Post by Critique on Feb 2, 2007 3:40:55 GMT -5
February 02, 2007
By Greg Barnes
ELIZABETH CITY — Former Robeson County deputy C.T. Strickland pleaded guilty Thursday to participating in the theft of federal drug seizure money.
Sheriff’s Lt. Ricky Britt also pleaded guilty in a separate hearing in the same courtroom — in his case to pirating satellite TV signals. A clerk in the county’s Human Resources Department said Britt remained employed.
The charges against Strickland and Britt emerged from the Operation Tarnished Badge investigation of corruption among Robeson County lawmen. More than a dozen officers have been charged, all but two from the Sheriff’s Office.
Most of the deputies have pleaded guilty in exchange for their cooperation. They all had worked for former Sheriff Glenn Maynor, who has not been charged.
U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle dismissed Strickland from a 12-count indictment that could have resulted in two life sentences for the former supervisor of the sheriff’s Drug Enforcement Division.
Instead, Strickland will receive a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and three years supervised probation in exchange for his cooperation against other former deputies charged in the four-year investigation.
Two other former deputies — Roger Taylor and Steven Lovin — remain part of the indictment and face a trial scheduled for March. The trial is expected to be postponed again.
Strickland entered his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Elizabeth City. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Bradsher, Strickland was the supervisor of the Drug Enforcement Division when something less than $70,000 was taken by Strickland and other members of the division.
As supervisor, Strickland oversaw the federal equity sharing program under which the federal government gives Robeson County a share of money recovered during drug seizures.
Bradsher said Strickland and some of his deputies wrote false vouchers when they gave money to confidential informants to make drug buys. The deputies then pocketed the money, Bradsher said.
He said Strickland ordered his deputies “to fix” the vouchers when the tallies didn’t correspond with the supervisor’s financial audits.
Former Deputies Ricky Meares and Joey Smith, who worked under Strickland, pleaded guilty late last year to stealing money from the federal program.
Strickland resigned from the Sheriff’s Office in 2003 as a result of the Tarnished Badge investigation. He was indicted last year on charges ranging from arson to beating up drug dealers.
Lovin and Taylor face the same charges. Lovin is also accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars during drug interdiction stops along Interstate 95. Taylor is also accused of burning a pawnshop and giving drugs as payment to confidential informants.
No date has been set for Strickland’s sentencing. He is free on $100,000 unsecured bail. Previously, he was being confined under electronic house arrest.
Strickland, dressed in a suit and tie, declined to comment after the judge accepted his plea.
Britt, the other defendant Thursday, is also awaiting sentencing. He could receive up to 5 years in prison.
The hearings came as a surprise. Linda Ruffin, a federal clerk who schedules Boyles’ court cases, said Tuesday that the judge had only civil cases scheduled for this week. Ruffin said she would know if Boyle had other cases scheduled. She could not be reached Wednesday and Thursday.
Bradsher, the federal prosecutor, declined to discuss Boyle’s court calendar before the hearing.
The hearing came about two weeks after Boyle ruled against Strickland’s attempt to have his case dismissed on legal grounds.
www.fayobserver.com/article?id=253513
By Greg Barnes
ELIZABETH CITY — Former Robeson County deputy C.T. Strickland pleaded guilty Thursday to participating in the theft of federal drug seizure money.
Sheriff’s Lt. Ricky Britt also pleaded guilty in a separate hearing in the same courtroom — in his case to pirating satellite TV signals. A clerk in the county’s Human Resources Department said Britt remained employed.
The charges against Strickland and Britt emerged from the Operation Tarnished Badge investigation of corruption among Robeson County lawmen. More than a dozen officers have been charged, all but two from the Sheriff’s Office.
Most of the deputies have pleaded guilty in exchange for their cooperation. They all had worked for former Sheriff Glenn Maynor, who has not been charged.
U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle dismissed Strickland from a 12-count indictment that could have resulted in two life sentences for the former supervisor of the sheriff’s Drug Enforcement Division.
Instead, Strickland will receive a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and three years supervised probation in exchange for his cooperation against other former deputies charged in the four-year investigation.
Two other former deputies — Roger Taylor and Steven Lovin — remain part of the indictment and face a trial scheduled for March. The trial is expected to be postponed again.
Strickland entered his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Elizabeth City. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Bradsher, Strickland was the supervisor of the Drug Enforcement Division when something less than $70,000 was taken by Strickland and other members of the division.
As supervisor, Strickland oversaw the federal equity sharing program under which the federal government gives Robeson County a share of money recovered during drug seizures.
Bradsher said Strickland and some of his deputies wrote false vouchers when they gave money to confidential informants to make drug buys. The deputies then pocketed the money, Bradsher said.
He said Strickland ordered his deputies “to fix” the vouchers when the tallies didn’t correspond with the supervisor’s financial audits.
Former Deputies Ricky Meares and Joey Smith, who worked under Strickland, pleaded guilty late last year to stealing money from the federal program.
Strickland resigned from the Sheriff’s Office in 2003 as a result of the Tarnished Badge investigation. He was indicted last year on charges ranging from arson to beating up drug dealers.
Lovin and Taylor face the same charges. Lovin is also accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars during drug interdiction stops along Interstate 95. Taylor is also accused of burning a pawnshop and giving drugs as payment to confidential informants.
No date has been set for Strickland’s sentencing. He is free on $100,000 unsecured bail. Previously, he was being confined under electronic house arrest.
Strickland, dressed in a suit and tie, declined to comment after the judge accepted his plea.
Britt, the other defendant Thursday, is also awaiting sentencing. He could receive up to 5 years in prison.
The hearings came as a surprise. Linda Ruffin, a federal clerk who schedules Boyles’ court cases, said Tuesday that the judge had only civil cases scheduled for this week. Ruffin said she would know if Boyle had other cases scheduled. She could not be reached Wednesday and Thursday.
Bradsher, the federal prosecutor, declined to discuss Boyle’s court calendar before the hearing.
The hearing came about two weeks after Boyle ruled against Strickland’s attempt to have his case dismissed on legal grounds.
www.fayobserver.com/article?id=253513