Pubdate: Wed, 03 May 2000 Source: Topeka Capital-Journal (KS) Copyright: 2000 The Topeka Capital-Journal Contact: 616 S.E. Jefferson, Topeka, Kansas 66607 Website: http://cjonline.com/ Author: Steve Fry TWO DEPUTIES HANDED LEAVE Two supervisors of the Shawnee County sheriff's narcotics unit, each with more than 20 years of experience in law enforcement, were placed on administrative leave Monday following a two-month internal affairs investigation linked to the sheriff's department drug scandal, county spokesmen said Tuesday. One deputy, Lt. Larry Crady, who led the special services-narcotics unit and detective unit, resigned immediately, said Sgt. Marsha Bryant, sheriff's department spokeswoman. A deputy normally gives notice of at least two weeks, but Sheriff Dick Barta waived the notification in Crady's case, she said. The second deputy is Sgt. Earl Busey, who is the narcotics unit supervisor, Bryant said. Busey remains on administrative leave with pay "at this time," she said. County counselor Rich Eckert said placing Busey and Crady on administrative leave "does have to do with the sheriff's department drug scandal, but until we get the investigation done, I don't want to say anything." The suspensions are "the result of an ongoing internal affairs investigation," Bryant said, initiated by Barta when he entered office in February. Barta was appointed by Gov. Bill Graves to replace Sheriff Dave Meneley after two district judges ruled Feb. 24 to oust Meneley from the sheriff's post. The judges found Meneley had committed perjury on two occasions and concealment on one occasion. Meneley had denied knowledge about former deputy Timothy P. Oblander's use of illegal drugs. Eckert declined to specify what the internal affairs investigation centered on, saying only that the probe started after "certain facts came to our attention." Bryant also declined to reveal the nature of the investigation. In October, a report -- compiled by Crady and members of the sheriff's special services unit -- was released that named another former deputy as the suspect in the disappearance of cocaine evidence stolen from the sheriff's department in 1994. That disappearance sparked the scandal that led to Meneley's ouster; the filing of criminal charges against Meneley, three deputies and a former deputy; the dismissal of some drug cases and the overturning of others; and the continuing departmental shake-up. In October, Shawnee County District Attorney Joan Hamilton dismissed the nine-month investigative report, calling it a "witch hunt" designed to exonerate Meneley and falsely accuse another. When called at his Shawnee County home Tuesday, Crady confirmed that he had retired from the sheriff's department but declined to comment on the case or the earlier administrative leave. Busey didn't return a phone message. Besides Crady and Busey, sheriff's department officials talked to a third deputy Monday, but no disciplinary action was taken with that deputy "at this time," said Eckert, who declined to identify the third officer. Crady, a deputy since Nov. 1, 1975, earned $22.96 an hour, or $47,757 a year, and Busey, a deputy since Jan. 2, 1980, receives $22.31 an hour, or $46,405 a year, Bryant said. Crady is the fifth officer to leave the sheriff's department as a result of the drug scandal. Others who have left are Meneley; Sgt. Frank Good, who faces charges of two counts of perjury and was fired April 20; Oblander, who resigned Feb. 26, 1999, and was charged April 2, 1999, with six counts of perjury and one count of official misconduct but later entered a plea agreement; and Undersheriff Bill Huffmier, who is charged with misdemeanor theft and criminal threat and who was fired the same day Meneley was ousted. - --- MAP posted-by: Greg