Virginia County Sheriff & 12 Deputies Indicted

[WaTcHeR]

Henry County Sheriff H. Franklin Cassell (left)

11.02.2006 - ROANOKE, Va. -- Henry County Sheriff H. Franklin Cassell and 12 of his uniformed employees have been indicted in a federal investigation into drug and gun dealing.

A U.S. Postal Service employee, a probation officer and five citizens were also charged in the 34-count indictment, which was issued Tuesday and unsealed Thursday.

Charges include a racketeering conspiracy, firearms charges, narcotics distribution, obstruction of justice and perjury.

The indictment alleges that drugs and guns seized by the sheriff's office were sold to citizens for distribution. The conspiracy began in 1998, the indictment said.

"It is disgraceful corruption," John Brownlee, U.S. attorney for western Virginia, said at a news conference.

Cassell was charged with impeding the investigation by the FBI and federal drug enforcement agents and money laundering. He was in custody and faced an afternoon bond hearing Thursday.

Fourteen others were also in custody and police had been in contact with the rest of those indicted except for one defendant who was at large, Brownlee said.

The indictment said one of the citizens, William R. Reed, told investigators that a house owned by one of the sheriff's officers was used for drug distribution. Reed cooperated in the investigation following his arrest last year on charges of possession with intent to distribute narcotics.

Reed said he was a middleman in the distribution ring and paid James A. Vaught, a sergeant with the sheriff's office, to use the house he owned for drug distribution.

According to the indictment, drugs involved in the conspiracy were narcotics, cocaine, steroids and marijuana.

The Henry County Sheriff's office declined to comment. A county sheriff's dispatcher referred questions to the state police office in Salem. An officer who answered the phone there referred calls to the U.S. attorney's office.

Cassell has been sheriff since 1992 in the rural county of about 58,000 residents along the North Carolina line. The area is a former textile and furniture region that has fallen on hard times with the closing of many factories.

The sheriff's department has about 122 employees, including 96 law enforcement officers, according to the indictment. State police and officers from the neighboring city of Martinsville are helping the county, a state police official said.

www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-sou--sheriffindicted1102nov02,0,3085094.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia

[Shuftin]

November 6, 2006

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- A judge has dismissed a drug case because it was investigated by two Henry County law-enforcement officials indicted last week on charges of selling drugs, and authorities said other cases could be jeopardized.
The case dismissed Friday involved Anthony Leon Hunt, who was charged with cocaine distribution in an investigation led by Deputies Travis Wilkins and Patrick Martin.
Deputies Wilkins and Martin, Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell, 10 other current or former sheriff's deputies and seven civilians were named last week in a 48-count federal indictment that charges they sold drugs that were confiscated from criminals, stole evidence, laundered money and obstructed justice.
Circuit Court Judge G. Carter Greer dismissed the case against Hunt at the request of Martinsville prosecutors concerned about the involvement of Deputies Wilkins and Martin.
Prosecutor Joan Ziglar was dismayed that Hunt, who has at least two prior convictions for cocaine distribution, had escaped prosecution but thinks his case was the only one pending in Martinsville that involved the indicted deputies.
Henry County Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Bushnell also is reviewing his pending cases to see whether any might have been tainted by the arrests of the officers. Two of 18 cases slated for trial in the next 30 days have Deputy Martin on the potential witness list.
"It's going to be a mammoth headache," Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said of the indictments' impact on pending and possibly resolved cases.
If some of the Henry County law officers are convicted, people they helped put behind bars could start asking for new trials, Mr. Caldwell said.
"I can tell you that certainly it would be my belief that defense attorneys would be trying to get to that issue" in court proceedings, he said.
The situation leaves Mr. Bushnell in a tough spot, said Delegate Ward L. Armstrong, Henry County Democrat. Mr. Armstrong, who also is a lawyer, is defending one of the accused deputies.
"Clearly, the public's trust in the sheriff's department has been eroded," he said. "And it will take some time for that to be repaired."

www.washtimes.com/metro/20061105-111639-8089r.htm

[KC]

ROANOKE — The sheriff charged with being part of a scheme to sell drugs seized from criminals will stay off the job on an unpaid leave until the case is resolved, his attorney said Wednesday.

Henry County Sheriff H. Frank Cassell has not been in the office since he and 12 of his current and former officers, as well as seven other people, were indicted last week in the federal drug case.

“He has concluded that in order to most effectively serve the people of Henry County who elected him, that during this investigation he must remove himself from all aspects of the day-to-day operations of the sheriff’s office,” attorney John Lichtenstein said in a statement.

Cassell, dressed in a navy blue blazer and red tie, and his wife appeared at a news briefing with Lichtenstein and attorney John Fishwick. He did not speak.

The Henry County Board of Supervisors had asked Cassell to resign, but Lichtenstein noted that Cassell is eager to get back to work and said there is no law keeping him from doing so. The attorney successfully argued against a government motion last week to prevent the sheriff from returning to the job, saying to do so would violate the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

Following Wednesday's announcement, supervisors' Chairman H.G. Vaughn, speaking on behalf of the board, expressed disappointment that Cassell did not resign.

"The sheriff's statement creates more questons than it could ever possibly answer, and that is most unfortunate. What would be in the best interest of the citizens of Henry County would be to allow their sheriff's office to move forward and provide law enforcement services for our citizens," Vaughn's statement reads. "On behalf of the board, I reiterate our request that Sheriff Cassell resign immediately."

Department officials placed six of the indicted officers on administrative leave, and the seventh was fired.

For the past eight years, prosecutors said, cocaine, steroids, marijuana and other drugs that had been seized by the sheriff’s department were resold to the public. Guns and other evidence also were stolen, they said.

A sergeant who agreed to cooperate with investigators was paid by the ring to use his house for distributing drugs, authorities said.

Charges include racketeering conspiracy, weapons counts, narcotics distribution, obstruction of justice and perjury.

Cassell, 68, who had a career with the Virginia State Police before he became sheriff in 1992, was charged with impeding the investigation by federal agents and with money laundering.

On Tuesday, the executive director of the State Compensation Board said there is no provision for a constitutional, or elected, officer to take a leave.

“The General Assembly sets his salary on an annual basis. The county is obligated to pay him that much,” said Bruce W. Haynes, executive secretary of the compensation board, which pays constitutional officers in Virginia. “As long as the county pays him ... we have to reimburse” the county for that amount.

Haynes said there is no provision for a sheriff to take a leave of absence. “Either he is sheriff or he is not,” Haynes said.

County Attorney George Lyle said the sheriff could take a self-imposed leave by not going to his office but still keep his title. “It’s probably happened for medical leave,” he said, adding that constitutional officers can set their own schedules.

The person would continue to be paid during that time, and “he could come back whenever he wants,” Lyle added.

Haynes said that he has been with the compensation board since 1989 and since then, no sheriff has been convicted of a felony.

If Cassell is convicted of the charges, Haynes said he does not think he could continue to serve as sheriff.

“To the best of my knowledge, I do not believe he can hold elected office as a felon because he no longer can qualify” to be sheriff, Haynes said.

The only qualification to run for sheriff, or any constitutional officer, is that a candidate must be registered to vote in the locality in which he seeks office, Haynes said. The only exception to that is the commonwealth’s attorney, who also must be a member of the Virginia State Bar, he added.

Since a convicted felon cannot vote, Haynes said he does not believe a felon could be elected to a constitutional office.

However, he added that would have to be researched because it has not happened before.

Haynes was not familiar with the impact of a conviction on Cassell’s pension, which is handled through the Virginia Retirement System. Its officials could not be reached Tuesday evening.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Roanoke, the next step for Cassell and the 19 others indicted with him will be arraignments, where their charges will be formally read and they will enter pleas — not guilty, guilty or no contest, according to Heidi Coy of the office.

No dates for arraignments have been set, she added.

After the arraignments, trial dates and pretrial hearings will be scheduled, she said.

www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=6143

[WaTcHeR]

Henry County Sheriff On Unpaid Leave

11.10.2006 - HENRY COUNTY, Va. -- Sheriff Frank Cassell of Henry County (Va.) has placed himself on unpaid leave one week after federal prosecutors charged him with obstructing a federal investigation into his own department.

Thirteen current and former employees have been accused of wrongdoing. Federal prosecutors say some of the accused stole confiscated drugs and others, including the sheriff, are charged with trying to cover it up.

The issue has local residents talking, and many are saying that unpaid leave is not enough.

"I think he should resign permanently," said resident Stanley Wade. "I don't think he should be in county government in any way, shape, form or fashion."

Henry County Board of Supervisors Chairman H.G. Vaughn agrees. "What we're trying to do as the board of supervisors is to clear the air of any clouds of suspicion or questions of integrity until all of this is resolved."

For now, Captain Lane Perry has taken over administrative duties for the department. He says morale is improving, but more importantly, he wants to make sure the community knows business will continue as usual. "I want to reassure the community they will see no interruption of services."

www.myfoxwghp.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=1439237&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

[WaTcHeR]

Potential witness in Henry Co. case dies-Police are investigating a car wreck that killed a man cooperating in the corruption investigation

11.15.2006 - A potential witness in the federal investigation into the Henry County Sheriff's Office was killed in a car crash the day after indictments were made public, prompting authorities to request a full examination of the vehicle to rule out foul play.

Although it appears that the wreck was no more than a coincidence, it adds a bizarre layer to a corruption case that has already attracted national attention.

Calvin Rayfield Moore, 57, of Bassett died Nov. 3 when his Lincoln Navigator ran off the road in Franklin County after dark and he overcorrected, flipping the vehicle in the median, officials said.

The day before, the government had announced charges against 20 people, including Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell, 12 current and former deputies and seven civilians.

Many of the deputies are accused of taking drugs from evidence and distributing them in the community. The indictment alleges that Cassell himself knew about illegal activity but looked the other way.

According to testimony from Special Agent Ronald Bonaventura with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Moore helped distribute two kilograms of cocaine that had been taken by Henry County Sgt. James Vaught in 2001.

In April 2006, authorities executed a search warrant on Moore's house and found cocaine. He was charged along with six others with distribution and had been convicted but not sentenced before his death.

The extent of the connections between the April case and the Henry County case are unknown. But since Moore's arrest, he had been cooperating with investigators in the Henry County case, said his defense attorney, Robert Rider.

Moore's name also came up in a covertly recorded conversation between Vaught and Cassell that has been filed as evidence in the case.

After Vaught asked Cassell if he knew that Moore was "good buddies" with a deputy who was not charged in the case, Cassell said he did.

"I always thought that's why the DEA didn't trust us," Cassell said.

Virginia State Police Master Trooper Tim Harris, who investigated the crash, said Moore's body was claimed by the Roanoke Medical Examiner's office within hours of his death and was autopsied the next morning.

"They jumped right in on that," Harris said. "There's some people that really got antsy."

The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on Moore, but Harris said two search warrants have been served on the vehicle at the request of Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bondurant.

The first was a search of the exterior "to make sure it hadn't been knocked off the road or anything," Harris said. Blood swabs, a hair sample and three nearly empty bottles -- one wine, one vodka and one whiskey -- were collected.

Toxicology tests are still pending, Harris said.

The second warrant authorized Master Trooper Roger Warden, a mechanic, to examine the inner workings of the vehicle to make sure nothing was compromised, Harris said.

State Police Lt. Tim Lyon said he was not aware of any evidence of foul play from either search.

Both Moore and his passenger, Winona Dudley, 42, also of Bassett, were ejected from the Navigator, Harris said. Moore died at the scene, but Dudley survived and was airlifted to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. It is unclear whether she is still hospitalized.

She was conscious at the scene, and police have talked to her, Harris said.

Rider said he was shocked when he learned Moore had been killed.

"Surprised is probably not even the correct word," he said. "You immediately try to think if there is some connection to the indictment."

Rider said his client had been worried about the charges and afraid for himself and his family because of the people he knew.

Still, "I haven't heard anything since then that would indicate it was anything more than a tragic accident," Rider said.

go.fark.com/cgi/fark/go.pl?i=2416411&l=http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/91587

[WaTcHeR]

12.29.2006 - Two former officers with a rural sheriff's department pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that they took part in a scheme involving their boss and 10 colleagues to sell drugs seized from criminals.

The pair were among 20 people indicted in October in the investigation of corruption and racketeering conspiracy.

Former deputy David Allan King pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and drug conspiracy. James Alden Vaught, a former sergeant, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.

King faces up to 40 years in prison and Vaught 20 years, but the sentences could be lowered if they testify in other cases.

Henry County Sheriff H. Franklin Cassell stepped down after he was accused of looking the other way as officers sold drugs seized in criminal investigations and stole guns and other evidence for personal use and resale. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of impeding federal agents' investigation and money laundering.

Vaught, 33, pleaded guilty because he has "a contrite heart," said his attorney, Bruce Welch.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bondurant said Vaught, who agreed to cooperate with investigators, was paid by the ring for use of a house he owned for drug distribution.

King, 49, was once in charge of the vice unit and had been a school resource officer with the department. Bondurant said King falsified destruction orders for drugs seized by the department and he and other officers then resold them.

Charges against the other defendants include racketeering conspiracy, narcotics distribution, weapons counts, obstruction of justice and perjury. One other former deputy and one of the seven civilians charged in the case have pleaded guilty.