Pubdate: Fri, 29 Sep 2006
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Copyright: 2006 The Des Moines Register.
Contact:  http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123
Author: Abby Simons, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

WILTON MAYOR FACES DRUG CHARGES

The mayor of Wilton has been jailed on drug trafficking charges 
following a yearlong investigation by the Iowa Division of Narcotics 
Enforcement that revealed inter-county dealing in marijuana.

Richard Summy, 56, was arrested in Iowa City on Thursday morning on a 
warrant from Polk County. He remains in the Polk County Jail on 
felony charges of conspiracy to deliver marijuana and drug tax stamp violation.

Summy has served as mayor of Wilton, a southeastern Iowa city north 
of Muscatine, for the past three years, City Councilman Ted Glenney said.

"I'm just totally shocked. I've known Dick for a number of years and 
would never have expected something like this," Glenney said. "I 
think he's a good man, and I'll just leave it at that."

In a January 2006 decision by the Iowa Supreme Court, Summy 
successfully sued the city of Des Moines after he was hit in the eye 
by a golf ball while playing at the Waveland Golf Course in June 
2000, leaving him seriously injured. Summy received $217,000 from the city.

Brad Thompson, special agent in charge for the Division of Narcotics 
Enforcement, said the multiagency investigation involving Summy's 
arrest is continuing. He said the investigation originated in Polk 
County and has involved apparent marijuana dealings in eastern and 
central Iowa.

Thompson confirmed that Summy's arrest involved significant 
quantities of the drug. "Yes, we're speaking about pound quantities 
of marijuana," he said.

Thompson said Summy's arrest does not mean the case is closed. "I do 
expect there will be additional arrests later on in this 
investigation. As to the exact timing, we are not certain," he said.

City Council members have not yet met to determine Summy's fate as 
mayor. Glenney said some concerns now hinge on the council's ability 
to do its job. About 2,800 people live in Wilton.

Summy was also in the middle of controversy last March when 
then-Wilton Police Chief Steve Mallinger resigned in protest after 
Summy refused to reinstate police officer Todd Jansen, who was 
suspended for an unrelated incident several months after he made a 
traffic stop in which City Councilman Keith Stanley was later charged 
with operating while intoxicated.

Teri Carson, who lives four houses down from Summy, sat in the 
council chambers only months ago complaining about how the council 
decreased the number of police officers from five to four. "It's just 
a little ironic, don't you think, that he's the one who sat in 
council meetings and told us we were out of line, that there was no 
crime in Wilton," she said.

A married father of two, Summy is a sales representative for Gerdau 
Ameristeel, a steel producer. He reportedly was in Iowa City closing 
a sale for his job at the time of the arrest.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman