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Another week, another batch of crooked cops: A missing evidence investigation in Delaware and a missing evidence sentence in California; more sticky-fingered cops in Tennessee; a would-be porn king with a bad temper in Denver, and some perverse traffic cops in Baltimore, and the beat goes on. Let's get to it:

In Camden, Delaware, state police are busy auditing evidence storage rooms this week after allegations an unnamed state trooper had tampered with drug evidence. The trooper was suspended with pay April 23, but the investigation did not come to light until a trooper on the stand in a marijuana case responded "yes" to a defense question about whether there was an investigation into missing evidence. No word yet on what evidence is missing or where it went.

In Baltimore, three male strippers are suing the Maryland Transportation Authority Police Department for $5 million. The men were stopped for a speeding violation as they traveled from a show in Philadelphia to one in Washington, DC, and charged with misdemeanor drug possession offenses. But in their lawsuit, the strippers allege that transit police forced them to strip naked and pose for pictures. They also allege that police took nearly $10,000 in cash from them. The department had no comment.

In Cocke County, Tennessee, a former sheriff's deputy was sentenced to probation Tuesday for his role in stealing cash from a drug suspect. Former Deputy Christopher Smith had pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor count of deprivation of civil rights and could have faced six to 12 months in prison. He is one of at least eight Cocke County law enforcement officers to be arrested on corruption charges in an ongoing FBI investigation. Former Deputy Smith and former Deputy Larry Dodgin stopped a car and seized $4,815 in cash and some drugs. They turned in that cash, but pocketed more money found in the car. During the FBI investigation, Smith confessed that he would steal from any drug dealer if given the chance.

In Oakland, California, a former sergeant on the Berkeley Police narcotics squad who stole and used heroin and cocaine from the evidence room was sentenced to one year in jail May 10, but will not serve a day behind bars. Instead, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Don Clay gave former sergeant Cary Kent home detention. "I think he's earned it," Clay said, noting that -- other than ripping off dope -- Kent had "served the public very well." Kent, a 20-year veteran, pleaded guilty in April to grand theft, possession of heroin and possession of methamphetamine after an investigation revealed he had tampered with scores of evidence envelopes he'd taken from the drug investigation unit's evidence locker.

Whew! Busy, busy, busy. We've got something for everybody this week. A pair of big city narcs and a small-town drug task force commander go down hard, an FBI secretary is accused of aiding meth dealers, a cop in Florida grows pot and one in Indiana slings crack, evidence walks out of two small-town departments, another prison guard goes down and so does an associate warden. Let's get to it:

In Baltimore, former Baltimore Police Detectives William King and Antonio Murray were convicted April 7 of multiple federal drug sales conspiracy and carrying a weapon during a robbery charges, the Baltimore Sun reported. The pair could spend the rest of their lives in prison. Prosecutors convinced a jury that King and Murray used their guns, badges, and unmarked cars to steal drugs and money from dealers and provide heroin, cocaine, and marijuana to their stable of snitches, who sold it on the streets and split the proceeds with the detectives. King and Murray both testified in their own defense, saying it was all part of their effort to collect information on powerful drug dealers, but the jury didn't buy it. King is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 305 years on 13 gun charges alone, and Murray is facing a mandatory minimum 130 years for six gun charges. Both were also convicted on multiple drug dealing conspiracy and robbery charges.

In Plaquemine, Louisiana, the former commander of a drug task force is going to prison for 35 years for orchestrating a scheme to rip off an evidence room and then burn it to the ground, the Associated Press reported. Twenty-year Iberville Parish Sheriff's Deputy Gerald Jenkins and his cousin, John Jenkins, stole pot worth $130,000, cocaine worth $600,000, $150,000 in cash, 18 guns, and more than 700 case files. Cousin John pleaded guilty to possessing more than 400 grams of cocaine in March and got 13 years. Gerald Jenkins pled guilty to the possession charge and an arson charge. He won't be eligible for parole for 15 years.

In Honolulu, a federal grand jury has indicted an FBI secretary on charges she leaked sensitive information to drug dealers, the Honolulu Advertiser reported. Charmaine Moniz, the FBI secretary, was indicted with eight others, including her husband, Eric, on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Moniz is accused of disclosing "sensitive" law enforcement information from FBI computers to help the meth ring avoid detection. One of the suspects in the meth ring was also under investigation for cock fighting, and four current and one former Honolulu police officers were indicted for protecting that operation. The meth conspiracy involved about two pounds of the drug in 2004, according to the indictment. Moniz and her alleged co-conspirators face from 10 years to life in prison.

In West Palm Beach, Florida, Lighthouse Point Police Officer Michael Bollon pleaded guilty in federal court April 7 to operating a marijuana grow house, the North Country Gazette reported. The guilty plea means Bollon faces up to 20 years in prison and will forfeit his house to the government. According to court testimony, Bollon grew about 20 pounds of pot before he shut down his operation after some of his co-conspirators were arrested by the DEA. Bollon resigned from the force earlier this year when he became aware he was about to get busted.

In Nashville, Indiana, a former police officer was indicted April 7 on seven drug-related charges, including dealing crack cocaine, possession of cocaine, attempted distribution and possession of psyilocybin mushrooms, maintaining a public nuisance, and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the Martinsville Reporter-Times. Robert Easterday, 32, a seven-year veteran, was suspended for dereliction of duty in February after reporting his service revolver missing. He recovered it the next day with its serial number filed off. One of his neighbors was subsequently charged with being a violent felon in possession of a firearm. The same neighbor is mentioned in the indictment as the person Easterday asked if he knew anyone who would buy psilocybin mushrooms. Easterday was being held on $20,000 bond at last report.

In West Des Moines, Iowa, the Dallas County Sheriff's Office is the subject of an investigation by state authorities into what has happened to nearly $2 million in cash seized by the department in the last five years, the Des Moines Register reported Monday. The investigation came after a Dallas County deputy charged that part of $800,000 in suspected drug money seized last month never made it to the evidence room. State crime agents searched the home of Sheriff Brian Gilbert March 30, but have not said what, if anything, they found, and no arrests have been made. Ironically, control over the sheriff's department evidence room has temporarily been turned over to the West Des Moines police, whose former evidence room technician, Charles Graham, was sentenced last month to 10 years in prison for stealing drugs and $10,000 in cash from the evidence room.

In Greenwood, Mississippi, 90 pounds of pot has gone missing from the Greenwood Police Department, the Associated Press reported April 6. The chief is investigating, the mayor told the AP, and the Mississippi Narcotic Bureau and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation have been brought in as well. Keeping control of the goodies seems to be a perennial problem at the department. In January, "an undisclosed number" of guns went missing. They have yet to turn up.

In Columbia, South Carolina, state Department of Corrections Associate Warden Matthew Golden was charged April 5 with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and 50 grams or more of crack cocaine, the US Attorney's Office announced. Matthew Golden, 43, and his brother Alphonso, 47, were being held at the Lexington County Detention Center. They face a mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentence if convicted. Federal prosecutors said there was no evidence that Golden was distributing drugs into the prisons, but not to worry: At least three other Corrections employees have been arrested so far this year on drug charges.

In Denver, a former Denver County deputy sheriff was sentenced to four years in prison April 7 for smuggling marijuana and other contraband into the Denver County Jail, according to a report from TV 7 News in Denver. Solomon Mikael, 35, originally faced three counts each of bribery and introduction of contraband, but pleaded guilty to one count of each in January. The seven-year sheriff's department veteran had been under investigation since April 2005, when the department's internal affairs unit heard allegations inmates were buying contraband from a deputy.

Cops as drug dealers, cops preying on drug dealers, cops helping drug dealers, and of course, the requisite miscreant prison guard or two. Just another week on the corrupt cops front. Let's get to it:

In Baltimore, two police officers are on trial this week on federal corruption charges. Officers Antonio Murray, 36, and William King, 35, face a 33-count indictment charging them with conspiracy to steal cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and cash from drug suspects. Their civilian cohort, Antonio Mosby, who served as their lookout and snitch, has already pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against them. After getting a tip that King was shaking down drug suspects, federal investigators wiretapped Murray's and King's cell phones and tracked the pair as they rounded up likely prospects, then threatened to hurt or arrest them if they didn't cough up the goodies, according to the indictment. Each could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on the most serious charges. The trial is expected to last another couple of weeks.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, DEA agents last Friday arrested a former Baton Rouge police officer on an affidavit charging he was selling cocaine. Darryl Davis was a 13-year veteran when he was fired in 1999 for stealing evidence and later found guilty of obstruction of justice. Last Friday, Davis was pulled over for a traffic stop and police "conducted a further investigation from there, which led to the discovery of cocaine and a weapon he's charged with," said US Attorney David Dugas in a statement. In a search of Davis' home, the DEA found a .38 caliber handgun and more than 13 pounds of cocaine. He is charged with possession with the intent to distribute and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

In Memphis, a former police officer pleaded guilty last Friday to breaking into a hotel room last year and stealing $12,000 he thought belonged to a drug dealer. Former Officer Patrick Joynt, 36, and his civilian partner in crime Donald Lemm, 33, were actually the victims of a sting; according to an indictment, Joynt met with a snitch last August to discuss the rip-off, government agents planted the money in the room, and Joynt and Lemm went for the bait. The pair will be sentenced in June and face up to 10 years in prison. Joynt was fired last March after racking up more than 50 disciplinary charges in his nine years as a police officer, including wrecking patrol cars, going AWOL, sexually harassing women, and beating a suspect with a club. He also faces state and federal lawsuits from his victims.

In Murrysville, Pennsylvania, a former Allegheny Township police officer was arraigned last Friday on a charge that he alerted an alleged drug dealer to an upcoming raid last July, the Valley News Dispatch reported. Jerry Enciso, 47, had been a patrolman and sergeant for 15 years before resigning in September. In a police affidavit filed in court, Westmoreland County detectives allege that Enciso met the dealer at the dealer's trailer and told him he had sold drugs to an undercover agent and he should get rid of his stash. Enciso is also accused of asking the dealer to have the dealer's teen-age daughter "poke the eye out" of the son of one of Enciso's fellow cops. He is free on $10,000 bond.

North of Harlingen, Texas, a state corrections officer was arrested March 13 at a US Border Patrol checkpoint on US Highway 77 with 21 pounds of marijuana stuffed in the spare tire of the vehicle he was driving. Curtis Hinson, a veteran officer at the Texas Department of Corrections Stiles Unit in Beaumont, was charged with possession of marijuana and faces up to 10 years in state prison after a drug dog alerted on his vehicle. Stiles was driving a car registered to a Houston woman with a criminal record including drug possession and prostitution, but claimed he did not know it belonged to her and did not know the pot was on board. For unexplained reasons, Hinson was wearing his uniform when arrested. He has been placed on leave by the Texas prisons.

In Tucson, Arizona, a prison guard was arrested March 16 on charges of suspicion of conspiracy to possess a narcotic drug for sale, the Arizona Daily Star reported. Pima County corrections officer David Leyva, 24, was arrested at the jail after an investigation by the Counter Narcotic Alliance found that he was working on a large cocaine deal with another man, who was also arrested. Leyva is no longer employed by Pima County.

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail drcnet@drcnet.org. Thank you.

We've got something for everybody this week: Cops as gangsters, DEA agents as thieving real estate speculators, a Texas police chief who never let any drug evidence get away, cops in Miami and Chicago planting drugs, evidence gone missing in East St. Louis, and, of course, another greedy prison guard, this time in Georgia. Let's get to it:

In Los Angeles, at least 19 people, including five police officers have been charged with belonging to a ring led by LAPD Officer Ruben Palomares that committed armed robberies disguised as drug raids. Thirteen had been previously charged in the case, but six more were indicted last week, including a former LA County Sheriff's deputy, and LAPD officer, and a Long Beach police officer, the Associated Press reported. They face multiple counts of conspiracy to possess drugs with the intent to distribute, use of a firearm in a drug trafficking crime, and deprivation of rights under color of law. Palomares allegedly supplied his gang with uniforms, radios, and badges, and the group sometimes used LAPD patrol cars to drive to drug houses they had previously targeted. Their victims were allegedly restrained, threatened, beaten, and robbed. The gang made off with at least 600 pounds of weed, TVs, jewelry, cash, and weapons. Palomares is currently serving a 15-year sentence for his role as gang leader.

In Atlanta, a federal grand jury indicted a DEA agent Monday for stealing DEA funds to buy real estate while he worked Atlanta's Hartsfield airport, WXIA TV reported. Agent Gregory Campion, 44, is charged with embezzling money as a federal officer, embezzling public funds, and money laundering. According to the indictment, on at least seven occasions Campion stole money seized during drug busts from a secure storage vault and used it to buy properties in Orlando, where he currently lives. Prosecutors are seeking to seize those properties. The DEA has suspended Campion without pay.

In Troup, Texas, the police chief and a police officer were arrested last Friday after a six-week investigation into missing drugs and other evidence, the Dallas Morning News reported. Police Chief Chester Kennedy is charged with evidence tampering and Officer Mark Turner is charged with evidence tampering and delivery of marijuana. The investigation by the Smith County Sheriff's Department and the FBI came about after the sheriff received complaints from both inside and outside the department that Troup police had not sent any drug evidence to be tested in five years. They zeroed in on four cases where people were arrested, but the drugs disappeared, including an eight-ball of methamphetamine, several plants, and a gallon bag filled with weed. Kennedy has admitted that he knew evidence had gone missing and that he had given some seized bootleg alcohol to an officer. Turner sold a small quantity of pot to an undercover agent, and police found more in his home later.

In Miami, former Miami Police Officer Torrance Gary was arrested March 2 on charges he planted drugs at the scene of an arrest, local TV News 10 reported. Gary had claimed to see a man trying to flush heroin down a toilet during a drug bust, but it later became clear he could not have seen what he claimed from his vantage point, investigators said. They also said that although heroin was discovered in the bathroom, the man did not put it there. Gary, a 15-year veteran before he resigned two weeks earlier, is out on a $10,000 bond.

In Chicago, the Sun Times reports that Police Sgt. Kevin Morrison has been fired for misconduct in a 2001 drug case. When a teacher complained that she was arrested after her ex-husband had drugs planted in her car, Morrison "failed to cooperate" in the investigation, the Police Board found. Andrea Sullivan was arrested outside her school after Morrison, acting on a tip, pulled her over and found 250 Ecstasy tablets and 43 grams of cocaine. She immediately accused her ex-husband, William Sullivan, of planting the drugs. Morrison was cited for refusing to identify the informant he said gave him the tip drugs were in the car, although his cell phone records showed he had received a call from William Sullivan's brother Stuart. Prosecutors dropped the charges against Andrea Sullivan a month later and said they didn't have enough evidence to charge anyone with planting the drugs. Of the board's eight members, five voted to fire him, two said he deserved lesser punishment, and one found him not guilty on the departmental administrative charges. Bizarrely, Andrea Sullivan has remarried, and her new husband, Chicago Police Officer Michael Allegretti faces criminal charges he ordered women to expose themselves to avoid traffic tickets.

In East St. Louis, Illinois, somebody ripped-off an unknown amount of guns and drugs from the police evidence vault, and the mayor thinks it was an inside job. No one is sure yet exactly what is gone, and Police Chief James Mister said it will take until the end of the month to figure it out, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. (Former Police Chief Ronald Masters will be sentenced March 20 after being convicted of obstructing federal agents investigating a felon illegally carrying a gun as an auxiliary police officer.) Mayor Carl Officer told the Belleville News-Democrat Monday the theft was an inside job and called it "an attempt to cover up and divert some ongoing investigations into police corruption."

In Griffin, Georgia, Spalding County Deputy John Dabbs was busted March 2 on charges he was selling marijuana to inmates at the Spaulding County Jail. The night-shift guard fell prey to an undercover officer planted in a cell block, WSB TV in Atlanta reported. Dabbs went down after being caught discussing the transfer of cash for narcotics, the Spalding County Sheriff's Office told the station.

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail drcnet@drcnet.org. Thank you.

An Alabama prosecutor's investigator gets involved in a shootout with police over 40 pounds of cocaine, a Border Patrol agent pays for winking a truck-load of dope, two more Border Patrol agents are on trial for shooting a fleeing suspected drug courier, and a New Jersey cop's bad habit gets him in trouble. Just another week on the drug law enforcement corruption front. Let's get to it:

In Birmingham, Alabama, a former Fairfield Police Department captain was among three people charged February 20 after a shootout with police led to the discovery of nearly 40 pounds of cocaine, the Birmingham News reported. Donald Curtis Lundy, who is now employed as an investigator for the Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney's office, was being held without bond on charges of attempted murder and drug trafficking along with the two other men. According to police, at least one of the men fired on officers investigating a drug complaint at an apartment complex. When police searched the apartment, they found the cocaine, along with thousands of dollars in cash, in a nearby pick-up truck. Lundy's attorney told the News Lundy just happened to be visiting the other two men when the shootout went down, didn't know the drugs were there, and didn't fire his gun.

In Laredo, Texas, a senior US Border Patrol agent was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison last week for allowing drug traffickers to move cocaine and marijuana through South Texas checkpoints. Juan Alvarez, 36, had pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to bribe a public official and conspiracy to possess cocaine and marijuana with the intent to distribute. Prosecutors alleged that Alvarez and his brother, Jose Guadelupe Alvarez, 39, who got 17 ½ years, received more than $1.5 million from traffickers in return for letting 70,000 pounds of pot and an unspecified quantity of cocaine pass unmolested through the Hebronville checkpoint a few miles north of the US-Mexico border.

In El Paso, Texas, US Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean are on trial this week for shooting an unarmed drug smuggler and then trying to cover up the crime. They face nearly a dozen federal charges, including assault with the intent to commit murder and tampering with an official proceeding. Ramos and Compean shot Mexican national Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the back as he attempted to flee back into Mexico after a confrontation with the two agents, but did not report the shooting. A federal indictment charged that Compean "collected and disposed of spent casings" after the shooting. Aldrete, who was accused of driving a van with 700 pounds of marijuana the day of the shooting, has been given immunity and is expected to testify. The case only came to light when a relative of Aldrete told an Arizona Border Patrol, who forwarded the information to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General.

In New Orleans, former US Customs inspector Wanda Hopkins, 45, was sentenced last week to nearly eight years in prison for selling cocaine and using a weapon while engaged in drug trafficking, the Associated Press reported. Hopkins, her husband, Jerry Hopkins, and Ken Green, have now all received prison sentences in a bust that began in March 2005, when Wanda Hopkins sold a small amount of cocaine to an undercover agent with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department. A week after that, Hopkins and her husband were pulled over in Jefferson Parish on their way back from Brownsville, Texas, with a half-pound of cocaine.

In Dover, New Jersey, a former Dover Police detective will do three years in state prison for stealing cocaine from the evidence safe, according to the Morris County Daily Record. Detective David Brennan ripped off a "small amount" of cocaine for his personal use, the Superior Court heard. He pleaded guilty to official misconduct for the theft and will seek early parole. Under the state's Intensive Supervision Program, he could be out in as little as two months.