Pubdate: Tue, 22 Feb 2005
Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN)
Copyright: 2005 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
Contact:  http://www.knoxnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/226
Author: Jamie Satterfield
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

CAMPBELL OFFICERS TO PLEAD GUILTY

Prosecutor Says He Will Ask Judge to Put Them in Jail Pending
Sentencing

Four Campbell County lawmen will plead guilty this week to the beating
and torture of a drug dealer, and federal prosecutors will ask a judge
to put them behind bars pending sentencing.

A court date for a fifth Campbell County Sheriff's Department employee
accused in the two-hour attack on Lester Eugene Siler has not yet been
set.

David Webber, 40, who headed narcotics investigations for Campbell
County and is accused of being the ringleader in the alleged torture,
is set to plead guilty today to an information charging him with
conspiracy to violate Siler's civil rights.

Samuel Franklin, 42, a veteran detective at the agency and head of its
D.A.R.E. program, is scheduled to plead guilty Wednesday, court
records show. Rookie Deputy Joshua Monday, 24, and process server
Shayne Green, 35, are expected to plead guilty Thursday, according to
records.

The four lawmen and part-time process server William Carroll, 26, were
named in federal informations filed earlier this month in U.S.
District Court. They are accused of beating and torturing Siler, 42,
last July after showing up at his house in the White Oak community to
serve a violation of probation warrant.

Part of the alleged attack was captured on an audiotape after Siler's
wife, Jenny, stashed a tape recorder in the kitchen. An FBI transcript
of the tape revealed in chilling detail how Siler was threatened,
beaten and tortured, with deputies demanding two things from him: that
he sign a form to show he agreed for his house to be searched and that
he turn over to them all his cash and drugs.

Attorneys for Webber and Franklin have filed motions asking federal
Judge Tom Varlan to allow their clients to remain free pending
sentencing hearings, which will be set after the pair enter their
guilty pleas.

An attorney for Monday, who is not charged in the conspiracy but
instead is accused of a separate count of pointing a gun at Siler and
threatening to shoot him during Siler's ordeal, also wants his client
freed until he is sentenced.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Atchley contends none of the men
deserve - under federal law - their freedom.

Attorney Lee Asbury argues in his motion that Webber, who lives in
Anderson County, "has no prior criminal record" and "has never missed
or been late for an appointment with the U.S. Attorney."

Webber, Asbury insists, should be allowed his freedom because "he has
at all times cooperated with the United States Attorney, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Justice."

Asbury's motion does not note, however, that Webber is accused in
state court charges of lying to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
in that agency's initial investigation of the incident.

Green, Monday and Franklin also are charged in state court with
perjury. The four also face charges in Campbell County Criminal Court
of official oppression. District Attorney General Paul Phillips has
said state court charges likely will be dropped if the men wind up
imprisoned in the federal case. Federal penalties are higher than any
that might be handed out in state court, he has said.

Franklin's attorney, Andrew S. Roskind, contends Franklin only went to
Siler's house at the request of Webber. Franklin, Roskind says, asked
Siler's wife and son to leave the house and, along with the other four
lawmen, demanded Siler sign the consent form.

"After making the request, Mr. Franklin threatened Mr. Siler with the
use of a slapjack and breaking Mr. Siler's fingers," Roskind wrote.
"Mr. Franklin never carried through with either threat nor did he
allow one of the other four to use his slapjack or break Mr. Siler's
fingers.

"Unfortunately and regrettably, although Mr. Franklin never physically
harmed Mr. Siler, he failed to stop the other individuals from
inflicting further harm and injury," Roskind continued.

Roskind contends in his motion that Franklin has served both Campbell
County and his country - he was once in the military - admirably and
deserves freedom pending sentencing because of that.

Monday's attorney, Dennis Francis, writes that his client has no prior
criminal history and would agree to be electronically monitored if
allowed to remain free.

Atchley counters that none of the men are entitled to
freedom.

All, he wrote, will plead guilty to a "crime of violence" for which
federal law requires immediate detention. The only exceptions to that
law, Atchley noted, would come if the case against them was weak or
the lawmen were likely to receive probation.

"The exceptions do not apply," Atchley wrote, indicating that he will
indeed seek prison terms for the men.

As for Franklin, Atchley contends Franklin's service to Campbell
County and the military does not set him apart from the garden-variety
criminal.

"Even painting the defendant's employment history and military service
in the best possible light, it seems a bit of a stretch to state that
these make his personal character out of the ordinary, uncommon and
rare," Atchley wrote. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake