Wayne judge sends ex-deputy to prison

Man gets two years for role in manufacture of methamphetamines

BY DAVID KNOX

Beacon Journal staff writer

A former Wayne County sheriff's deputy has been sentenced to prison for his role in a methamphetamine > manufacturing operation in his former Rittman home.

Phillip Black, 33, pleaded guilty March 23 in Wayne County Common Pleas Court to reduced charges of attempted illegal manufacture of drugs and possession of drugs.

Black's live-in girlfriend, Candy Chamberlin, 30, pleaded guilty to the same two charges and an additional charge of child endangerment, because her 6-year-old daughter was living with the couple.

Judge Wiest sentenced her to 90 days in the county jail plus 90 days home arrest and also fined her $5,000. She also was placed on three years' probation, ordered to undergo drug rehabilitation and to perform 200 hours of community service.

Their roommate, Michael E. Stierl, 46, of Rittman, was sentenced to seven years in prison in February after pleading guilty to illegally manufacturing drugs.

Black and Chamberlin originally were charged with more serious drug charges. But assistant Prosecutor John Williams said he agreed to reduce the charges in return for guilty pleas because the couple may not have known the extent of Stierl's operation and they cooperated with police.

``They weren't full participants,'' Williams said. Black could be eligible to apply for early release from prison after six months. At sentencing, Judge Wiest said Black deserved prison time because he committed his crimes while serving as a law enforcement officer.

Because Black is a former law officer, he will serve his time separate from other inmates at the Lorain Correctional Institution. Judge Wiest also noted that the drug lab in the Strawberry Lane home threatened Chamberlin's child and other innocent people because the chemical used to make methamphetamines produces toxic and explosive vapors.

Black, who resigned Oct. 6 after seven years as a deputy, apologized to former co-workers, his family and friends.

May 5 - The two police shootings this weekend should remind Denver's top law enforcement officials that they need to handle investigations into such incidents more openly and more even- handedly than they have similar episodes in the recent past.

Denver Police Chief David Michaud, Manager of Safety Butch Montoya and District Attorney Bill Ritter all should remain aware that many people in Denver distrust the existing process: Denver police investigate their fellow officers, then hand the cases to the very prosecutors who must daily work with the same police department.

From the initial response to the final disposition, then, the system is controlled by insiders. Moreover, given the close working relationships these officials must have under normal circumstances, there is no way to shake the image that they have a vested interest in the outcome.

It's thus not surprising that controversy has followed several police shootings in recent years, even after Ritter decided that no criminal charges against the officers were warranted. In one non-lethal case, though, Ritter did send Michaud a strongly worded letter, which noted that the police chief still could take administrative action in the matter.

Many facts aren't yet known about the two shootings that occurred this weekend. The police department said that in one incident, the officer was trying to break up a fight when the suspect came at the officer with an unknown object in his hand. The object turned out to be a can of Mace, according to police. Police said that in the other case, officers shot and killed a teenager during a standoff on South Lincoln Street after the youth pointed a gun at them.

The inquiries into these episodes may indeed verify that the officers were threatened or that they reasonably believed themselves to be endangered when they pulled the trigger. The public should remember that police officers sometimes are required to make split-second decisions in the midst of chaos.

But understandable public empathy for the men and women who patrol our city's streets is no excuse for keeping in place an investigative process that not only fails to inspire public confidence, but actually undermines it. The burden now is not so much on the rank-and-file officers who work in the system but on the top officials to whom they answer: Michaud, Montoya and Ritter.

A Georgia lawmaker fined last year for trying to smuggle marijuana into the U.S. in his underwear made a final plea Friday to be allowed to run for re-election after his filing-fee check bounced. The bad check was just the latest round of trouble for state Sen. Ralph David Abernathy III, son of a civil rights leader. Abernathy was caught by a drug-sniffing dog with a quarter-ounce of marijuana in his underwear as he returned to the Atlanta airport from Jamaica Dec. 1, 1997. He admitted his guilt and paid a $500 fine. Abernathy is the son of the late Ralph David Abernathy Jr., longtime leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a top lieutenant in Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights campaign during the 1950s and 1960s.

Officer Convicted of Perjury

Washington Post, Thursday, June 11, 1998; 9:56 a.m. EDT

BOSTON (AP) -- A police officer was convicted of perjury for lying about an incident in which three colleagues allegedly beat up an undercover cop who was mistaken for a fleeing suspect.

Kenneth M. Conley, 29, was convicted Wednesday in federal court of perjury and obstruction of justice for giving a grand jury false testimony about the events surrounding the January 1995 beating of Officer Michael Cox.

Conley is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 29. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

The conviction breaks what lawyers have called a ``blue wall of silence'' in which several officers apparently witnessed the beating but did not come forward.

Cox was treated for a concussion, kidney damage and multiple cuts on his face and lips and was out of work for six months after the beating. Now a police sergeant detective, he has filed a civil suit against officers Ian A. Daley, David C. Williams and James J. Burgio.

The night of the beating, a large number of officers had rushed to the scene of a restaurant shooting because of an erroneous report that an officer had been injured, authorities said. Cox, working undercover and dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, was one of them.

The four suspects led police in a 10-mile chase before being cornered in a cul-de-sac. In the confusion, some of the officers apparently thought Cox, who is black, was a suspect. He said he was hit from behind as he attempted to grab one of the real suspects.

The official injury report, though, said Cox had lost his footing in a puddle of ice, fell and cracked his head.

In a December memo, Boston police Lt. Kevin D. Foley said, ``As of the writing of this report, no officer has come forward, in spite of the fact that there were numerous officers involved in this vehicle and suspect pursuit.''

The two dozen officers in the vicinity that night reported they saw no beating.

Conley was on the scene, but when asked by a grand jury, he denied seeing Cox pursue and grab hold of a suspect. That was the statement that led to a perjury conviction. He was acquitted of a second count for denying he saw anyone beat Cox.

The case is still being investigated by the FBI and by the Boston Police Department. Copyright 1998 The Associated Press

DEA AGENT BUSTED BY JEFF JONES

Jeff Jones, the founder and director of the Oakland CBC, reported this fantastic story to Steve.

CNN, and all the major Bay Area media were at the Oakland CBC to attend a press conference Jeff was holding. Just as the conference was about to begin, Jeff was informed by his security peope that a DEA agent was in the building, posing as a patient, trying to buy medical marijuana.

Jeff went to the room where the DEA agent was sitting and asked him to verify all the papers he had just submitted. Jeff then escorted the agent into another room and opened the door to a roomful of media.

Jeff told the media that he had just caught a DEA agent trying to make an illegal purcase with falsified papers. The agent fled and tried to escape down the elevator. Jeff shut of the power, trapping the DEA agent in the elevator.

Jeff informed the press what was happening and invited them to use the stairs to get to the ground floor and meet the elevator, once Jeff turned the power back on.

As soon as the elevator door opened the cameras and journalists were all over the DEA agent who was struggling to cover his face, like a common criminal. The DEA agent finally escaped, and Jeff was interviewed extensively about this incident afterwards.

CRIME AND JUSTICE

Former DEA Worker Sentenced

A former Drug Enforcement Administration employee was sentenced yesterday to 15 months in jail for conspiring to embezzle $500,000 by submitting false purchase orders and then keeping or selling the equipment.

At the hearing in Alexandria, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema also ordered Michael D. Hendrix, 53, of Stafford, Va., to pay $161,084 in restitution. Hendrix pleaded guilty in March and agreed to forfeit $33,200 in electronic equipment.

Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company

As we all know too well, thousands are doing much more time for involvement in drugs of FAR lesser dollar value (if at all). The way I calculate it, he serves 15 months and gets away with $305,716, which comes to about $4,776.81 per week (I wonder if they'll make him pay room-and-board).

CALIFORNIA

Tuesday, May 19, 1998

Ventura Judge on Probation Arrested Again Court: Robert Bradley, suspended after two drunk driving arrests, is found lying next to bicycle. He is booked for violating terms of his sentence.

VENTURA--Superior Court Judge Robert Bradley, who was suspended from the Ventura County bench after two drunk driving arrests last winter, was arrested Friday night after falling off his bicycle on a street corner, Ventura police confirmed Monday. Bradley, 57, was booked for violating his probation when he was stopped about two miles from the sober living house where he has been staying, authorities said. In an interview at the house Monday, Bradley--who has been arrested five times since Dec. 6--said he began drinking Friday after seeing news reports revealing details of an April domestic dispute with his wife. Bradley said he saw the movie "Titanic" Friday night, then stopped at a nearby sports bar before attempting to ride his bicycle home. "I'm really kind of tired of this, but as much as I am tired of reading about myself in the newspaper, I realize I am the one who continues to make mistakes," Bradley said. "For every five good days, I have one bad day and everyone finds out about it," he added, quipping that he was keeping the local newspapers in business. Bradley was arrested Friday after Ventura Police Officer Nancy Moore saw him on the ground next to his bicycle. Stopping to make sure he was OK, Moore recognized Bradley and knew from his four highly publicized alcohol-related arrests that the jurist was banned from drinking alcohol under the terms of his probation. "He was intoxicated to the point where she wanted to get him off the street," a police spokesman said. The officer did not believe that she had enough evidence to cite the judge for riding a bicycle while intoxicated, which is illegal under the California vehicle code, the spokesman added, leaving it up to prosecutors with the state attorney general's office to decide whether to charge Bradley with drunk driving or public intoxication.

CALIFORNIA

NEW MISDEMEANOR CHARGES FILED AGAINST JUDGE ROBERT BRADLEY

May 22, 1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VENTURA- New misdemeanor charges were filed today in Ventura County Municipal Court against Ventura County Superior Court Judge Robert Bradley for allegations of public intoxication, riding a bicycle while intoxicated and violating his probation by not abstaining from alcohol and failing to obey all laws.

Bradley faces a maximum 6 months in jail and/or a $1000 fine for alleged public intoxication, and a maximum fine of $250 for allegedly riding a bicycle while under the influence.

An arraignment date for these new charges is set for Tuesday, May 26 at 1:30 P.M. in Santa Barbara County Municipal Court, Department 6.

In addition, the new alleged probation violations could result in probation revocation, with maximum sentences on the two DUI convictions which occurred earlier this year. The maximum sentences for those convictions are 6 months in jail for the first conviction and 1 year in jail for the second conviction. A court date of June 26 is also set for sentencing for Bradley's two earlier probation violations, to which he admitted, for incidents occurring on April 25. This court date will also include a pretrial conference for five misdemeanor counts of violating an emergency court order, for alleged occurrences also on April 25, to which he pleaded not guilty.

CALIFORNIA AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN

Come on YOUR HONOR SIR, YOUR HOLINESS
I'm running out of space on this
page with you and about to loose my patience
Perhaps 30 years at Corcoran can straighten your
Butt out young man

Suspended judge jailed after pleading
guilty to probation violations

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) -- Suspended Ventura County Superior Court Judge Robert C. Bradley, whose arrest this week was his sixth in eight months, was jailed again Thursday after pleading guilty to drunken driving probation violations. Bradley, 57, was immediately taken into custody to serve a 180-day jail sentence after pleading guilty before Superior Court Judge Denise De Bellefeuille to violating terms of his five-year probation on a pair of drunker driving cases by consuming alcohol. Bradley, who is still being paid his $100,000 salary while on suspension as a judge, fled an alcohol-treatment program in Arizona last month and was arrested Tuesday in a Ventura motel. He posted $15,000 bail Wednesday afternoon and was released prior to Thursday's hearing. The state was handling the case and court hearing was in Santa Barbara due to conflict of interest concerns. Under his probation terms, Bradley was ordered to "abstain totally from alcohol." Supervising Deputy Attorney General Allison Ting filed a notice in Ventura County Municipal Court on Wednesday charging Bradley with violating that requirement. Before his latest arrest, Bradley had asked probation officials to consider placing him on a less-restrictive custody program when he begins serving a six-month jail sentence next month for other alcohol-related offenses. Supervising Probation Officer Vicki Rochester said Bradley had scheduled an appointment with her office to discuss the possibility of wearing an electronic bracelet instead of going to jail. But after Tuesday's arrest, Rochester said that request is now on hold.

Bradley's most recent arrest marked a continuation in his tumultuous struggle with alcoholism and the dissolution of his marriage.

He was first arrested in December near his Ojai home on a drunken driving charge. He was arrested a month later on the same charge in Santa Paula. He pleaded guilty to those offenses and was sentenced to 30 days in jail plus probation.

In April, authorities said Bradley broke his probation requirements by getting drunk and then taking a cab to the home of his estranged wife. He broke into the house and subsequently was arrested and ordered to stay away from her.

Within hours, however, Bradley violated the protective order by calling her repeatedly and he was again arrested. He pleaded guilty to charges stemming from those incidents.

A month later, after details of the April arrest were made public, Bradley again broke the probation rules by going to a Ventura bar near the halfway house where he was staying and riding a bicycle while intoxicated.

Weeks later, he entered a 90-day program at an alcohol-treatment center in Prescott, Ariz.

In July, Bradley attorney Samuel Eaton asked that the six-month jail sentence for his earlier arrests be postponed so Bradley could complete the drug rehabilitation program. The judge agreed and Bradley was ordered to turn himself in on Sept. 2 to begin the jail sentence.

But on July 21, Bradley dropped out of the treatment program.

MISSOURI

Police beating victim to get $250,000

ST. LOUIS, May 22 (UPI) - The St. Louis Police Department has agreed to pay $250,000 to Gregory Bell, a mentally retarded teenager who was beaten by police officers in April 1997.

The settlement is believed to be one of the department's largest in a beating case, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports today.

Police responding to a burglar alarm in Bell's south St. Louis home mistook the 19-year-old for a burglar because his mental condition made it difficult for him to explain the situation.

Bell suffered a fractured ankle, cuts on his head and bruises on his face. Blood streaks covered the walls of Bell's home.

Sgt. Thomas Moran, a senior officer responding to the incident, was recently acquitted of assault charges despite claims by fellow officers that Moran continued beating Bell and sprayed mace in his face even after Bell had been subdued.

Family members say Bell has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old.

A St. Louis grand jury also indicted a police lieutenant on charges of falsifying a police report about the incident but prosecutors dropped the charges after Moran's acquittal.

The Bell family filed a civil rights suit in federal court last June seeking unspecified actual and punitive damages against Moran and the police board.

The suit alleged the police board failed to train and discipline Moran and other officers.

It is unclear whether money to pay the $250,000 settlement will come from police department or city budgets, although St. Louis Mayor Clarence Harmon says he thinks the police department should pay.

Copyright 1998 by United Press International.

TEXAS

Friday May 22 4:35 PM EDT

State trooper among three indicted

AUSTIN, Texas, May 22 (UPI) - The U.S. attorney has announced that two Mexican nationals and a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper have been indicted on federal drug and money laundering charges.

The seven-count indictment announced today names 35-year-old Federico Partida-Ramos; his brother, 41-year-old Tomas Partida-Ramos, and 32- year-old Warren Bolden, a state trooper at Austin.

According to the indictment, the three conspired together from August 1996 through January 1998 to distribute cocaine and ``crack'' cocaine in Austin. Bolden is also accused of transporting $210,000 in drug money to Mexico.

The defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and ``crack'' cocaine and possession with intent to distribute the drugs. In addition, Federico Partida-Ramos is charged with one count of illegal re-entry after deportation. Tomas Partida- Ramos faces two additional charges of money laundering. Bolden is also charged with one count each of unlawfully exporting monetary instruments, possession of anabolic steroids, and money laundering.

The DPS says Bolden, a trooper for four years, is on suspension with pay pending the outcome of a internal investigation.

If convicted, each defendant faces up to life in prison and millions of dollars in fines.

Copyright 1998 by United Press International.

FLORIDA FLORIDA FLORIDA

LARGO FL-- Al Murphy, a former investigator with the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office, is expected to plead no contest next week to a charge that he offered a lighter sentence to a female drug defendant in exchange for sex.

Murphy's attorney, Aubrey Dicus, said he expects to reach a plea agreement with prosecutors that would lead to probation, not jail, for the 66-year-old Murphy, who is in ill health and uses a wheelchair.

While warning that Murphy can back out of the plea at any point, Dicus said he expects Murphy to plead to a charge of unlawful compensation at a hearing scheduled Friday.

"We're looking for a period of probation, but not a long one. That would serve no purpose in this case given my client's ill health," Dicus said. "He's not the kind of person who needs to be followed constantly by a probation officer."

Under state sentencing guidelines, Murphy does not face prison time. But he could face a jail sentence absent a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The case is assigned to a special prosecutor from Sarasota because of Murphy's former Pinellas employment. That prosecutor declined to comment.

Murphy could not be reached for comment Friday, but he has previously denied the charge, saying, "I don't think I've asked for sex from anyone in all my life. This is extremely embarrassing to me and my family and children."

Joseph and Mindy Meagher of Pasco County, who had been charged with drug trafficking, said Murphy offered help getting Mrs. Meagher a lighter sentence if she would agree to have sex with him, authorities say.

The couple said they videotaped Murphy meeting with Mrs. Meagher in a motel room and leaving with his shirt off. After the Meaghers' attorney, Denis de Vlaming, reported the incident to authorities, police taped a telephone call in which Murphy again sought sex from Mrs. Meagher, de Vlaming has said.

After Murphy's arrest last May, State Attorney Bernie McCabe fired the senior investigator from his $58,000-a-year job.

Dicus said a felony conviction makes it likely that Murphy will lose any state retirement benefits he has accrued.

"Hopefully, he'll get by on savings and Social Security," the attorney said.

NEW YORK

From the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/

NEW YORK -- A guard at a federal prison in Manhattan has been accused of

conspiring this month with a jailed drug dealer to steal more than 100 kilograms of cocaine from a rival dealer and to sell the drugs himself on the street, federal prosecutors said.

The guard, Roy Thomas, 35, of Brooklyn, first made contact with the drug

dealer in February when, federal prosecutors said, he smuggled in contraband for the dealer in exchange for $1,500 in cash. Thomas was arrested on Thursday and charged with bribery and conspiring to violate federal narcotics laws. U.S. Magistrate Naomi Reice Buchwald ordered Thomas held without bail.

Thomas' lawyer, Paul Madden, could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. An accused co-conspirator of Thomas was arrested on Monday. The suspect, who was not identified, was not a prison guard, investigators said.

Thomas, an employee of the federal Bureau of Prisons since 1991, has been assigned for the last three years as a guard in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan.

In early February, an inmate serving time there on narcotics charges told investigators that Thomas offered to provide him with a supply of specialty foods, tattoo ink and alcohol in exchange for a $2,000 "retainer," according to court papers.

Investigators then had the inmate's wife wire $1,000 to Thomas, prosecutors said, and he later received another $500. Thomas delivered two small airline vending-size bottles of scotch and rum to the inmate, according to court

papers.

On May 19, Thomas conspired to steal 120 kilograms of cocaine that the inmate said belonged to rival dealers who owed the inmate money, according to the court papers. But Thomas and three other men fled without carrying out the robbery.

If convicted on the narcotics charge, Thomas faces a minimum 10 years in

prison and a $4 million fine. If convicted of bribery, he faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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