HEADLINE: Local corruption should trigger local crackdown

Federal agents hauled a retired Atlanta police officer into court last week, in shackles.

The charge: that former police Maj. John Woodard and his wife, Debra, ran a wire-fraud scam that profited illegally from their knowledge of the Police Department's property room. Woodard had access to police files concerning that treasure house of cash, jewels and other valuables, while his wife had a business that charged citizens to recover their property from the police.

The Woodards deny the charges. But the story remains an intriguing one --- and not just because Woodard was, until he retired last fall, a high-ranking and extremely visible officer.

What matters more is that this case is another in a long line of cases in which local officials have been questioned for years about their behavior, but little was done until the U.S. Justice Department stepped in.

Of course the feds can be very useful when lower-level cops and prosecutors decline to act. But it would have been better if local, county and state authorities had chased the suspected crooks first.

Remember that government officials who become corrupt often break the law at more than one level, state as well as federal. Yet their misconduct is usually of much more urgent local interest than it is of national interest.

That's why Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, has said repeatedly that what metro Atlanta needs to fight corruption is "a district attorney who's meaner than a junkyard dog."

From a different perspective, former U.S. Attorney General Griffin Bell has said that deploying the Justice Department and the FBI against local corruption, though sometimes necessary, is one of the least efficient ways to clean up local and state governments.

There are several reasons for this. Federal agents are often short-termers in a city --- outsiders, like corporate transfers. They often hear about corrupt officials not through friends or tips or even referrals from local prosecutors, but by reading about them in the newspaper.

Moreover, Bell has argued, federal standards of criminal evidence tend to be highly demanding, and federal investigations cost time and money. It would be faster, cheaper and easier, in many cases, to pass tougher state laws against corruption, and prosecute them in state courts.

Yet major investigations of official corruption rarely seem to start and end on the state and local levels. There may be plenty of red flags (conflicts of interest, tales of payoffs) but what often follows is an inquiry, denials --- and then zilch.

The feds, by contrast --- in Atlanta alone, in recent years --- have gone after crooks at the airport, corrupt vendors and contractors, city councilmen who sold their votes, mayoral aides who steered city business to companies that paid them off, a scam artist in the Finance Department, a prominent banker who deprived the city of millions by "churning" its investments --- and more.

Some of these cases have taken years and years to prosecute. Some of the targets, meanwhile, have retired or nearly died of old age.

You have to wish that the Atlanta police, Atlanta's mayor, the City Council, the Ethics Board and, most of all, the Fulton County DA had waded into these filthy stables when the public first sniffed trouble. The DA could have been using grand juries to root out crime, sleaze, waste, cover-ups and mismanagement (some of it not even criminal) in Atlanta; in the county; in school districts; in police departments; in the sheriff's office; in the jails; in the development authorities.
Even in state government! The Capitol is in Fulton County.

But clearly this level of concentration will require serious reforms first --- plus a more demanding public attitude than the one we're stuck with.

HEADLINE: Task force comes under fire

SEGUIN — The 24th and 25th Judicial District Narcotics Task Force was described as a maverick law enforcement operation by state officials who for more than a year were thwarted repeatedly in their attempts to reign in the Seguin-based drug interdiction force, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Missing evidence and a lack of oversight by high-ranking task force officials were among a lengthy list of problems documented in DPS memorandums and task force reports released to the Gazette-Enterprise in response to a request under the Texas Public Information Act.

The task force, headquartered in Seguin, conducts undercover stings and other drug-fighting operations in Guadalupe, Gonzales, Lavaca and Colorado counties, and is funded primarily through grant money from the Governor’s Office. The city of Seguin voluntarily relinquished control of the unit earlier this year and turned it over to the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office.
Inspections of the narcotics task force (NTF) drug vault in Seguin conducted in early 2002 by task force and DPS officials, and an earlier audit ordered by City Manager Jack Hamlett all indicated that evidence in the custody of the NTF was missing, according to DPS records. 

City officials did not respond to questions posed Friday by the Gazette-Enterprise as to whether the audit results were a factor in Hamlett’s recommendation to the Seguin City Council to surrender control of the task force to the Sheriff’s Office.

Inspections of the narcotics task force (NTF) drug vault in Seguin conducted in early 2002 by task force and DPS officials, and an earlier audit ordered by City Manager Jack Hamlett all indicated that evidence in the custody of the NTF was missing, according to DPS records. City officials did not respond to questions posed Friday by the Gazette-Enterprise as to whether the audit results were a factor in Hamlett’s recommendation to the Seguin City Council to surrender control of the task force to the Sheriff’s Office.

State officials in Austin agreed to continue funding the task force this year on a number of conditions. All task force employees were required to reapply for their jobs, and a DPS lieutenant has been assigned as commander of the unit, replacing former Commander Keith Majors.

Along with then-Seguin Police Chief Gary Hopper, who also served as project director of the task force before retiring as police chief earlier this year, Majors was said to have been the most significant obstacle in the path of DPS authorities requesting assistance in establishing a more accurate inventory system and locating and destroying drug evidence.” I strongly believe that the relationship between Chief Hopper and Commander Majors has been instrumental in decaying the morale of the Task Force and has affected the daily operations of the Task Force,” DPS Capt. James Walker said in a May 2, 2002, memorandum to DPS Narcotics Service Headquarters Deputy Commander Mike Dunn.

“It is my opinion that the only way to make the Task Force viable is to replace the project director and the commander and have all agents reapply for their position. If this is not an option, then I recommend that the Task Force not be funded,” Walker said.

Hopper was contacted by phone this past week and declined to comment publicly. Majors did not return phone calls to the NTF offices Thursday and Friday.

State authorities encountered resistance starting in the fall of 2001 while trying to contact task force officials in Seguin to gauge progress in the destruction of drug evidence being held in its drug vault. A change in state policy required evidence to be stored at DPS labs in Austin, and state authorities had issued an order to begin destroying drug evidence because of “inadequate storage space for the influx of evidence to DPS labs from the task forces,” Walker said.

DPS officials reviewed a sampling of investigative files during a February 2002 inspection of the Seguin vault and discovered that drug and non-drug evidence was missing in 20 percent of the files, and that 30 files were missing altogether. Efforts by task force officers in the following months located some of the missing evidence, including a shotgun.

“Agents were able to identify several cases which had transposed case file numbers and several pieces of non-drug evidence which contained the missing drug evidence,” according to a Seguin NTF administrative report in April 2002.

Prior to inspecting the vault in February 2002, DPS officials visited Seguin and were alarmed by what they found. “I observed numerous seized properties that were stored on shelves in a bay area outside the drug vault,” Walker said in his May 2002 memo. “I asked Commander Majors if drug evidence had been destroyed on a regular basis during his tenure as commander. Commander Majors advised that no drug evidence had ever been destroyed.”

Further inquiry indicated the task force had “released drugs to the Cuero Police Department for K-9 training purposes,” Walker said. A court order provided by the Seguin NTF indicated some of the drugs released to the Cuero PD were supposed to have been destroyed.

“There are two other case files, which had drugs that were given to the Cuero Police Department but had no court orders attached. I cannot find anywhere in the court orders where it permits the Task Force to give the drugs to another agency,” Walker said.

A statewide staff meeting of task force commanders and DPS officials in January 2002 revealed the Seguin NTF was the only task force in Texas that was not making a “reasonable effort” to destroy evidence, according to Walker.

By the end of January 2002, DPS officials had concluded that an audit of the Seguin task force was necessary. A team of DPS Narcotics Service personnel from San Antonio accompanied others from Austin and Corpus Christi and traveled to Seguin for a two-day inspection.

In addition to discovering inaccurate logbooks and missing evidence, DPS officials inquired about a Seguin narcotics task force agent who had been assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration in San Antonio. The Seguin task force had “little contact or supervisory control” over its agent, who was said to have participated in the seizure of 1,200 pounds of marijuana in Laredo several weeks before, “but had only informed Commander Majors of the seizure within the last few days,” Walker said.

Walker’s report gave details of meetings he had with other local agents, who told the DPS captain of a “click” within the task force, a common practice of conducting non-task force business at the Seguin offices, and the manipulation of employee personnel evaluations.

A March 2002 review of Seguin confidential informant files indicated the files were not in compliance with established policy, reports were missing from some of the files, and that, “there were no letters from prosecutors authorizing the utilization of current defendants,” Walker said. By April 2002, Chief Hopper had expressed his dissatisfaction with the DPS audit.

“Chief Hopper was very agitated about the audit and felt it was improperly done. Chief Hopper was agitated about the manner in which evidence had been accounted for by the audit team. I advised Chief Hopper that the auditors utilized the Task Force evidence logbook,” Walker said.

Later that month, Hopper delivered what Walker took to be a not-so-subtle threat aimed at DPS. “Chief Hopper made the statement that ‘several people’ were considering contacting legislative representatives to ascertain the reason for the inquiry and audit and that Chief Hopper had requested them to hold off temporarily. I feel that this was an intimidation tactic on the part of Chief Hopper,” Walker said, referring to an April 9, 2002, meeting he had with Hopper at the Seguin Police Department.

DPS officials discovered during further inquiries in the spring of 2002 that the Seguin NTF had been asked to stay out of Goliad and DeWitt counties by law enforcement officials there because of the task force’s reputation for “unprofessional police activities,” according to DPS documents. Goliad County Sheriff Robert DeLaGarza alleged Majors signed salary timesheets for an agent whose salary had been eliminated from the Goliad County Sheriff’s Drug Seizure Fund, then went around the sheriff and had the Goliad County auditor approve the payments.

When contacted by phone Friday, Sheriff DeLaGarza verified the DPS accounts of his conversations with state authorities, and said “well over $5,000” had been drawn from his drug seizure funds without his approval.

“That’s the most disorganized task force I have ever seen. Tell them I still want the money they took from Goliad County,” DeLaGarza said. 

DeLaGarza said he tried unsuccessfully to secure reimbursement and was told by the Texas Rangers and the Goliad County District Attorney’s Office that it was a civil matter. 

BYLINE: Sheryl Marsh - DAILY Staff Writer

Link to Article

A Morgan County deputy whom FBI agents arrested Monday on a drug charge gave a female friend marijuana that he confiscated from suspects and some of it was in evidence bags, according to an affidavit. 

Agents arrested Gregory Lamar Johnson, 37, on Monday at the Sheriff's Department and charged him with distribution of marijuana. After a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Harwell Davis, Johnson was freed on a $10,000 bond.  Some of the events in the affidavit allegedly occurred while Johnson was a Hillsboro police officer and others after he became a Morgan County deputy.  As agents escorted him to a vehicle Monday, Johnson told reporters that he did not commit any crime.  "I didn't do nothing. It's embarrassing to my family," he said. 

FBI Special Agent Patrick Stokes stated in the affidavit that he interviewed a woman about distribution of drugs in Decatur and Moulton who told him about Johnson. He said he reviewed calls on her cell phone and found one coded entry, "GR," and she said it was for Greg Johnson. 

Stokes said she told him that a female friend introduced her to Johnson when he worked as a bouncer at Freeway Club in Decatur. She told Stokes that she tried to buy marijuana from her friend in front of Johnson and the friend told her that he was a police officer. 

She told her friend that she was not worried about Johnson because he didn't arrest her. She said she asked Johnson if he could get her "some of that good s—- that police keep in evidence." 

Johnson told her he would see what he could do, Stokes stated in the affidavit. 

Johnson and the woman developed a relationship over the following months and Johnson started delivering marijuana to her, the affidavit states. 

In February 2002, Johnson met her at Beltline Village at a woman's residence and he allegedly gave her five marijuana cigarettes. She said he told her that he took them from someone whom he stopped during patrol, according to the affidavit. She said he gave her about half of the marijuana that he confiscated. 

On two occasions, the woman said she got Johnson to meet with a person whom she described as a drug dealer from Decatur, to pick up marijuana. She said Johnson brought it to her. 

She said the next time Johnson brought marijuana to her in an envelope, which he told her to discard, but she later got out of the trash and kept. 

She said Johnson brought her marijuana in September and October, and after that they no longer had a close relationship. She gave Stokes a Hillsboro Police Department evidence envelope with Johnson's name on it. The date on the envelope was Oct. 6, 2001, and it contained the name of a suspect. 

Missing evidence 

On Feb. 8, 2003, Stokes talked with Kelly Hill, an investigator with the Lawrence County district attorney's office, who told him that a possession of marijuana charge against the suspect had been dropped because of improper chain of custody. 

"Hill said the order had been written in a way to avoid embarrassment of admitting that either the officer or department had lost the evidence," the affidavit states. 

Hill said personnel at an Alabama crime lab told him that Johnson picked up the marijuana. He said he talked to Lawrence Assistant District Attorney Bob Lang who questioned Johnson about the marijuana and he said Johnson told him that he took the marijuana from Hillsboro to North Courtland Police Department when he went to work there. Personnel at North Courtland said they had no drugs in evidence there, according to the affidavit. 

A state forensic scientist told Stokes that on Oct. 12, 2001, she received 42.14 grams of marijuana from Johnson and she identified him from a photograph. She said she gave it back to him March 25, 2002, and he signed for it. 

On Feb. 17, Stokes interviewed a male who said he knew Johnson through a neighbor, whom he visited almost every day. He said in June or July he was present at the residence and Johnson came there in a patrol car, wearing a uniform. He said he saw Johnson sell an ounce of marijuana to his neighbor for $60 or $70, according to the affidavit. 

He said he got the impression that Johnson had confiscated the drugs while working as a deputy. He said in November, Johnson went there again and sold his neighbor two grams of powdered cocaine. 

He said Johnson would watch him cut up drugs to sell to "crack heads." 

On Jan. 15, he said, Johnson told him that a man transported 25 pounds of marijuana to Texas and he could get him whatever he wanted for $800 per pound, according to the affidavit. 

He stated that, under instruction from the Morgan County Sheriff's Department, he recorded five phone calls that he made to Johnson to buy drugs. 

On Feb. 3, Johnson's former female friend recorded a call to Johnson and she told him that she heard he had marijuana. She said Johnson told her it was his cousin's and they had gone to pick up 25 pounds. She said Johnson told her the marijuana was $750 per pound. 

Another male told Stokes that he has known Johnson for four years and they became good friends after meeting at Freeway Club. He said Johnson visited him to watch television and drink beer. Once, he said, Johnson came and saw a small amount of marijuana, and he told the officer that it was a joint or dime bag. He said Johnson did nothing. He said he felt safe with drugs around Johnson. 

Sheriff disappointed 

Johnson, a former Hillsboro and North Courtland police officer, became a Morgan County deputy in April 2002. He became a permanent employee in December after his probation ended 

Usually a probationary period for county employees is six months, which means that Johnson's should have ended in October. Sheriff Greg Bartlett said, however, that Johnson remained on probation for an extended time. 

"I wasn't sheriff then, but he had extended probation because they weren't satisfied with the type job he was doing," Bartlett said. 

"We are very disappointed that we have an officer involved in something like this. All I can say is we're not going to tolerate it. This is an isolated incident and no other officers are involved. We have 46 other great officers and I want the people to know that we will not tolerate anybody dirty in this department," the sheriff said. 

Johnson was patrolling Lacey's Spring on Monday when Bartlett called him to his office, where he took his badge and gun. Bartlett did not place Johnson on administrative leave, but said he will take immediate action to terminate the deputy through the county's personnel system. 

The sheriff said his department, the Decatur Police Department and the FBI worked together to build the case against Johnson. 

Mike Ponzo, a supervisory special agent, said the investigation of Johnson is from a large-scale investigation. 

"This investigation was a spin-off from a larger investigation and it is the beginning of a long process," Ponzo said.