DEA agent on trial, accused of working with lying informant to concoct bogus drug cases

http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2017/04/dea_agent_on_trial_accused_of.html

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Testimony in a civil trial began Tuesday for a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent accused of misconduct in a series of botched cases in Mansfield that landed a man in prison for 18 months for a drug deal in which he did not participate.

Mansfield resident Joshawa Webb filed suit against agent Lee Lucas and others for a decade-old drug case in which he was charged.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office dropped the case against Webb in 2007, along with those of several other people ensnared in a federal crack-cocaine investigation known as Operation Turnaround. A paid informant named Jerrell Bray admitted to staging phone calls and identifying the wrong people when setting up drug deals on behalf of federal agents.

Lucas was indicted in 2009 and a jury acquitted him in 2010 on accusations that he lied on written reports and in court to corroborate Bray’s testimony. Webb’s lawsuit has been pending since 2007 and finally made it to trial this week after appeals and court battles. A jury was picked Monday.

Bray admitted in that he used his friend, Jeremiah Conrad, as a stand-in for Webb during a drug deal. Lucas posed as a drug user and took part in a controlled buy and later said Webb was the one who sold him the drugs, even though Conrad is noticeably shorter and leaner than Webb.

Jon Loevy, Webb’s attorney, said in his opening statements Tuesday that he is asking the jury to decide whether Bray was fooling the DEA or whether they knew and, at the very least, turned a blind eye. He said his client has never sold crack cocaine, though he has convictions for dealing marijuana and severely beating his stepfather.

“You can’t just lie to make drug cases. And that’s what happened in Operation Turnaround,” Loevy said.

He listed several reasons why the jury should not be swayed by any arguments Lucas might make that Bray fooled him, including accusations that Lucas concealed his informant’s own drug crimes.

Lucas maintains his innocence. His attorney Thomas Roth said Bray concocted his story to sidestep an attempted murder case in Cleveland at that time. 

Roth read from a transcript of Lucas’ criminal trial where Bray testified that he went to federal authorities because “I was trying to get myself out of trouble, so I was lying, sir.”

The attorney said Webb and Bray were friends. He also said Webb, at one point, admitted he was guilty of the drug conspiracy charge in his indictment.

Roth said that Loevy’s description of the DEA agent “is not the Lee Lucas I know.”

Webb is also suing retired Richland County Sheriff’s Office detective Charles Metcalf. Metcalf pleaded guilty in 2009 violating the civil rights of Dwayne Nabors, the owner of a car detail shop. He testified against Lucas at the agent’s criminal trial.

Michael Heimlich, an attorney representing Metcalf, said his client’s role was limited and that Metcalf was not involved in the drug deal that resulted in Webb’s arrest. He said the detective was on scene for backup in case anything happened.

Heimlich told the jury that Loevy has been careless with the facts of the case.

The trial could last for several weeks.

Lucas’ trial has been the talk of the federal courthouse this week, as many who worked with him still remember the burly career drug agent. He was heralded by his fellow law enforcement officers for having a tireless work ethic. During his time. He worked closely with the Cleveland police department’s narcotics unit.

Lucas was suspended for 45 days for failing to include all required information in reports in cases against two suspects.

Bray died in September 2012 at the age of 40, while he was in the middle of serving more than 13 years in prison for lying during the operation.

Herman Price, another man whose case was to be tried along with Webb’s, settled Monday with defendants in Richland County. Loevy, who also represented Price, refused to discuss the settlement terms, as did an attorney representing the Sheriff’s Office.

Richard County Sheriff’s Major Joe Masi referred a cleveland.com reporter to the attorney. When asked for a copy of the settlement agreement, he said the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t have one.

 

Filed under: General Problems