Post by WaTcHeR on Jun 16, 2006 13:13:19 GMT -5
06.16.2006 - A former Dane County sheriff's deputy, arrested Wednesday after his town of Dunn home was raided by police, employed a Waukesha County couple to bring hundreds of pounds of marijuana from Arizona to Wisconsin, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Milwaukee.
Robert A. Lowery, 57, along with Jason J. Carr, 25, and Heather R. Lane, 26, both of the town of Genesee, was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee with conspiring to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. All three remained in custody Thursday in Milwaukee after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Aaron Goodstein.
Lowery's wife, Julie Ann Dzikowich, 48, also was arrested and remained in the Dane County Jail on Thursday on tentative weapons and cocaine possession charges.
The raid at Lowery's home at 3554 Lake Farm Road by the state Division of Criminal Investigation and the Dane County Sheriff's Office netted 15 pounds of marijuana, about 25 ounces of cocaine, five guns and $47,000 in cash, said state Department of Justice spokesman Mike Bauer.
Officials also seized 52 dogs, including 50 pit bulls, during the raid.
The detailed, 14-page affidavit by Special Agent Neil McGrath of the state Division of Criminal Investigation also includes statements by confidential informants who say that Carr told them that the house in Arizona where he picked up marijuana for Lowery is connected to a covert tunnel that travels under the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to McGrath's affidavit, agents first met in February with an unnamed confidential informant who told them about the "possible delivery of anywhere up to 1,000 pounds of marijuana." At that point, the informant did not know Lowery's name or where he lived, only that Carr and Lane obtained marijuana through a person who lived in the area.
In March, agents tracking the movements of Carr and Lane were led to Lowery's home. Using rolling surveillance, agents continued to watch the couple's visits to Lowery and also monitored their trips to Arizona using cellular phone records. On a trip in April, agents also attached a Global Positioning Satellite device to the car the couple had rented.
According to the affidavit, Carr and Lane typically rented a car and then drove, with their young son and a pit bull dog, to Arizona to pick up the marijuana and bring it back to Lowery, who paid Carr $5,000 for his services.
Informants said that in addition to selling marijuana, Carr raised pit bulls, the affidavit states.
Lowery's attorney, Charles Giesen, said Thursday that the affidavit contains a lot of "hearsay and speculation" and said that Lowery intends to plead not guilty to the charges.
Past DCI reports referenced in the affidavit indicated that Lowery, while working as a sheriff's deputy from 1979 to 1981, tried to get information on drug dealers from Sheriff's Office drug investigators so that he could help his own drug dealer friends avoid search warrants. He also provided descriptions and license plate numbers of undercover police cars to drug traffickers, the affidavit states.
Lowery was fired in 1981 for using Sheriff's Office telephones to make "several hundred" personal long-distance telephone calls. At the time, Dane County Sheriff Jerome Lacke said that many of the calls Lowery made were to dog breeders.
In 1983, Lowery and a partner were convicted of organizing dog fights. Lowery was sentenced to probation with six months in jail.
Throughout the 1980s, the affidavit states, Lowery was also mentioned in DCI reports as trying to learn the identity of confidential informants and threatening to kill witnesses involved in cases against his drug dealing associates. Lowery was also convicted in federal court in Florida in 1990 for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
One of the informants also made controlled marijuana purchases from Carr, the affidavit states. During a transaction on May 1, in which the informant wore a wireless transmitter, Carr told the informant that he had just returned from out of state with 170 pounds of marijuana and said that he knew of the underground tunnels leading from Mexico into the U.S. that are used to transport drugs.
On that trip Carr was also stopped for speeding in Texas County, Okla., the affidavit states. Carr was given a warning for driving with a suspended license, and deputies asked whether they could search the car. Carr and Lane refused to allow it.
Police brought in two drug- sniffing dogs but neither found the 170 pounds of marijuana Carr said was in the car.
While Carr and Lane were stopped, cell phone records revealed, there were five phone calls between Carr's cell phone and a phone number that belonged to Dzikowich, the affidavit states.
Robert A. Lowery, 57, along with Jason J. Carr, 25, and Heather R. Lane, 26, both of the town of Genesee, was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee with conspiring to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. All three remained in custody Thursday in Milwaukee after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Aaron Goodstein.
Lowery's wife, Julie Ann Dzikowich, 48, also was arrested and remained in the Dane County Jail on Thursday on tentative weapons and cocaine possession charges.
The raid at Lowery's home at 3554 Lake Farm Road by the state Division of Criminal Investigation and the Dane County Sheriff's Office netted 15 pounds of marijuana, about 25 ounces of cocaine, five guns and $47,000 in cash, said state Department of Justice spokesman Mike Bauer.
Officials also seized 52 dogs, including 50 pit bulls, during the raid.
The detailed, 14-page affidavit by Special Agent Neil McGrath of the state Division of Criminal Investigation also includes statements by confidential informants who say that Carr told them that the house in Arizona where he picked up marijuana for Lowery is connected to a covert tunnel that travels under the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to McGrath's affidavit, agents first met in February with an unnamed confidential informant who told them about the "possible delivery of anywhere up to 1,000 pounds of marijuana." At that point, the informant did not know Lowery's name or where he lived, only that Carr and Lane obtained marijuana through a person who lived in the area.
In March, agents tracking the movements of Carr and Lane were led to Lowery's home. Using rolling surveillance, agents continued to watch the couple's visits to Lowery and also monitored their trips to Arizona using cellular phone records. On a trip in April, agents also attached a Global Positioning Satellite device to the car the couple had rented.
According to the affidavit, Carr and Lane typically rented a car and then drove, with their young son and a pit bull dog, to Arizona to pick up the marijuana and bring it back to Lowery, who paid Carr $5,000 for his services.
Informants said that in addition to selling marijuana, Carr raised pit bulls, the affidavit states.
Lowery's attorney, Charles Giesen, said Thursday that the affidavit contains a lot of "hearsay and speculation" and said that Lowery intends to plead not guilty to the charges.
Past DCI reports referenced in the affidavit indicated that Lowery, while working as a sheriff's deputy from 1979 to 1981, tried to get information on drug dealers from Sheriff's Office drug investigators so that he could help his own drug dealer friends avoid search warrants. He also provided descriptions and license plate numbers of undercover police cars to drug traffickers, the affidavit states.
Lowery was fired in 1981 for using Sheriff's Office telephones to make "several hundred" personal long-distance telephone calls. At the time, Dane County Sheriff Jerome Lacke said that many of the calls Lowery made were to dog breeders.
In 1983, Lowery and a partner were convicted of organizing dog fights. Lowery was sentenced to probation with six months in jail.
Throughout the 1980s, the affidavit states, Lowery was also mentioned in DCI reports as trying to learn the identity of confidential informants and threatening to kill witnesses involved in cases against his drug dealing associates. Lowery was also convicted in federal court in Florida in 1990 for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
One of the informants also made controlled marijuana purchases from Carr, the affidavit states. During a transaction on May 1, in which the informant wore a wireless transmitter, Carr told the informant that he had just returned from out of state with 170 pounds of marijuana and said that he knew of the underground tunnels leading from Mexico into the U.S. that are used to transport drugs.
On that trip Carr was also stopped for speeding in Texas County, Okla., the affidavit states. Carr was given a warning for driving with a suspended license, and deputies asked whether they could search the car. Carr and Lane refused to allow it.
Police brought in two drug- sniffing dogs but neither found the 170 pounds of marijuana Carr said was in the car.
While Carr and Lane were stopped, cell phone records revealed, there were five phone calls between Carr's cell phone and a phone number that belonged to Dzikowich, the affidavit states.