Pubdate: Thu, 15 Jun 2006
Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2006 Fayetteville Observer
Contact:  http://www.fayettevillenc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150
Author: Greg Barnes
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

EX-DEPUTIES DENIED BAIL IN THEFTS

A federal judge ordered two former Robeson County deputies detained 
until they are tried on charges of stealing money seized in drug 
operations, threatening suspects and committing arson.

The former deputies -- C.T. Strickland and Roger Taylor -- were named 
in a 10-count indictment that was unsealed Friday. A detention 
hearing for Steven Lovin, another former deputy also named in the 
indictment, was postponed until Monday.

The detention hearing for Strickland and Taylor was held Wednesday at 
the federal courthouse in Fayetteville.

Family members of Strickland and Taylor gasped and cried when U.S. 
District Judge James Gates announced that the two men would be 
detained because he considered them a flight risk and a potential 
danger to the community. Strickland and Taylor have been held in 
isolation from other prisoners since their arrests Friday morning. 
Officials would not say where they were being held. Their lawyers 
argued that they would be safer and better off if allowed to be free 
until trial.

Strickland, 39, and Taylor, 36, are accused of wrongdoing while 
working as sheriff's deputies from 1995 until they left the 
department -- for different reasons -- in 2003. They were indicted by 
a grand jury after a 3 1/2-year state and federal investigation 
called Operation Tarnished Badge. In arguing for their detention, 
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wes Camden said hundreds of witnesses came 
forward with evidence against the deputies. He said one witness 
received three threatening telephone calls shortly after the deputies 
were arrested: "Bang, bang, you're dead," "You can run but you can't 
hide," and, "You won't never make it to trial to testify." Camden 
said the caller used a voice-altering device when making the calls. 
Before Gates ordered the men detained, Camden outlined the 
government's case against them.

In 1997, Camden said, Strickland and Taylor were among deputies who 
used violence to remove people from the home of Hubert Ray Locklear, 
who is now a convicted drug dealer, and then burned the home to the 
ground. Lovin also participated in the arson, the indictment says.

The next year, Camden said, Taylor conspired with others to burn 
Lewis Vernon's home and pawnshop. The home was occupied at the time. 
Camden said Taylor paid someone $1,600 for helping to burn the home 
and used about 25 pounds of marijuana as payment for burning the 
pawnshop. The 29-page indictment shows that Taylor faces six counts 
of distributing cocaine or marijuana.

Strickland, Taylor and Lovin are accused of stealing tens of 
thousands of dollars from drug-operation seizures along Interstate 
95. The three are accused of falsifying vouchers to steal the money.

Strickland, who headed the sheriff's drug enforcement division, is 
accused of stealing $11,000 from Daniel Watts in a common-law robbery 
at Watts' home. The indictment says that Strickland threatened to 
harm Watts. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Bradsher said Strickland 
and Taylor could face life in prison if convicted. But Strickland's 
lawyer, James Parish, said Strickland faces a maximum of 20 years. 
Strickland is named in far fewer counts than Taylor.

Parish and Taylor's lawyer, Joe Zeszotarski, argued that their 
clients are accused of alleged crimes that occurred years ago. Both 
have been working in the community since leaving the Sheriff's Office 
and are not flight risks, the lawyers said.

Zeszotarski put Taylor's mother on the stand. Mary Taylor said her 
son was active in church and had worked since age 16 for the 
Lumberton Rescue Squad, once serving as its commander. Mary Taylor 
said her son was also a member of the N.C. Resuce Task Force and was 
among the first people to help Hurricane Katrina victims in New 
Orleans. She said he helped evacuate 200 people from a hospital.

Strickland's wife, Paula, called her husband a hard worker. She said 
their daughter is getting married this weekend. A Taylor family 
friend and neighbor, Donna Barden, said she has known Roger Taylor 
all of his life. "He's just a good boy," Barden said after the 
hearing. "It's just not Roger to be that way." Training cited Judge 
Gates said he ordered the men detained until trial partly because 
their law enforcement training and experience increases their 
potential risk of flight and threat to the community. He said the 
gravity of the charges and the weight of the evidence also favored 
detention. Strickland resigned from the Sheriff's Office in June 2003 
after he was accused of falsifying information used to get a search 
warrant and his credibility as a deputy came into question.

Taylor and Detective James Jacobs were arrested on conspiracy and 
obstruction of justice charges in September 2003. The two were 
accused of allowing a convicted felon to carry a weapon during a 
sting operation and then trying to impede an SBI investigation into 
the incident. Taylor was the commander of the Sheriff's Office 
communications division at the time. He was awaiting trial on the 
charges when he was arrested Friday.
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