Post by KC on Sept 12, 2006 22:39:16 GMT -5
September, 12, 2006 - A federal judge has refused to toss out two of the charges against St. Helena Parish Sheriff Ronald “Gun” Ficklin in a case in which he is accused of putting state prisoners to work in an illegal chop shop.
U.S. District Judge James Brady rejected defense arguments that he should dismiss one count of knowingly aiding and abetting a felon to possess a firearm and one count of misprision of a felony.
Ficklin faces 22 counts in all, including conspiracy, trafficking in motor vehicles with removed or altered vehicle identification numbers, removing and altering VINs, and mail fraud. He has pleaded innocent.
The sheriff is accused of defrauding the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections of more than $140,000 by putting inmates to work in an illegal chop shop at B&D Auto Sales in Greensburg.
Federal authorities claim Ficklin worked with convicted chop-shop owner Barry Dawsey, using inmates housed in the parish jail to ready stolen cars for sale. Dawsey — caught in a stolen pickup containing Ficklin’s badge — is serving three years in prison after pleading guilty in 2004.
In the two counts at issue, prosecutors allege Ficklin failed to report to authorities that Dawsey, who was already a convicted felon at the time, had a .22-caliber rifle.
Ficklin’s attorney, Frank Holthaus, argued the firearm charge should be dropped because the government failed to mention in the indictment that Dawsey had lost his right to carry a gun.
But Brady concluded it was enough that prosecutors said Dawsey had been convicted of a felony.
Holthaus also argued Ficklin’s status as a law-enforcement officer means he is not compelled to report alleged crimes to another law-enforcement agency. Such a requirement, Holthaus said, would create a never-ending cycle in which all authorities might be charged with misprision of a felony.
The judge called that argument “creative” but “not plausible.”
The trial is set for Oct. 30.
www.2theadvocate.com/news/police/3895047.html
U.S. District Judge James Brady rejected defense arguments that he should dismiss one count of knowingly aiding and abetting a felon to possess a firearm and one count of misprision of a felony.
Ficklin faces 22 counts in all, including conspiracy, trafficking in motor vehicles with removed or altered vehicle identification numbers, removing and altering VINs, and mail fraud. He has pleaded innocent.
The sheriff is accused of defrauding the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections of more than $140,000 by putting inmates to work in an illegal chop shop at B&D Auto Sales in Greensburg.
Federal authorities claim Ficklin worked with convicted chop-shop owner Barry Dawsey, using inmates housed in the parish jail to ready stolen cars for sale. Dawsey — caught in a stolen pickup containing Ficklin’s badge — is serving three years in prison after pleading guilty in 2004.
In the two counts at issue, prosecutors allege Ficklin failed to report to authorities that Dawsey, who was already a convicted felon at the time, had a .22-caliber rifle.
Ficklin’s attorney, Frank Holthaus, argued the firearm charge should be dropped because the government failed to mention in the indictment that Dawsey had lost his right to carry a gun.
But Brady concluded it was enough that prosecutors said Dawsey had been convicted of a felony.
Holthaus also argued Ficklin’s status as a law-enforcement officer means he is not compelled to report alleged crimes to another law-enforcement agency. Such a requirement, Holthaus said, would create a never-ending cycle in which all authorities might be charged with misprision of a felony.
The judge called that argument “creative” but “not plausible.”
The trial is set for Oct. 30.
www.2theadvocate.com/news/police/3895047.html