Post by WaTcHeR on Feb 8, 2006 12:02:47 GMT -5
Police Chief Campbell, his wife and Mayor Privett
02/07/2006 - Arkansas - A series of arrests involving drugs, sex and the abuse of a state inmate program shocked the small town of Lonoke on Monday, as the police chief, his wife, the mayor and two bail bondsmen were taken into custody.
Police Chief Jay Campbell and the two bail bondsmen, Bobby Cox and Larry Norwood, were arrested on allegations that include conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine, while the chief's wife, Kelly Harrison Campbell, was arrested and faces allegations of residential burglary, providing state inmates drugs and alcohol and taking two of them outside the city jail to have sex, authorities said.
In addition, Lonoke Mayor Thomas Privett was taken into custody after an Arkansas State Police investigation regarding Act 309 inmates, who authorities said performed illegal work in the mayor's home.
I'm shocked. Absolutely. This town has never seen any problems like this, said Dick Bransford, a City Council member for more than 20 years in the community of 4, 287.
Chief Campbell, 46, was charged with multiple felonies, including conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal conspiracy to commit residential burglary, theft by receiving and theft of services, according to a bench warrant.
According to the warrant, Campbell conspired with Little Rock bail bondsman Cox to have Ronald Adams arrange for another man, Roger Light, to cook a batch of methamphetamine so they could then arrest Light and force him to help them catch an unnamed fugitive who had jumped a substantial bond written by Cox.
Adams told police that when he tried to get Campbell and Cox to help him clear his own record as a reward for his help setting up Light, Cox threatened him and Campbell told him he got screwed, then refused to see him, the warrant states.
Cox, 61, is charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, intimidating a witness or defendant and first-degree terroristic threatening all felonies.
Norwood, believed to have at least been a bail bondsmen at one time, also was arrested late Monday and charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine in connection with the allegations against Campbell and Cox, authorities said. Norwood's age and residence were not available.
Campbell's wife, Kelly Campbell, 41, also was charged with conspiracy to commit residential burglary, theft of property, residential burglary and four counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.
The warrant states that Kelly Campbell entered several homes and stole prescription medications and several thousand dollars worth of antique jewelry. After she pawned the jewelry, her husband contacted a Little Rock pawnshop and told the owner that he had to get the jewelry back, according to the warrant. Most of the jewelry was returned.
Kelly Campbell, according to the warrant, also was charged with multiple felonies and a misdemeanor including furnishing prohibited articles, tampering and escape in connection with the town's suspended Act 309 program.
The state Department of Correction removed five inmates in August after an investigation found that Chief Campbell had used state prisoners to repair his boat and install a sidewalk from his house to his pool. The investigation also determined that the Mayor Privett, 68, had also used the inmates improperly. He was charged with misdemeanor theft of services after having inmates work at his home, including repairing his air conditioner, hanging Christmas lights, gardening and working on his porch.
The Act 309 program is designed to relieve prison overcrowding and provide labor for counties and cities, which use the inmates for tasks such as jail maintenance and upkeep. The state paid the city $ 15 a day to house and feed the inmates.
The warrant issued Monday states Kelly Campbell gave the Act 309 inmates at the city jail a cell phone, marijuana and liquor. It also states that she had sex with two of the inmates multiple times, including at a local hotel, in violation of the Correction Department program rules.
Lonoke police officers told investigators that they could not keep the chief s wife out of the jail and that when they tried, she became irate, and when a jail supervisor instructed officers to keep a log of her visits to the jail, her husband became irate, according to the warrant.
Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney Lona McCastlain declined to comment on the details of the charges, except to say the investigation had been going on for about six months. She said she did not expect it to end with the current charges.
I don t think the investigation is concluded.... I m not ruling out additional charges, she said.
McCastlain declined to answer any other questions until a news conference scheduled for noon today at her office in the Lonoke County Courthouse.
Acting Lonoke Police Chief Sean O Nale said his department s 22 officers, jailers and dispatchers have guarded feelings about their chief s arrest. Campbell is suspended with pay pending the outcome of legal action, he said.
Right now, we re still in the dark about the specifics, he said.
All the suspects but Privett posted $ 50, 000 bail at the Lonoke County jail and were released, said Sheriff Jim Roberson. Roberson said Privett posted a $ 500 bond before his release.
Roberson said everyone surrendered peacefully. It was difficult. Especially when it was someone who had been on the same team, Roberson said, referring to Chief Campbell.
Campbell was fired in 2000 from his job as a lieutenant with the Pulaski County sheriff s office after Sheriff Randy Johnson stated that Campbell had tried to intimidate lower-ranking deputies into charging more for off-duty jobs. Johnson also said Campbell authorized off-duty employment at a nightclub, which office policy forbids. Campbell lost a federal lawsuit seeking reinstatement and monetary damages in 2001.
Campbell became chief of police in 2002.
None of the accused could be reached for comment. Little Rock attorney Mark Hampton, who represents at least some of the accused, didn t return a phone call seeking comment.
Bransford said that the town had known about some of the Act 309 violations, but had no idea about the methamphetamine, theft, sex and drug allegations. He said that Privett had not called a special City Council meeting as of late Monday. The council is scheduled to meet Feb. 13.