Cops indicted for drug case actions
Dr. Kardasz -
Read the following report and consider:
1. Which typology of unethical behavior was exhibited by the accused?
2. Which decision making process might have prevented the accused from making the wrong decision?
Typologies of unethical behavior - http://kardasz.org/CorruptionTypologies.html
Decision making processes - http://kardasz.org/Decision_Making_Tools.html
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Cops indicted for drug case actions
July 12, 2006, By Douglass Crouse, Richard Cowan and James Yoo
It was an "MTV lifestyle" no ordinary cop's salary could buy, authorities say.For months, investigators say, two drug-dealing brothers gave their police officer buddies access to a world of barroom parties, Ferrari rides and boat cruises, with women and drugs available at every stop. And when that world was threatened, the officers rushed to provide protection, according to a grand jury indictment issued Tuesday against six law enforcement officers in Passaic County. Authorities say "misguided loyalty" led the officers to tip off the twin brothers -- identified by law enforcement sources as Charles Post of Pompton Lakes and Robert Post of West Paterson -- when it became clear they were targets of an upcoming drug bust in August 2004.
In so doing, the officers violated their professional oaths, authorities said, and forced investigators to move up their raids by one day. On Aug. 8 and 9, 2004, the Post brothers and 17 others were arrested for allegedly being part of a network that dealt in steroids and prescription pills. But that still left investigators eager to know who specifically had given the Post brothers a heads-up. "You can't allow something like this to go unchecked," said Bruno Mongiardo, Passaic County's first assistant prosecutor. "The integrity of the entire process had been compromised and we had to get to the bottom of it."
Pompton Lakes Officers Dennis DePrima, Robert Palianto and Michael Megna had been hanging out and partying with the two brothers for a year before the 2004 drug raids, said Jay McCann, chief assistant prosecutor for Passaic County. In addition to the boats and cars, the brothers also shared OxyContin pills and the sleep aid Ambien, McCann said, terming it an "MTV lifestyle." "It wasn't really a drug-distribution for profit," McCann said. "It was more of a social relationship between the officers and the targets." McCann described the brothers as small-scale drug dealers from a wealthy background and said they had "actively gone out and cultivated relationships with law enforcement officers." They even had obtained volunteer deputy sheriff's badges, which were taken away after their arrest.
The Post brothers could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Both stand charged with drug-related offenses, but a grand jury has not yet heard those charges.Authorities say it was Ringwood Patrolman Paul Kleiber who alerted the Pompton Lakes officers in July 2004 that they had been caught in a wiretap. At the time, Kleiber was working undercover with the Passaic County Narcotics Task Force, investigating the alleged sale and use of steroids at the World Gym in Wayne, according to Tuesday's indictment. Authorities say the gym's owners were not involved. In the course of listening to wiretaps, Kleiber heard the Pompton Lakes officers, who were friends of his, speaking to targets of the investigation, the indictment says. Soon after, he let the officers know they had been recorded, and allegedly they, in turn, alerted the Posts. The calls continued to be recorded up until the raids -- perhaps, McCann said, because the targets didn't realize all their cellphones were tapped.
Pompton Lakes Police Chief Albert Ekkers said Tuesday's indictment was a psychological blow. And with DePrima and Palianto suspended and Megna facing the same fate, the department -- with 25 officers currently working -- remains shorthanded. "When one officer, two officers, three officers are accused of a crime, it reflects badly upon us," Ekkers said. "We hope we can go on and do the things we used to do." In addition to those three officers and Kleiber, the indictment targets West Paterson Officer Richard Beagin, a former narcotics task force member and an alleged social acquaintance of the Posts, and Gerry Ward, a retired corrections officer from the Passaic County Sheriff's Department. During the August 2004 raids, Ward helped Charles Post switch from his yellow Ferrari to a less conspicuous car to avoid detection by arresting officers, according to the indictment, which refers to the brothers only as C.P. and R.P.
Five of the officers were arrested at different times in the months after the drug raid. Megna was charged for the first time in Tuesday's indictment. Megna, Beagin and Ward could not be reached. DePrima deferred comment to his attorney, who did not return calls. Palianto's attorney called the charges against his client "baseless." "His position has been all along that he was not involved in any way, shape or form and had nothing to do with any illegal conduct," attorney Miles Feinstein said. Each of the officers is charged with official misconduct and conspiracy, second-degree offenses that carry five to 10 years in state prison with a conviction. All also are charged with hindering apprehension. DePrima, Palianto and Megna additionally are charged with conspiracy to possess drugs. And Kleiber and Beagin also are charged with violation of the Wire Tap Act.
On Tuesday, Detective Macey David was standing outside the Pompton Lakes courtroom. Asked about the case, the Bergen County Sheriff's Department officer said law enforcers swear by a code of ethics and standards, and those who break it must pay. "If a cop's dirty, he deserves what he gets," he said.
E-mail: crouse@northjersey.com, cowen@northjersey.com and yoo@northjersey.com
2006 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
Retrieved July 12, 2006 from NorthJersey.com
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