Pubdate: Tue, 07 Aug 2001
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2001 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Author: Mark Bowes
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption)

CITY DEPUTY SHERIFF ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING DRUGS INTO JAIL

A veteran Richmond sheriff's deputy has been charged with distributing 
crack cocaine and heroin - drugs that authorities say were earmarked for 
inmates inside the city jail.

Ronald E. Monroe, 49, a city deputy sheriff since 1978, was arrested after 
he allegedly took delivery of a "fairly large quantity" of drugs during a 
police sting operation on July 25, said Lt. Col. Alan Roehm of the Richmond 
Sheriff's Office. Monroe was paid to smuggle the drugs into the city jail, 
Roehm said.

"We had information [from a jail informer] that he had been delivering 
drugs into the jail," Roehm said.

"And as a result of that, our investigators worked with the Richmond police 
narcotics unit, and they set up a sting to have an undercover officer 
deliver him the quantity of drugs and pay him $300 for bringing the drugs 
to an inmate."

Monroe, who has been fired, was charged with one count each of distribution 
of cocaine, distribution of heroin, delivering drugs to an inmate and 
possession of a firearm while in possession of drugs. He has been released 
on bond pending a hearing Friday in Richmond General District Court.

Investigators believe Monroe, who worked in the jail's legal library, had 
been smuggling drugs into the jail for some time, Roehm said. But it was 
unclear how much was smuggled inside and over what period of time, he said.

Two years ago, deputy sheriff Alvin C. Blake was charged with possession of 
heroin and marijuana with the intent to distribute it after a six-month 
investigation.

After identifying Blake as a suspect, department investigators set up 
surveillance cameras and coordinated a sting operation in the jail's 
parking lot. He was sentenced last year to two years in prison. After he 
was arrested, Blake acknowledged bringing drugs into the jail on seven to 
nine occasions. Inmates told investigators that it was 10 times that number.

The sheriff's office encountered a similar situation in November 1996 when 
a nurse at the jail was arrested on charges of distributing drugs to inmates.
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