 to five years in federal prison for lying about cocaine seizures. Juan Espinoza, 31, pleaded guilty to making false statements or entries in August 2006. Investigators found that Espinoza had seized cocaine from drug traffickers and conspired with others to distribute it. He had been free on bond, but now he's behind bars.

In Mineola, New York, a former NYPD officer was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for stealing handguns from a police evidence room and trading them for painkillers. Former Officer Hubertus Vannes had pleaded guilty in May to criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal sale of a firearm. He admitted trading three guns to a man in return for painkillers and was caught with 76 pills when arrested. The guy he traded the guns to has also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced October 14.

Oregon Group Wants Legal Marijuana Dispensaries

ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) - A medical marijuana activist group is working on an initiative to create marijuana dispensaries in Oregon similar to those in California.

The group called Voter Power hopes to put a measure on the 2010 ballot that would set up a limited number of nonprofit dispensaries.

Under current Oregon law, medical marijuana cardholders must grow their own marijuana or find someone else to grow it for them.

If the dispensary system is approved, patients will still be able to grow their own marijuana or select a grower.

Marijuana is still illegal under federal law - even for medical use. But the federal government typically just monitors the state program for reports of abuse.

Rachel Hoffman Fallout: One Officer Fired, Others Reprimanded

Rachel Hoffman's Tragic Story on ABC's 20/20

At long last, we’re seeing some accountability for the officers who got Rachel Hoffman killed after coercing her into working as an informant in the mindbending botched drug sting disaster of the century:

Police Chief Dennis Jones requested that investigator Ryan Pender's employment be terminated.

Jones also wanted this disciplinary action taken: Deputy Chief  John Proctor, reprimand; Capt. Chris Connell, two-week suspension without pay; Lt. Taltha White, two week  suspension without pay; Sgt. David Odom, two week suspension without pay; Sgt. Rod Looney, two week suspension without pay.

Jones is reassigning White, Odom and Connell within the department.

"We have taken the necessary time to conduct a thorough and honest review and asked others to examine our operations," Jones says in the statement from the city. He said he has contacted Hoffman's family and provided a report.

"While we cannot change the events of May 7, we can make the type of changes within the department to help ensure our future actions are consistent with policy," Jones said.

[City Manager] Thompson also issued a reprimand to Jones to require a stronger level of supervision from top to bottom in the department. [Tampa Bay Online]

Anything resembling police accountability in the war on drugs is so rare that we should really take a moment to just reflect on this. Miraculously, we’ve reached a point where all you have to do to get the cops in trouble is be a pretty white girl with a loving family and hundreds of friends, get sucked into a steaming cauldron of first-rate drug enforcement incompetence, and perish dramatically on 20/20’s tear-jerker TV special of the season.

That’s what it takes, because despite the all-encompassing aversion of police officials towards acknowledging even mild misconduct, it’s still easier than conceding that the entire drug informant system is fundamentally corrupt and perverted to its core. This isn’t about Officer Pender, it isn’t about Tallahassee, and it isn’t going to get any better just because a couple incompetent cops got called out. The Burn Em’ & Bail Drug Informant Circus of Horror is a national tour sponsored by the war on drugs and it won’t go away until every last one of us makes it abundantly clear that we want no part of this. Not with our money, not in our community, and not in our name.

Many thanks to Scott Morgan Stopthedrugwar.org

Vested Interests.............

With the record number of cannabis arrests publicized last week, came the usual round of supporter and media inquiries about ‘who actually supports keeping America’s cannabis prohibition in place?’

Without sounding overly jaded, it will not surprise many that a principle root of the problem here is ‘money’. In fact, our tax money.

Washington DC’s Roll Call newspaper had an article last week (10/15/08, pg 9, under the very aptly entitled ‘Vested Interests‘ section) that highlights one of the major sources for cannabis arrests in the United States, and how it’s possible demise in future might have positive effects for cannabis consumers in the coming years. One can argue that a major source of the steady increase in cannabis arrests circa 1992 corresponds closely with the massive federal funding received by local, county and state law enforcement departments in a block grant funding program administered by the United States Department of Justice called the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program, known to policy wonks as ‘Byrne/JAG’. The over $500 million in annual funds funneled to state and local law enforcement agencies have largely help establish multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency ‘anti-drug’ task forces that 1) feast on civil forfeiture laws (which often allow law enforcement, not elected politicians, to divide up seized assets labeled ‘drug money’) and 2) run around claiming that America is ‘winning the war on drugs’ or that ‘legalizing cannabis sends the wrong message to children’.

However, over the years a curiously quite and bipartisan effort has been forged to strip down Byrne/JAG from an $520 million annual appropriation to $170 million. That is a real cut in funding, even by the Beltway’s standard voodoo math! President Bush’s budget office, with support from powerful Republicans in the House and Senate, along with the current Democratic leadership, appear poised to engage in one of the most fundamental changes in criminal justice policy in the last 20 years: A de-escalation–an actual reduction–in federal government spending that helps fuels the war on some drugs. And this from Bush 2.0 and the Democratic leadership (who usually don’t agree on much these days), and despite broad support in Congress for law enforcement getting what they want (218 House members, and 56 Senator have signed a letter insisting that Byrne/JAG receive full funding in the proposed federal budget) seem to be, behind the scenes in government, checking some of the excesses of modern federal drug warring.

We’ll see.

Cop Chokes Marijuana Suspect. Revisiting History (with update)

MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. - A Midstate man told how a police officer nearly choked him to death during a traffic stop.

Above, Mt Juliet Cpl. Bill Cosby

The incident was caught on the patrol car video.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating how Mount Juliet Cpl. Bill Cosby interacted with James Anders, Jr.

Cosby stopped the 26-year-old Wilson County man in April 2008.

Cosby suspected Anders hid marijuana in his mouth. The officer used a vascular restraint technique to keep Anders from swallowing.

Above, Mount Juliet Cpl. Bill Cosby clutching James Anders' neck.

On the video recorded inside Cosby's patrol car, Cosby said he smelled marijuana and handcuffed Anders and his passenger.

The video also showed the officer putting his hands around Anders' neck. He applied pressure and told Anders to stick out his tongue. This happened for nearly two minutes before Anders lost consciousness.

Photographs released by Anders' attorney showed injuries he sustained when he fell to the pavement.

Cosby didn't find any marijuana in Ander's mouth. Anders passed a drug test the next day.

A small bag of pot was found in his car and Anders was arrested for simple possession and resisting arrest.

After the district attorney saw the video, the charges were dropped.

Anders is expected to file a lawsuit in federal court later this month.

Cosby is still on the job. **See Update Below Video**

After viewing the tape, General Sessions Judge Barry Tatum dismissed all Cosby's cases. He called what Cosby did inexcusable and said Cosby is no longer welcome in his court.  In essence, any tickets he writes now are meaningless. The judge will dismiss them.

Above, Gen Sessions Judge Barry Tatum

Anders' attorney said "theres no excuse for strangling a man helpless and handcuffed".

"Clearly his constitutional rights were violated. He was choked," said Garry Vandever, Anders' attorney.

Vandever said Anders is fine but he still upset over what happened.

Anders is expected to file a lawsuit in federal court later this month.

Andy Garrett was sworn in as the new police chief Monday night.

"I have viewed the tape. I wasn't on board when this happened," he said. "It is an incident that's been addressed internally through training and discipline with the police officer. Any further investigation that's going to be done by an outside agency will be referred to the city attorney," said Garrett, a 25-year Metro Police Department veteran who recently commanded the force's Central Precinct.

He succeeds former Mount Juliet Police Chief Ted Floyd who retired several months ago.

In a letter sent to the new police chief and obtained by NewsChannel 5, Tatum said he's "dismissing all cases Corporal Cosby has pending" in his court.

Tatum also indicated that he's "dismissing any (future) cases he attempts to bring."

Tatum said Cosby has "cast a permanent cloud over law enforcement and the judicial system."

"We trust that an officer has to have the type of demeanor that when someone is treating them badly, spitting on them, trying to hit them, that that officer will have restraint in his actions toward that person," said Wilson County General Sessions Court Judge Bob Hamilton.

**UPDATE :- 9.23.2008  Choke Cop Fired - Justice At Last**

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee police officer has pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault charges after he was caught on video using a chokehold on a man suspected of hiding marijuana in his mouth.

An attorney for Cpl. William Cosby says he pleaded not guilty Thursday.

A lawyer for the city of Mt. Juliet, about 20 miles east of Nashville, says Cosby has been fired.

Cosby's attorney, Chuck Ward, says the decision to fire Cosby shows the city believes him to be "guilty until proven innocent."

Yes, we can plainly see how innocent the cop is in his own patrol car video

County Prosecutors Refused To File Charges So Petty Cop Comes Back With D.E.A

A medical marijuana user has filed a $1-million lawsuit against Seal Beach police for taking up to 50 of his pot plants and allegedly forcing him to become an informant.
The Orange County Superior Court lawsuit filed last month by Bruce Benedict, 43, of Seal Beach, said he's a marijuana patient and caregiver who is allowed by California law to grow and distribute marijuana.

Benedict alleged he called police because of illegal construction in his apartment building and officers smelled marijuana. County prosecutors refused to file charges so officers returned to Benedict's apartment later with federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents in tow, according to the suit.
The pot was confiscated and Benedict was arrested. California law allows medical marijuana but federal law prohibits it.
Benedict's suit said police officers asked him to move out of the city and become an informant in various drug matters. Benedict complied, alleging police told him he would face federal charges if he didn't work for them.

The city has declined comment.

775,000 Arrested For Simple Possession Of Marijuana

"Yet, despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent and millions of Americans incarcerated, illegal drugs remain cheap, potent and widely available in every community"

Nearly 1.9 million people were arrested on drug charges in the United States last year, some 872,000 for marijuana offenses, according to the FBI's annual Uniform Crime Report, released Monday. While overall drug arrest figures declined marginally (down 84,000), marijuana arrests increased by more than 5% and are once again at an all-time high. Drug arrests exceed those for any other type of offense, including property crime (1.61 million arrests), driving under the influence (1.43 million), misdemeanor assaults (1.31 million), larceny (1.17 million), and violent crime (597,000).

Of those arrested on pot charges, 775,000, or 89%, were charged only with possession, a figure similar to that for drug arrests overall. Another 97,000 pot offenders were charged with "sale/manufacture," a category that includes all cultivation or sales offenses, even those involving small-scale violations. Marijuana arrests last year accounted for 47.5% of all drug arrests. Almost three-quarters of marijuana arrests involved people under the age of 30.

The continuing high levels of drug arrests and the increase in marijuana arrests prompted sharp responses from drug reformers. "For more than 30 years, the US has treated drug use and misuse as a criminal justice matter instead of a public health issue," said Bill Piper, national affairs director for the Drug Policy Alliance. "Yet, despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent and millions of Americans incarcerated, illegal drugs remain cheap, potent and widely available in every community; and the harms associated with them -- addiction, overdose, and the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis -- continue to mount. Meanwhile, the war on drugs has created new problems of its own, including rampant racial disparities in the criminal justice system, broken families, increased poverty, unchecked federal power, and eroded civil liberties. Continuing the failed war on drugs year after year is throwing good money and lives after bad."

Marijuana reform organizations naturally zeroed in on the pot arrest figures. "Most Americans have no idea of the massive effort going into a war on marijuana users that has completely failed to curb marijuana use," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, DC. "Just this summer a new World Health Organization study of 17 countries found that we have the highest rate of marijuana use, despite some of the strictest marijuana laws and hyper-aggressive enforcement. With government at all levels awash in debt, this is an insane waste of resources. How long will we keep throwing tax dollars at failed policies?"

For the rest of this from Stopthedrugwar.org  please go here

Presidential Candidates On Drugs.....

Lest folks think that NORML is unfairly biased toward one political party over another, let me reiterate that NORML and the NORML Foundation are required by law to be non-partisan.

(I state this position, again, in response to recent posts proclaiming, inaccurately, that NORML is either pro-Democrat or pro-Republican. In truth, neither of these positions are true, and in fact, NORML’s endorsement of any party, including Greens or Libertarians, would be illegal.)

By contrast, the NORML PAC can raise funds to contribute to “pot-friendly” political officials at the local, state, or federal level. Since 2001, the NORML PAC has contributed over $37,000 to select politicians. These public officials are not selected because of their political party affiliation; they are selected because they have each made exceptional efforts to liberalize America’s antiquated and punitive marijuana laws.

Unfortunately, none of the four major Presidential or Vice Presidential candidates are prior recipients of NORML PAC funding — nor is it likely any of them will be in the future.

On the Democrat ticket, Presidential candidate Barack Obama has flip-flopped twice on the issue of decriminalizing marijuana (replacing arrests and jail terms with small fines) for adults. Although he has made statements supporting an end to federal interference in state medical marijuana laws, he has also expressed skepticism that cannabis has demonstrable therapeutic value, and has said that he would only favor its use under “strict” controls. As a Congressman, Obama has made little-to-no effort to advance marijuana law reform, and has championed various federal anti-drug provisions to increase drug law enforcement efforts both domestically and overseas.

By contrast, Obama’s running mate, Delaware senior Senator Joe Biden — as noted here, here, here, and here — has a 35-year record regarding the drug war, almost all of it disgraceful. Biden’s most recent verbal support in favor of medical cannabis notwithstanding, the bottom line is that the Senator is a primary architect of the federal policies that have brought us: mandatory minimum sentencing in drug crimes, random workplace drug testing for public employees, the 100-to-1 crack versus powder cocaine sentencing ratio, the creation of the Drug Czar’s office, the RAVE Act, and America’s modern federal anti-paraphernalia laws (the statute that comedian Tommy Chong ultimately spent nine months in prison for violating). Most recently, Biden endorsed a nationwide ban on smoking, and he espoused the use of mycoherbicides such as Fusarium oxysporum — a genetically engineered fungal plant killer — in illicit crop eradication efforts.

Predictably, the Republican candidates are no better. During his 26 years in Congress, Arizona senior Senator John McCain has consistently voted in favor of stricter drug enforcement in America and abroad, endorsed Nancy Reagan’s vapid “Just Say No” mantra, backed mandatory minimum sentences and even the death penalty for certain drug offenders, and has repeated scoffed at the notion of medical marijuana, even going so far as to turn his back on bonafide patients.

McCain’s VP pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has by far the most limited record on drug policy. Like Obama, Palin is an admitted former pot smoker. However, unlike her running mate, Palin may have some sympathy for medical cannabis patients, having served as the Governor of one of the twelve states that has a legal therapeutic cannabis program and chosen not to speak out against it.

In short, both party’s veteran candidates (McCain and Biden) are positively awful on drug policy, while the younger generation (Obama and Palin) may offer reformers at least some minor glimmer of hope.

Bottom line: regardless of who wins the Presidency, marijuana law reform will still be waged primarily on the state and local level — where our support and our victories — continue to grow.

Lunatic Drug Warriors Still Ignore Powerful Pot Science

This from Rob Kampia

Twenty years ago, on Sept. 6, 1988, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's chief administrative law judge issued a landmark ruling, but don't expect any celebrations or commemorations in Washington, D.C. Our government has ignored this historic decision since the day it was issued, inflicting needless misery on millions.

Indeed, most Americans don't know it ever happened.

In response to a petition asking that marijuana be moved from Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act, which bars medical use, to a lower schedule that would permit physician prescriptions, Judge Francis Young held extensive hearings that began in the summer of 1986. He heard from an impressive array of expert witnesses, resulting in thousands of pages of documentation.

Young laid out his findings in a detailed, 69-page ruling, walking readers through the scientific evidence. He concluded that the law didn't just permit moving marijuana to Schedule II, but required it.

"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man," he wrote. "By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care. ... The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record."

Remember, this was no pot-addled "legalizer" writing. It was the chief administrative law judge within the top federal agency responsible for enforcing our drug laws. Unfortunately, the ruling had no legal force. In legal terms, it was a recommendation, not an order that had to be followed.

And the DEA chose not to follow it. Six years after top DEA officials rejected Young's recommendation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit ruled that the agency did have the right to ignore its own administrative law judge.

Because the federal government chose to disregard the results of its own investigation, the medical marijuana controversy continues to rage today. Losing patience with the feds, 12 states have acted to permit medical use of marijuana under their state laws. If Michigan passes the medical marijuana initiative on its November ballot, that number will increase to 13, comprising roughly 1 in 4 Americans.

But while those state laws provide considerable protection for medical marijuana patients, states cannot provide an exemption from federal law. Even in the 12 states that have medical marijuana laws, patients and caregivers have been arrested, terrorized and even had their children taken away.

Meanwhile, the medical evidence continues to mount. Another federally commissioned study, this time by the Institute of Medicine, confirmed in 1999 that marijuana has legitimate medical uses.

More recently, newly published clinical trials have found that marijuana effectively relieves certain types of hard-to-treat pain, including the nerve pain that often accompanies multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Other research suggests that by relieving the nausea and vomiting often caused by the harsh drugs used to treat hepatitis C and HIV, medical marijuana can help patients stick to these challenging drug regimens -- and live.

Because our government has ignored science, needless suffering has been inflicted on millions of Americans who have benefited or could benefit from medical marijuana. In 2009, we will have a new president and a new Congress, and they should move quickly to end this sorry record of federal stonewalling.

Rob Kampia is executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project.

Victory for California Patients

Fresno County’s Board of Supervisors yesterday voted to become the 41st county to implement the medical marijuana I.D. card system required by a 2003 state law, making it easier for police to verify valid medical marijuana patients.

The board was waiting for the results of San Diego and San Bernardino counties’ second legal challenge to the program, which the 4th District Court of Appeals tossed in a unanimous decision last month. In contrast to the Fresno boards’ sensible acknowledgement of the law and their duty to obey it, San Diego’s and San Bernardino’s boards are stubbornlymaking one last futile appeal to the state Supreme Court.

So, with Fresno acknowledging reality and San Diego and San Bernardino clinging to fantasy, that leaves 15 more counties that – five years later – have yet to act. Seems like a simple call: implement a program required by law and supported by the state attorney general and the California Police Chiefs Association or break the law, make law enforcement’s job more difficult, and expose legal medical marijuana patients to false arrest at taxpayer expense.

Every decision should be this easy

Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) Alert........

There are a lot of rumors about what Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain, and the other candidates may or may not have said about marijuana — and MPP specializes in that.

In fact, during the presidential primary campaign, MPP helped persuade all of the Democratic candidates and three of the Republican candidates to pledge to end the arrest of patients in states with medical marijuana laws.

If you're interested in knowing what the candidates have said and done, please watch the new video:

 

Feds Raid Wheelchair-bound Paraplegic For Medical Marijuana............

The federal government is so desperate to undermine New Mexico's new medical marijuana law, they've started harassing handicapped people:

MALAGA, N.M. — Agents with a regional drug task force raided Leonard French’s home in southeastern New Mexico on Tuesday and seized several marijuana plants [ For the record, it was actually just 6 seedlings]

But the wheelchair-bound man said he’s certified by the state Health Department to possess and smoke marijuana for medical reasons. The 44-year-old lost the use of his legs about 20 years ago as the result of a motorcycle crash and now suffers from chronic pain and muscle spasms. [Santa Fe New Mexican]

Normally, the DEA would avoid this kind of bad publicity. But since New Mexico's medical marijuana program just started, they're trying to intimidate patients and confuse legislators in other prospective medical marijuana states:

A press release jointly issued by the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force illustrates the political nature of the raid, reading in part, "Citizens of New Mexico need to be aware that they can still be prosecuted on the federal level even though New Mexico has a law permitting marijuana for medicinal use." [DPA]

Drug warriors keep arguing that medical marijuana laws create conflict between state and federal laws, but all they have to do is stop threatening patients and there'd be no problem. They're creating confusion and then citing that confusion as an argument against state laws that protect patients. Meanwhile, sick people like Leonard French are caught in the crossfire, and countless other patients are afraid to try medicine that could help them.

Revealingly, Mr. French has not yet been charged with a crime. You see, DEA is tough enough to arrest wheelchair-bound medical marijuana patients, and even boast about its authority to continue doing so. All of that serves their interest in scaring people and creating doubt as more and more states pass laws to protect their citizens from precisely this sort of foul treatment. But they won't actually try to put him in jail because that would be just hideous.

So the real message here, for those reading between the lines, is that the feds aren't always going to enforce federal law. And that tells you everything you need to know about the debate over medical marijuana. This is all a big stupid publicity stunt, and while there are casualties to be sure (getting arrested and losing your medicine does suck), the whole "conflict with federal law" argument is largely a hoax.

Regardless, we cannot tolerate any federal efforts to scare people out of treating their illnesses with doctor recommended medicine that is legal in their state. That is obscene, and it's no surprise presidential candidates are lining up in opposition to it.

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories. 8.29.2008 and 9.05.2008

Thanks as always to Stopthedrugwar.org

A key Coast Guard anti-drug fighter gets caught doing cocaine, plus the usual array of miscreants in blue. We don't usually mention cases that only involve drug use, but when it's a top Coast Guard commander in charge of fighting drugs, we think we should make an exception to the general rule. Let's get to it:

9.05.2008

In San Francisco, a senior Coast Guard officer who supervised anti-drug trafficking efforts in the Western Pacific was arrested August 20 on cocaine charges. Capt. Michael Sullivan, a 26-year veteran, was charged under military law with wrongful use of cocaine and obstruction of justice, a step that sets up an evidentiary hearing and could prompt a court-martial. Officials gave no further details, but said he had been removed from supervisory duties. Sullivan, who was the Pacific area's chief of response since May 2007, supervised the operation of 20 major Coast Guard cutters and directed law enforcement units that protect ports and fisheries and fight drug trafficking and illegal immigration, according to his official biography.

Coast Guard in action....

In Benton, Louisiana, an already convicted ex-cop pleaded guilty Monday to seven additional charges. Former Shreveport police officer Roderick Moore, 53, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to trading drugs for sex with a stripper in Caddo Parish in June. Now he has pleaded guilty to an additional seven counts of possessing drugs with the intent to distribute. The pleas in the drug cases come two days after he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated. Although Moore theoretically faces up to 145 years in prison, his sentencing judge said the sentences would run concurrently. The maximum he faces for any one count is 30 years.

In Jackson, Mississippi, a Jackson code enforcement officer was arrested Sunday after being found with six packages of marijuana and $19,000 cash during a traffic stop. Code officer Britanny Arnold was a passenger in a vehicle driven by another man, who was carrying $670,000 in cash. Both Arnold and the driver are now charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Both have bailed out of jail.

In Rutland, Vermont, a former Vermont state prison guard was sentenced August 20 to seven months in jail on drug charges. Former guard Sheri Ann Fitzgerald, 44, had pleaded guilty in March to felony possession and sale charges involving cocaine as well as a misdemeanor charge of possessing a narcotic. Fitzgerald had been a prison guard since 1989, but was fired after being arrested. She has until September 4 to get her affairs in order and report to jail.

In Saginaw, Michigan, a jail guard at the Saginaw Correctional Facility was formally charged August 20 with supplying drugs to prisoners. John Singer, 45, now faces one count of delivery and manufacture of marijuana and one count of operating a drug house. He went down after a two-month investigation by the Bay Area Narcotics Team, one of whose members posed as a drug dealer willing to supply him for sales on the inside. He was arrested as he met with the officer in what he thought would be a drug transaction.

In Houston, a deputy constable was arrested August 18 for accosting drug dealers and stealing their money. Precinct 4 Deputy Constable Terrence Richardson is charged with engaging in organized crime and robbery. Word of Richardson's exploits percolated up from underground to the ears of the Houston Police Department, which set up a sting operation that snared him as he tried yet another rip-off. At last word, he was still in jail on a $200,000 bond. He is also now a former deputy constable, having been fired the night he was arrested.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8.29.2008

In Elwood, Indiana, an Elwood police officer was arrested August 29 for stealing prescription pain pills from the department's evidence room. Officer Shaun "Andy" Murray, 28, is charged with official misconduct, theft and possession of a controlled substance after he admitted stealing 10 hydrocodone tablets from the evidence room. Police said he admitted taking pain pills on numerous occasions over the past year and that he had admitted he had a drug problem. Murray went on leave and entered a treatment program August 23.

In Alamance County, North Carolina, an Alamance County jail guard was arrested August 28 on charges she gave drugs to a county jail inmate. Detention officer Jo Ann Hensley, 58, is accused of providing marijuana to an 18-year-old inmate sometime between August 11 and 13. She is charged with drug distribution and possession of a controlled substance on a jail premise. She was fired the same day.

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories. 8.29.2008 and 9.05.2008

Thanks as always to Stopthedrugwar.org

A key Coast Guard anti-drug fighter gets caught doing cocaine, plus the usual array of miscreants in blue. We don't usually mention cases that only involve drug use, but when it's a top Coast Guard commander in charge of fighting drugs, we think we should make an exception to the general rule. Let's get to it:

9.05.2008

In San Francisco, a senior Coast Guard officer who supervised anti-drug trafficking efforts in the Western Pacific was arrested August 20 on cocaine charges. Capt. Michael Sullivan, a 26-year veteran, was charged under military law with wrongful use of cocaine and obstruction of justice, a step that sets up an evidentiary hearing and could prompt a court-martial. Officials gave no further details, but said he had been removed from supervisory duties. Sullivan, who was the Pacific area's chief of response since May 2007, supervised the operation of 20 major Coast Guard cutters and directed law enforcement units that protect ports and fisheries and fight drug trafficking and illegal immigration, according to his official biography.

In Benton, Louisiana, an already convicted ex-cop pleaded guilty Monday to seven additional charges. Former Shreveport police officer Roderick Moore, 53, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to trading drugs for sex with a stripper in Caddo Parish in June. Now he has pleaded guilty to an additional seven counts of possessing drugs with the intent to distribute. The pleas in the drug cases come two days after he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated. Although Moore theoretically faces up to 145 years in prison, his sentencing judge said the sentences would run concurrently. The maximum he faces for any one count is 30 years.

In Jackson, Mississippi, a Jackson code enforcement officer was arrested Sunday after being found with six packages of marijuana and $19,000 cash during a traffic stop. Code officer Britanny Arnold was a passenger in a vehicle driven by another man, who was carrying $670,000 in cash. Both Arnold and the driver are now charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Both have bailed out of jail.

In Rutland, Vermont, a former Vermont state prison guard was sentenced August 20 to seven months in jail on drug charges. Former guard Sheri Ann Fitzgerald, 44, had pleaded guilty in March to felony possession and sale charges involving cocaine as well as a misdemeanor charge of possessing a narcotic. Fitzgerald had been a prison guard since 1989, but was fired after being arrested. She has until September 4 to get her affairs in order and report to jail.

In Saginaw, Michigan, a jail guard at the Saginaw Correctional Facility was formally charged August 20 with supplying drugs to prisoners. John Singer, 45, now faces one count of delivery and manufacture of marijuana and one count of operating a drug house. He went down after a two-month investigation by the Bay Area Narcotics Team, one of whose members posed as a drug dealer willing to supply him for sales on the inside. He was arrested as he met with the officer in what he thought would be a drug transaction.

In Houston, a deputy constable was arrested August 18 for accosting drug dealers and stealing their money. Precinct 4 Deputy Constable Terrence Richardson is charged with engaging in organized crime and robbery. Word of Richardson's exploits percolated up from underground to the ears of the Houston Police Department, which set up a sting operation that snared him as he tried yet another rip-off. At last word, he was still in jail on a $200,000 bond. He is also now a former deputy constable, having been fired the night he was arrested.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8.29.2008

In Elwood, Indiana, an Elwood police officer was arrested August 29 for stealing prescription pain pills from the department's evidence room. Officer Shaun "Andy" Murray, 28, is charged with official misconduct, theft and possession of a controlled substance after he admitted stealing 10 hydrocodone tablets from the evidence room. Police said he admitted taking pain pills on numerous occasions over the past year and that he had admitted he had a drug problem. Murray went on leave and entered a treatment program August 23.

In Alamance County, North Carolina, an Alamance County jail guard was arrested August 28 on charges she gave drugs to a county jail inmate. Detention officer Jo Ann Hensley, 58, is accused of providing marijuana to an 18-year-old inmate sometime between August 11 and 13. She is charged with drug distribution and possession of a controlled substance on a jail premise. She was fired the same day.

20 Years Of Federal Stonewalling - A Marijuana Policy Project Alert.....

Twenty years ago this week, the Drug Enforcement Administration's chief administrative law judge issued a landmark ruling on marijuana — but our government has ignored this historic decision since the day it was issued.

"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care ... The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record."
— DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young, September 6, 1988

Judge Young had just finished holding extensive hearings, in response to a petition asking for marijuana to be moved from Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act, which bars medical use, to a lower schedule that would permit physician prescriptions. He heard from an array of expert witnesses, generating thousands of pages of documentation.

Young — the chief administrative law judge in the top federal agency responsible for enforcing our drug laws — laid out his findings in a detailed, 69-page ruling, walking readers through the scientific evidence in detail. He concluded that the law didn't just permit moving marijuana to Schedule II, but required it.

The response? Six years after top DEA officials rejected Judge Young's recommendation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the agency did had the right to ignore its own administrative law judge.

And as a result, seriously ill medical marijuana patients continue to be arrested, terrorized, and even have their children taken away — cancer patients living in fear of arrest for using marijuana to quell their nausea and help them keep food down ... AIDS patients using medical marijuana to ease the pain and nausea that too often are side effects of the drugs that keep them alive, terrified of losing their homes if caught ... tens of thousands of people turned into criminals simply for following their own doctors' advice.

Will you help? MPP is systematically working to end this war — state by state, vote by vote. We are making progress every day, but we need your help.

Among other work, your donation will help us pass a medical marijuana initiative in Michigan this November 4, making Michigan the 13th medical marijuana state and the first in the Midwest … adding one more state to the growing number demanding a marijuana policy that works for Americans, not against them.

Won't you invest in change

Thank you,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

Raised in '08
$1,567,354 ( up to end August)
Goal in '08
$3,000,000

Eight Arrested After Discovery Of Elaborate Cross-Border Tunnel.

The reinforced cross-border tunnel, with power.

Eight suspects were in custody Tuesday in the Baja California capital of Mexicali, after state agents caught them digging a clandestine cross-border tunnel with its own elevator, lighting and ventilation systems.

The entrance to the 434-foot passageway was discovered Monday afternoon about a half-mile east of the Calexico border crossing in the upper-middle-class neighborhood of Colonia Nueva. The tunnel leads from a white, wood-frame house about a block from the U.S. border fence, and comes to within about 130 feet of U.S. territory, according to Agustin Perez, a spokesman for the Baja California Secretariat of Public Safety.

Members of the Baja California State Preventive Police raided the residence after an armed man was spotted outside, Perez said. “There was certainly a connection to organized crime,” he said. “The purpose was to smuggle either drugs, people, weapons or all three”

Agents stand around the elevator shaft in cross-border tunnel.

Authorities said they did not know Tuesday which criminal organization was behind the tunnel's construction. At least 75 clandestine tunnels have been discovered along the U.S.-Mexico border since the 1990s, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The passageway is nearly 15 feet beneath the surface, Perez said, and measures 5 feet by 5 feet. The elevator was operated by hydraulic pulley, and large enough for three people, Perez said. Workers were installing rails along the tunnel floor, he said.

The eight suspects range in age from 27 to 52 and have been turned over to the Mexican Federal Attorney General's Office, Perez said. “They said the person who paid them was hooded, and they never knew who their employer was,” Perez said. The suspects told agents the tunnel was designed to reach a residence in Calexico.

Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that U.S. authorities are cooperating with their Mexican counterparts. “We found no criminal records on those individuals in the United States,” she said. “They were not under investigation.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Massachusetts: Three Out Of Four Voters Favor Marijuana Decrim Measure

Boston, MA: Nearly three out of four Massachusetts voters support a statewide ballot initiative that seeks to decriminalize the possession and use of small amounts of cannabis by persons age 18 or older, according to a Channel 7 News/Suffolk University poll of 400 registered voters.

Seventy-one percent of respondents said that they would vote "yes" on the November ballot measure, which would replace criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana with a civil fine of no more than $100. Only 22 percent of respondents opposed the proposal.

Among respondents over 65 years of age, 70 percent said they backed decriminalization.

The strong poll numbers indicate that the measure "is all but certain" to pass in November, the poll's authors declared in a press release.

If voters approve the measure this fall, Massachusetts would be the first state to enact the decriminalization of marijuana since Nevada's legislature did so in 2001 and the first to do so by voter initiative.

Currently, twelve states have enacted versions of marijuana decriminalization -replacing criminal sanctions with fine-only penalties for minor pot violators.

Michigan voters will also decide on a separate statewide initiative this November that seeks to legalize the medical use of cannabis for qualified patients. If enacted, Michigan will become the thirteenth state since 1996 to authorize the legal use of medical cannabis, and the ninth state to do so by voter initiative.

For more information, please contact NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre at (202) 483-5500, or visit the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy.

Huge Marijuana Bust, Largest In B.C History

Police have made the largest pot bust in the history of British Columbia, finding enough illegal crops to provide everyone in the province with at least one marijuana cigarette.
The bust was made on August 20 on a rural property near the Interior town of 100 Mile House, roughly six hours northeast of Vancouver.
Nearly 15,000 marijuana plants were found in the 23 greenhouses on a property in Bridge Lake, B.C.
Police obtained a search warrant after receiving a tip from the public. The greenhouses were hidden in the hills of the property, many obscured by trees.
RCMP spokesman Const. Craig Douglass says a single crop from the operation uncovered in Bridge Lake last week could produce as many as five million joints.
Six men were arrested on the property and each face possession and trafficking charges. No names are being released at this time.
Police have not said if the men have any previous convictions or were known to them.