NC Political Corruption And Ineptness, Durham, 2006

It sickens and disgusts me that LE can pick and choose what cases they wish to investigate, or fail to investigate, then make the victims feel as if they are the criminals! :waitasec: :snooty:

I have been threatened by LE repeatedly, that I would be charged and sued for inquiring about my brother's death, and the handeling of his case! The officers did nothing to protocol, lied, and completely ignord my requests, and even blacklisted me from the county website from making requests for an Internal Affairs Investigation! :liar: :banghead:

They have precluded my attempts to obtain the facts, then tell me to get a lawyer!:sick:

My civil rights have been violated, ignored, and trampled over! Can you imagine hearing that a family member of yours was found dead, then LE takes a year and a half to send you a report, after hundreds of requests through the FOIA?! :furious:

Every department in Durham County has shuffled me from one office to the next, and not ONE person in government has helped! Must we have a lawyer hold our hand every time a citizen makes a request for reports, or furthur complaints to be investigated?!

What has happened to our individual rights as citizens?! I have lost faith in our justice system, and know why our scales of justice are blindfolded, and unbalanced!

Mr Nifong refuses to speak to me, as well as the Sheriff, and was then that I sought help from the media...

The "rape," case has taken precedence over unsolved murders, and is just a political move to divert the publics attention from unsolved murders!

Hire a psychic?! It doesn't take a psychic, or a rocket scientist to determine foul play! Do they think we are that ignorant?!

What has become of justice?!?! Where are our rights, and the rights of the deceased?!?!

Not to mention criminal behavior from LE!!! :doh:

I find it amusing that I would be threatened with legal action, when THEY are the ones who failed to do their jobs, then refuse to comply with our Constitutional Rights! :hand:

Since when must we beg LE for them to do their jobs?! If they are so inept and corrupt, they should be charged criminally! Which, I pray happens!!!!
As they should be! Do we really want people like this in a position of such importance, when it IS a matter of life and death?!?!

Mr Nifong is not the only bad egg, he is one of many who has defiled the system, and the public's faith in truth and justice!

How many more people must die?! How many more families much suffer the same incompetence, and consequences of corrupt officials?!?!?!

I say ENOUGH already!!!!!!!! There must be accountability!!!!!!! I pray that once this hits the media, I will be able to make a difference, right some wrongs, and have resolution to not only my brother's death, but Janet and other's who have met the same fate at the hands of uncaring and corrupt officials!!!!

As citizens we MUST unite, and MAKE our government comply with the laws, they are supposed to enforce!!!!!!!

As it is now, they are left with no accountability, and feel as if they are untouchable and above the laws they swore to uphold, and this MUST change!!!!!!!!

And the time is NOW!!!! :croc:



What has become of OUR United States?!?! We elect these twits, and when they fail, they should be "outed," and fired!!!!!

Here is what I think of Durham NC..... :razz::sick:

SAMIHA KHANNA, ERIC FERRERI
The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)





DURHAM -- The discovery of cocaine at a northern Durham bar led to the firing Monday of three Durham sheriff's deputies, including one already charged with drug trafficking and another considered a gang expert.

Deputy Michael P. Owens, arrested Friday after officials raided his business, La Zona Sports Bar & Billiards on North Roxboro Street, was dismissed along with Deputy William Keith Dodson, and Cpl. Bradley King.

Dodson and King, both deputies since 1999, were fired for violating policies governing off-duty work, Sheriff Worth Hill said.

The two spent time inside La Zona while hired to guard the door. Sheriff's Office policy states that while working at a bar, deputies must stay outside, Hill said.

Neither had been charged with a crime. "Some people may have violated the law, but we are unable to prove that at this time," said Capt. Paul Martin of the Sheriff's Office.

Dodson headed an anti-gang unit and often gave multimedia presentations to the public and police on gang colors and hand signs. His work earned him a national award in 2004 from the National Gang Crime Research Center in Chicago.

Hill said there's no evidence Dodson's work as a gang investigator was involved with the crimes he says happened at La Zona.

Reached by phone Monday, Dodson declined to comment. Efforts to contact King and Owens were unsuccessful.

King worked as a patrol deputy. Owens, of 4800 University Drive, Apt. 29-G, worked in civil law enforcement with tax collections. All three are in their early 30s, Martin said.

Hill said he knew each of the deputies well, especially Dodson, whom he coached on a youth football team years ago.

"If I was a betting man, I would have lost some money," Hill said. "They were outstanding deputies."

So far, five men, including former Deputy Owens, have been charged in the discovery of 4.5 ounces of cocaine at La Zona during a raid Friday night.

The four others charged with trafficking by possession of the cocaine were: Sergio Garcia Perez, 23; Mario Garcia Segura, 21; and Isidoro Vallinas Domingues, 25, all of 3106 E. Geer St.; and Jose Manuel Ramirez, 21, of 453 California St. in Belhaven.

Owens is the bar's sole owner, said Maj. Lucy Zastrow. The building's owner was changing the locks on La Zona's front doors Monday to evict the business, and the bar's alcohol permits were being revoked, officials said.

The venue is nestled in a strip of businesses on North Roxboro Street. It has been operating as a bar and pool hall since at least 1989 under names including Touchdown Billiards and Somewhere Else Sports Bar, according to records with the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.

It appears Owens took over the business within the past year. In August, Owens started a company, MOR Enterprises, and days later applied for a temporary permit to serve beer and wine at La Zona, according to state records.

The only complaints that alcohol law enforcement officials have received about the bar were about beer bottles and other litter scattered by patrons, said Derrick McMillan, chief of law enforcement for the Durham County Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.

Monday's firings culminated at least two months of surveillance and collaboration with federal officers, Zastrow said.

Hill said he's now considering banning officers from off-duty work in bars. The temptations may be just too great, he said.

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[font=Arial,Helvetica]US NC: Fired Deputy Tied To Counterfeiting

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[font=Arial,Helvetica]URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1401/a06.html
Newshawk: chip
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Wed, 18 Oct 2006
Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)
Copyright: 2006 The Herald-Sun
Contact:male2('letters','heraldsun.com'); letters@heraldsun.com
Website: http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Author: BriAnne Dopart

[/font][font=Arial,Helvetica]FIRED DEPUTY TIED TO COUNTERFEITING

DURHAM -- A Durham sheriff's deputy fired after being charged with selling cocaine at his bar was involved in a counterfeit money scheme, according to legal documents that allege hit men, prostitutes, drug dealers and people involved in human trafficking frequented the now-closed establishment. A search warrant issued Oct. 13 by a Durham Superior Court judge gave permission to the Sheriff's Office to search Michael Owens, the owner of La Zona nightclub at 2825 North Roxboro Road, and six Hispanic males who were targets of an undercover operation.

Seven vehicles, including Ford Mustangs, Expeditions and Cadillac Escalades, also were targets of the search warrant. In the search warrant narrative spelling out the reason the document was sought, a confidential source informed the Durham County Sheriff's Office that Owens and another man identified only as Miguel made a deal to purchase $40,000 in counterfeit $100 bills in exchange for $10,000 in real currency. The May 2006 deal, in Atlanta, Ga., presumably was made to help Owens put up his $50,000 share to purchase the bar.

The warrant goes on to list tawdry details of sex for hire, open-air drug transactions near off-duty sheriff's deputies working as security, a system of manufacturing, dividing and selling cocaine inside of the bar and connections to a multi-state counterfeiting operation. The investigation into the club began when the FBI arranged for a confidential source to meet with members of the Durham County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's Capt. Paul Martin said he believes the information about activities inside the club, purchased by Owens in April 2006, is credible. Sheriff's Deputies Owens, William Dodson and Bradley King were fired for their alleged involvement in illegal activities at the nightclub, Sheriff Worth Hill announced at a press conference Monday. Owens was charged last week with trafficking cocaine, conspiracy and maintaining a building for drug sales.

Four Hispanic male accomplices also were charged. The unidentified source told sheriff's deputies that cars frequently parked outside the establishment were "known to be involved in illegal activities" including "drug trafficking, armed robberies, murder ( for hire ), prostitution and human trafficking," according to the search warrant. The source, according to the search warrant, informed the Sheriff's Office that Owens "put up" $50,000 to buy the business.

While the source told Martin and the deputy how Owens financed $20,000 towards the purchase through the former owner, he also stated that Owens and a man identified in the warrant only as "Miguel" made a deal in May 2006 to purchase counterfeit $100 bills from someone in Atlanta, Ga.

On April 4, Owens and Rodney D.J. Long, 34, of 1601 Pebble Ridge Drive, Raleigh, registered MORL Enterprises LLC with the state.

The corporation was used to buy the bar. That business registration was dissolved Aug. 21, and Owens incorporated anew under MOR Enterprises LLC the same day. The confidential informant said he purchased liquor licenses for La Zona under his name, at Owens' request, to keep Owens' name out of state records. Managing the club was an individual identified in the warrant as "Floco." Martin said members of the Sheriff's Office knew Floco "from several drug interactions in which large quantities of cocaine and marijuana have been seized." Floco, Martin said in the affidavit, is also known "to be involved in the counterfeit money trade in this area as well as with others throughout several states."

Security guards told deputies that after Owens took over the club, they were instructed not to be "aggressive" in looking for drugs at the establishment and that "under no circumstances" should they ever check the bathrooms.

It was also during this time, the guards reported, that Owens stopped wearing his uniform when entering the club. He parked his vehicle, which was sometimes his county-issued patrol car, behind the establishment, the affidavit states.

In late August, investigators began sending confidential informants into La Zona to purchase different quantities of powdered cocaine.

In about a one-month period, confidential informants purchased cocaine from individuals inside the club at least seven times, according to the search warrant.

On one occasion, a sale took place 30 feet from the door of the club where "two off-duty deputies" were working.

During that alleged buy, the seller told the confidential informant he worked directly for Owens, who he referred to as "tha man."

The search warrant also makes references to prostitution within the establishment. On Aug. 31, a woman identified as "Lizzie" told the confidential informant $200 would buy a date with "the girls." Although Martin would not elaborate on the allegations of a prostitution ring within La Zona, he did confirm that investigators believed such activity had been going on there.

Attempts to contact Sheriff Hill for further comments were unsuccessful late Tuesday. Martin said he wanted to refrain from giving detailed comments about the investigation for fear of jeopardizing the integrity of the case. --- Search warrant highlights

Aug. 21, 2006 -- A confidential source tells sheriff's investigators and a Raleigh police detective that then Sheriff's Deputy Mike Owens and an accomplice bought $40,000 in counterfeit $100 bills for $10,000.

Aug. 31, 2006 -- A confidential source is sent into La Zona to attempt to buy drugs.

He is told to return the next night.

A woman working at the club, identified as "Lizzie," tells it costs "$200 for a 'date' with the girls."

Sept. 9, 2006 -- A second confidential source buys cocaine at the bar.

Sept. 16, 2006 -- The second confidential source again buys cocaine in La Zona and orders an "eight ball" of cocaine from another seller in La Zona.

Sept. 21, 2006 -- The second confidential source buys an "eight ball" just outside the front door of La Zona. Another drug dealer asks the source if he can buy the "eight ball." The source agrees and he and the dealer enter La Zona looking for a place to cut and repackage the cocaine.

They approach Owens who tells them to use the restroom because the back room was being used. A bartender, "Andrew," stands outside the restroom door to prevent anyone from entering while the cocaine is cut and repackaged.

Sept. 22, 2006 -- The second confidential source buys seven grams of cocaine in La Zona.

Sept. 28, 2006 -- The second confidential source meets "Chillo," "Andrew," and "Eric" inside La Zona, asks them for a half an ounce of cocaine but says he doesn't have money to pay for it. They give him a quarter ounce of cocaine and tell him they will give him the rest when he pays them the next day. They up the price from a total of $220 to $250 as a "fronting" charge.

Sept. 29, 2006 -- The second confidential source, wearing a listening device, returns to La Zona with the cash he's been given by police to pay for the cocaine.

The seller tells him he doesn't have enough to make up the second quarter ounce because a regular buyer needed some. The source seeks the full amount and is taken downstairs and led in front of a door from which "all the subjects came out yelling 'you can't be here,' and shut the door." Owens was seen coming up the stairs several minutes later.

The source is eventually provided 10 grams of cocaine.

--- WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR Authorities were looking for items ranging from drugs to electronic devices when they obtained a search warrant for La Zona nightclub at 2825 N. Roxboro Road on Oct. 13.

Property to be seized: -- Any quantity of illegal drugs or paraphernalia used to make, sell, deliver or use drugs -- Papers, documents, keys or other evidence to show ownership of the premises - -- Computer systems -- Items including tapes, cassettes, cartridges, computer disk drives, monitors, printers, modems, digital imaging cameras, equipment used to make identification cards or counterfeit bills People to be searched: -- Deputy Sheriff Michael Owens -- Hispanic males going by the names of Miguel, Chillo, Andrew, Eric, Jose and Flaco -- Anyone in La Zona who is in daily operation of the business or in apparent control of it Vehicles to be searched: -- Red Chevrolet Z71 truck, N.C. registration -- Dark color Ford Expedition, N.C. registration VYB 6739 -- Champagne color Cadillac Escalade, N.C. registration VXP 8324 -- Dark blue Ford Explorer, N.C. temporary tag - -- Black Cadillac Escalade, N.C. registration KATRACHA -- Dark green Toyota Sequoia, N.C. registration VWR 4276 -- Silver Ford Mustang, N.C. temporary tag TP 41974 -- White Ford Mustang with blue top


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It is disgusting how politicians, and the media fall prey to such obvious corruption! The entire world has stopped to focus on this alleged crime, when REAL crimes are being committed by LE, and not discussed and hidden!

The most recent involvement of deputies caught with trafficking in women for prostitution, murder for hire, drug trafficking, counterfeiting, and who knows what else, and they are "just," fired?!

The Sheriff is more furious over the officer's working overtime in nightclubs, versus, being outright gangsters with badges?!?!

Then, to allow them to police themselves?! Do you honestly think they will be forthwith, and charge these rogue men?!?!

I am disgusted at such behavior, and appalled to know they will get away with it, unless the citizen's unite, and MAKE the change!!!!

LE manipulates the media to their advantage, and contort truth's and fact's.....The FACT is they were caught on tape, yet still are not being prosecuted?!?!

What about these women they kept as slaves for prostitution?! What "right's," do they have?! Will these men be allowed to get away without any penalty of prosecution?! What about the citizen's on the "hit list," have they been informed?!

I cannot believe the world's media would be more fixated on prosecuting innocent people, while LE run the city like the mafia!!!

They have used the "alleged rape case," to act as a way to distract people from the real crimes being committed, and not only un-attended to, but blatantly allowing LE to become worse than the people they arrest!!!

I pray that these men will be held accountable, and that the Sheriff will also be fired, because there is no way he would not have known, and either way, shows just how inept he is, and where his concerns lie, and it's not with the citizen's whose lives they have ruined, and snuffed out!!!

Spread this REAL scandal across the world! Let us all see just how blind justice is in Durham!!!!!

AND, it's citizens, if you do nothing to make them accountable, and show you want a community where you can trust LE, not like these gangsters, who have used their power to engage in such criminal and vial acts against humanity!!!!
:behindbar