Tennessee Sheriff Arrested for Extortion
Feb 3, 1:00 AM (ET)

By BILL POOVEY
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - The sheriff of a southern Tennessee county was arrested Saturday in an FBI sting and charged with extorting money from video gambling operators.

Between April and mid-December, Hamilton County Sheriff Billy Long accepted $17,400, which he was told were payments from storeowners "to protect their video poker business and other illegal activity," according to a federal affidavit.

Long, 55, promised to inform them when he became aware of any investigation focused on their involvement in illegal activities, including selling ingredients used to make methamphetamine, the court record said.

Then the FBI set up a sting, introducing "the sheriff to what he believed was a money laundering and drug trafficking operation," the affidavit said.

The affidavit said Long also accepted $6,550 in cash as "his payoff to a cooperating witness supposedly laundering $625,000 in drug trafficking proceeds."

Long was given $1,000 by the confidential informant, money provided by the FBI, and told that drug trafficking money "would be hidden in the cremation urns to a funeral home in Mexico."

A judge ordered Long detained after federal prosecutor Gary Humble described Long as a "danger to the community." Long told U.S. Magistrate Bill Carter that he would hire a lawyer before a Monday afternoon detention hearing.

Long, a Democrat, was elected in 2006 after 31 years of law enforcement service.

"Law enforcement corruption cannot be tolerated and must be dealt with quickly and professionally," U.S. Attorney James R. Dedrick said in a statement.

Dedrick said no other law enforcement officer was a suspect in the investigation, which he said is ongoing and could lead to additional charges. Dedrick declined to say if anyone outside of law enforcement is a suspect.

NYC Cop Arrested for Pimping a 13 Year-old
Jan 31, 12:24 AM (ET)

By MARCUS FRANKLIN
NEW YORK (AP) - A police detective and a woman forced a 13-year-old runaway to work as a prostitute at parties around the city, telling her that if she tried to escape the officer would make her sell herself on the streets, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Wayne Taylor, 35, Zelika Brown, 29, were arrested on charges of kidnapping, promoting prostitution, assault and endangering the welfare of a child, the Queens district attorney's office said.

Taylor, a 14-year New York Police Department member assigned to the housing bureau, was suspended without pay, the department said. Both he and Brown pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Taylor's attorney, Peter Brill, told reporters his client "has the right to have the case proven against him beyond a reasonable doubt." Randall Unger, an attorney for Brown, did not immediately respond to an after-hours phone message seeking comment.

Taylor and Brown each face up to 25 years in prison if convicted. They were each being held on $250,000 a bail, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, the teenage girl ran away from her Brooklyn home on Jan. 10 and met someone who offered to get her a job dancing for money at parties. That person then introduced her to Brown, who told the girl that she had bought her for $500 and that she had to work off the debt, prosecutors said.

Taylor instructed the girl to tell people that she was 19 years old and that she charged $40 to $80 for sexual acts, prosecutors said.

Taylor and Brown took the girl to parties throughout the city where she was told to have sex with about 20 men in exchange for money given to the pair, prosecutors said.

While holding the girl against her will, Brown chided her for not earning enough money and slammed her head into the floor, prosecutors said.

Taylor told the victim that if she failed to earn more money or tried to leave, he would force her to work as a prostitute on the streets, prosecutors said. He told the girl an alarm on the house would alert him if she tried to leave, they said.

A 17-year-old girl was also being held on charges of promoting prostitution, assault and endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors said. Her arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday night. She will be charged as an adult.

The 17-year-old was told to oversee the 13-year-old at parties, prosecutors said. She is accused of slapping the 13-year-old at Brown's behest for being too talkative with customers and punching the girl, giving her a black eye, prosecutors said. The 13-year-old escaped to her family, who took her to a police precinct, police said.

"This case is every parent and every child's worst nightmare, made even more frightening by the fact that one of the defendants is a police officer who swore to uphold the law and the community he serves," District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement.

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/police_drug_corruption

A Texas probation officer gets busted, a Baltimore cop gets caught beating on a suspected drug buyer, a Virginia cop gets popped for meth, a slew of prison guards get busted in Florida, and another in New Mexico. Just another week in the drug war. Let's get to it:

In Big Sandy, Texas, an Upshur County juvenile probation officer was arrested last month on drug possession charges after police raided the home she shared with her boyfriend. Probation officer Jessica Hill is charged with possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of a dangerous drug. The raid came down after an intoxicated man was arrested and said he bought the meth found in is sock at Hill's home. The police affidavit for the search warrant said officers suspected cocaine, marijuana, meth, and pills were being sold out of the home. Cops found scales, Baggies with residues, marijuana, white powders, various pills, and a 9 mm handgun, among other items. According to a later report, Hill's boyfriend moved out some months ago, leaving her as the probable drug seller, assuming in fact drug sales took place. Hill has been freed on bond, but now has to find a new job -- she was fired shortly after her arrest.

In Baltimore, a Baltimore police officer was arrested last Friday for assaulting a man he thought was a drug buyer. Instead, the victim was an undercover detective posing as a drug customer in a sting set up by detectives investigating a citizen complaint against the officer. Now that officer, Jerome Hill, 35, has been suspended without pay and faces second-degree assault charges. He was under investigation because of a prior "serious allegation" made by a citizen. Charging documents described how one undercover detective stood on a street corner while another called in a complaint of a suspicion person who seemed to be looking for drugs. In a few minutes, Officer Hill arrived, got out of his car, and punched the undercover detective in the face without provocation. Hill and another officer then attempted to handcuff the undercover detective, but his colleagues arrived on the scene and took Hill to headquarters for questioning. Residents on North Clinton Street, where Hill was arrested, said he had a reputation as a tough officer and that police routinely rough up local youths.

In Abingdon, Virginia, a former Saltville police officer was convicted on two drug charges last Friday. Former Police Investigator Gary Ray Call was convicted of attempted possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm. Call went down after a cooperating witness said she had sold him meth on previous occasions and then set him up to buy four bag of fake meth for resale. According to trial testimony, Call had been using meth for three years and had begun using it with a Smyth County deputy while he was working as a DARE officer. Call is looking at 18 to 24 months in federal prison.

In Sumter County, Florida, nine federal prison employees were indicted last Friday on charges they smuggled contraband -- mostly tobacco, but also marijuana and heroin -- into the Federal Correctional Complex in Coleman. Most were accused of receiving bribes of up to $20,000. The charges were filed against seven correctional officers, a cook and a drug-treatment counselor who worked at the five low-, medium- and high-security prison facilities at Coleman.

In Clovis, New Mexico, a Curry County jail officer was arrested January 22 and charged with smuggling marijuana to inmates. Guard Carsten Douglas, 23, admitted smuggling in packages of marijuana, but said he was blackmailed by inmates. According to Douglas, an inmate stole his handcuff keys, and he agreed to carry in packages in return for the inmate not telling authorities about the incident. He admitted to delivering four packages in a one-week period. He now faces four counts of bringing contraband into a jail and four counts of conspiracy.