Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 15, 2007 12:42:17 GMT -5
01.15.2007 - It sounds like "Miami Vice," with tales of drug deals, secret informants and an expensive sports car. But this is a case of "Milwaukee Vice."
The Milwaukee Police Department is accused of taking possession of a Mercedes-Benz convertible from a drug-addicted local businessman in return for agreeing not to prosecute him for cocaine possession.
The businessman, Jordan M. Beck, was president of Mill Valley Recycling, a scrap metal business on the south side. Beck died at 42 from a drug overdose five months after his June 2005 arrest.
Now Beck's family is trying to get the car back, arguing that he was pressured into making the deal and that he might be alive today if police had treated him as an ordinary drug offender.
In one of his last actions as Milwaukee County district attorney, E. Michael McCann wrote last month to Police Chief Nannette Hegerty that the deal appeared not to pass the smell test.
"Last summer, representatives of the Beck family complained to this office that in lieu of not being charged with a misdemeanor possession offense, Mr. Beck signed over to your department a Mercedes-Benz SL55, reportedly worth approximately $100,000," McCann wrote to Hegerty on Dec. 22. The letter does not identify the officers involved.
"In brief, the family claims Beck did this only because it was threatened that the fact he had been arrested would be affirmatively disclosed to his former wife's attorney to be used against Mr. Beck in a child custody matter. The family believes that had Beck been charged, he might have been motivated to seek help for his drug problem before an overdose claimed his life."
McCann also wrote that the deal could send a troubling message to the public about police treatment of suspects based on their income level:
Appearance of impropriety
"There is also a possible suggestion that Mr. Beck was permitted to avoid conviction for misdemeanor possession of a drug because he had an expensive car that the department was ready to trade off for the criminal charge. I'm sure you reject such a program, and I reject it, and it clearly is loaded with the invidious perception that a rich person driving a fine car would escape prosecution by the police but a poor man driving a less valuable car would be advanced to prosecution.
"We expressively disapprove any program that permits people to avoid prosecution by giving their car to the police department."
When I contacted Hegerty for comment, she responded through her public information officer that she had received McCann's letter and had referred the matter to the department's Professional Performance Division for investigation. She had no other comment.
I also called new district attorney John Chisholm last week on the day of his inauguration. He confirmed that he knew about Beck's case but said he could not comment.
He suggested I call Hegerty.
McCann's letter says the Police Department "appears to still have (the car) in its possession." According to online pricing guides, a 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 Roadster in good condition is worth about $75,000 today.
No basis in law
McCann told Hegerty that Wisconsin law concerning the forfeiture of vehicles involved in the sale of illegal drugs did not apply in this case.
"The drug violation in this case, . . . possession of cocaine, is among those violations for which a vehicle is not subject to forfeiture," he wrote. "We believe the officers acted in good faith under this creative interpretation in justifying securing Mr. Beck's car, but it cannot stand up as a matter of law."
McCann urged the police to return the Mercedes to Beck's estate.
According to a medical examiner's report, Beck had a long history of drug abuse before his body was found slumped over his computer at his Fox Point home on Nov. 20, 2005. Drug paraphernalia was found near the body. Family members, citing religious reasons, declined to allow an autopsy.
Michael Maistelman, the attorney for Beck's family, has been trying to get the Mercedes back since his death. In an open records request to the Milwaukee County district attorney's office in August 2006, Maistelman suggested that Beck had been treated differently by police because of his affluence and their desire for his expensive car.
Threat of disclosure?
Maistelman also cited the family's belief that police contributed to Beck's death by threatening to disclose his drug activity.
"At the time of Jordan's arrest he was in a custody battle with his wife for his minor children. Subsequent to his arrest Jordan and his family were bombarded with threats by your office and or the Milwaukee Police Department that unless he gave his car up, then the authorities would contact his wife's attorney and 'rat him out' about his drug offense."
Maistelman also wrote that a member of Beck's family had witnessed "harassing, intimidating and coercive telephone calls" and that authorities also threatened that if he didn't give up the car, "they would tell certain drug dealers that Jordan and his family were informants, when in fact they were not."
Maistelman declined to comment on the case Friday, but gave me a statement from Beck's family:
'Personal and private matter'
"Jordan Beck's tragic and untimely death is an intense personal and private matter. Jordan was a very outgoing, fun-loving person and a successful Milwaukee businessman for over twenty years.
"He lived his short life to the fullest and helped those in need. The Beck family would like to extend their gratitude to all of the people who helped Jordan and our family through this difficult process.
"The Beck family hopes that others will understand that this is a private family matter."
The loose ends from this curious case involve the eventual return of Beck's car to the family, the conclusion of the Police Department investigation into the actions of the unnamed officers in the complaint by Beck's family as well as an explanation for why Milwaukee police cut a deal for a man with an expensive car they don't normally offer to ordinary citizens. And, of course, figuring out whether their actions contributed to Beck's demise.
Looks like "Milwaukee Vice" has some explaining to do.
www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=552490
The Milwaukee Police Department is accused of taking possession of a Mercedes-Benz convertible from a drug-addicted local businessman in return for agreeing not to prosecute him for cocaine possession.
The businessman, Jordan M. Beck, was president of Mill Valley Recycling, a scrap metal business on the south side. Beck died at 42 from a drug overdose five months after his June 2005 arrest.
Now Beck's family is trying to get the car back, arguing that he was pressured into making the deal and that he might be alive today if police had treated him as an ordinary drug offender.
In one of his last actions as Milwaukee County district attorney, E. Michael McCann wrote last month to Police Chief Nannette Hegerty that the deal appeared not to pass the smell test.
"Last summer, representatives of the Beck family complained to this office that in lieu of not being charged with a misdemeanor possession offense, Mr. Beck signed over to your department a Mercedes-Benz SL55, reportedly worth approximately $100,000," McCann wrote to Hegerty on Dec. 22. The letter does not identify the officers involved.
"In brief, the family claims Beck did this only because it was threatened that the fact he had been arrested would be affirmatively disclosed to his former wife's attorney to be used against Mr. Beck in a child custody matter. The family believes that had Beck been charged, he might have been motivated to seek help for his drug problem before an overdose claimed his life."
McCann also wrote that the deal could send a troubling message to the public about police treatment of suspects based on their income level:
Appearance of impropriety
"There is also a possible suggestion that Mr. Beck was permitted to avoid conviction for misdemeanor possession of a drug because he had an expensive car that the department was ready to trade off for the criminal charge. I'm sure you reject such a program, and I reject it, and it clearly is loaded with the invidious perception that a rich person driving a fine car would escape prosecution by the police but a poor man driving a less valuable car would be advanced to prosecution.
"We expressively disapprove any program that permits people to avoid prosecution by giving their car to the police department."
When I contacted Hegerty for comment, she responded through her public information officer that she had received McCann's letter and had referred the matter to the department's Professional Performance Division for investigation. She had no other comment.
I also called new district attorney John Chisholm last week on the day of his inauguration. He confirmed that he knew about Beck's case but said he could not comment.
He suggested I call Hegerty.
McCann's letter says the Police Department "appears to still have (the car) in its possession." According to online pricing guides, a 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 Roadster in good condition is worth about $75,000 today.
No basis in law
McCann told Hegerty that Wisconsin law concerning the forfeiture of vehicles involved in the sale of illegal drugs did not apply in this case.
"The drug violation in this case, . . . possession of cocaine, is among those violations for which a vehicle is not subject to forfeiture," he wrote. "We believe the officers acted in good faith under this creative interpretation in justifying securing Mr. Beck's car, but it cannot stand up as a matter of law."
McCann urged the police to return the Mercedes to Beck's estate.
According to a medical examiner's report, Beck had a long history of drug abuse before his body was found slumped over his computer at his Fox Point home on Nov. 20, 2005. Drug paraphernalia was found near the body. Family members, citing religious reasons, declined to allow an autopsy.
Michael Maistelman, the attorney for Beck's family, has been trying to get the Mercedes back since his death. In an open records request to the Milwaukee County district attorney's office in August 2006, Maistelman suggested that Beck had been treated differently by police because of his affluence and their desire for his expensive car.
Threat of disclosure?
Maistelman also cited the family's belief that police contributed to Beck's death by threatening to disclose his drug activity.
"At the time of Jordan's arrest he was in a custody battle with his wife for his minor children. Subsequent to his arrest Jordan and his family were bombarded with threats by your office and or the Milwaukee Police Department that unless he gave his car up, then the authorities would contact his wife's attorney and 'rat him out' about his drug offense."
Maistelman also wrote that a member of Beck's family had witnessed "harassing, intimidating and coercive telephone calls" and that authorities also threatened that if he didn't give up the car, "they would tell certain drug dealers that Jordan and his family were informants, when in fact they were not."
Maistelman declined to comment on the case Friday, but gave me a statement from Beck's family:
'Personal and private matter'
"Jordan Beck's tragic and untimely death is an intense personal and private matter. Jordan was a very outgoing, fun-loving person and a successful Milwaukee businessman for over twenty years.
"He lived his short life to the fullest and helped those in need. The Beck family would like to extend their gratitude to all of the people who helped Jordan and our family through this difficult process.
"The Beck family hopes that others will understand that this is a private family matter."
The loose ends from this curious case involve the eventual return of Beck's car to the family, the conclusion of the Police Department investigation into the actions of the unnamed officers in the complaint by Beck's family as well as an explanation for why Milwaukee police cut a deal for a man with an expensive car they don't normally offer to ordinary citizens. And, of course, figuring out whether their actions contributed to Beck's demise.
Looks like "Milwaukee Vice" has some explaining to do.
www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=552490