Please repeat the following LEO Counter-Intelligence mantra:
"For every half million dollars of illegal action on the street you
can count on someone's shield having some tarnish on it, and for
every fifty million of illegal action you can lay good odds to a
shield having fully turned to the dark side."
Drugs disappearing from an evidence locker? No, you don't say... must
just be a records keeping error ;-)
-jma
http://www.timesunion.com/ASPStories/Story.asp?StoryID=556341&Categor...
The crack cocaine that got away
Schenectady police lose track of evidence, prompting district
attorney to drop felony drug case
By MIKE GOODWIN, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
SCHENECTADY -- The Police Department is investigating the disappearance
of 85 pieces of crack cocaine after prosecutors had to drop a city
man's felony case because the drugs couldn't be found for his trial.
Jury selection was about to begin Thursday when the Schenectady County
district attorney's office dropped the case because police couldn't
produce the cocaine they said they had found when they arrested
43-year-old Anthony Best after the vice squad raided a Lincoln Avenue
apartment.
Police Department spokesman Lt. Peter Frisoni confirmed that the
department is conducting an investigation into the missing drugs. It
has not been determined whether the cocaine was snatched from the
police station or just incorrectly cataloged, Frisoni said. The
department has launched a full inventory of all drug evidence in the
vice squad locker.
"I'm looking forward to hearing a full report from them as to what they
believe happened here," District Attorney Robert M. Carney said. "We
reserve our rights to do our own review. Right now, the ball is in
their court and we have to see what the outcome is, not just about this
case, but about all the cases."
The missing drug investigation was reminiscent of the disappearance
nearly 20 years ago of $10,000 from a vice squad safe. A grand jury
investigated the 1988 incident, but no one was ever charged with taking
the money.
This latest case is also the second controversy to hit the vice squad
this month. On Jan. 11, veteran Investigator Chris Maher pleaded guilty
to disorderly conduct in connection with allegations he told a friend
about an ongoing probe into local gamblers.
Maher was originally charged with a misdemeanor count of divulging an
eavesdropping order for warning his friend not to bet with two local
bookies who were under investigation. The bookies later learned of the
tip, and prosecutors have said they believe the men subsequently
discarded potentially incriminating evidence.
The crack was seized during a June 9 raid at 913 Lincoln Ave. Police
charged Best with multiple drug possession counts that alleged he
intended to sell the narcotics. He had faced up to 25 years. Instead,
he's a free man.
"He was working and ready for trial when this happened," said Best's
attorney, Stephen Rockmacher.
The day before the case was dropped, prosecutors learned the drugs had
not been tested at the State Police crime lab in Albany. Assistant
District Attorney Alan Gebell asked the Police Department to expedite
the delivery of the drugs to the crime lab and told County Judge Karen
Drago that the testing would be completed in 24 hours.
But Gebell later learned that police couldn't find the drugs. As jury
selection was about to begin Thursday, prosecutors acknowledged the
drugs couldn't be found and the judge dismissed the charges.
"I don't know where they keep it," Rockmacher said of the cocaine. "It
never got into the lab."
Best and a woman were arrested June 9 after police raided the 913
Lincoln Ave. apartment. It was unclear today what became of the woman's
case.
At the time, police said they found a half ounce of cocaine that
carried a likely street value between $1,700 and $3,000 as it was
packaged for sale.
Best was incarcerated for four months before raising money for his
$15,000 bail.
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:21 CST