Pubdate: Sat, 26 Jan 2008
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact: http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html
Website: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ARMY RANGERS SNARED IN STING

Three U.S. Army Rangers and another soldier were charged Friday with 
drug conspiracy after agreeing to an undercover scheme that involved 
the armed robbery of purported cocaine traffickers.

When three of the men --- Carlos Lopez, 30, Stefan Andre Champagne, 
28, and David Ray White, 28, all staff sergeants --- were arrested 
Thursday, they had an assault rifle, semi-automatic pistols, 15 
magazines of ammunition, a TASER, a ski mask and a medic kit. The 
soldiers, two of whom were armed, were taken by surprise and arrested 
by agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 
Explosives' SWAT team and Sandy Springs police officers.

The other soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Randy Spivey, a 32-year-old Ranger 
instructor who has been in the Army since October 1997, was arrested Friday.

The four men were stationed at a Ranger training facility, Camp Frank 
D. Merrill in Dahlonega. Lopez, White and Spivey are Rangers, and 
Champagne is a medic. The men's hometowns were not available.

If convicted, all four face mandatory minimum 15-year prison 
sentences --- 10 years for the drug conspiracy plus five more years 
for the weapons charge.

"It is a sad day when members of one of America's most elite corps of 
soldiers, the Army Rangers, are alleged to have become involved in 
criminal activity," said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias. "These men were 
trained to defend the people and principles of this country, not to 
use their skills to steal cocaine from drug dealers at gunpoint."

In an affidavit unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, an 
ATF special agent said the soldiers were targeted after the bureau 
learned in November there were soldiers who wanted to rob drug 
traffickers. Central to the arrest was the undercover ATF agent 
posing as someone who was routinely hired by Mexican cocaine dealers 
to help them protect their drug houses.

The ATF agent, Brett Turner, first met with Lopez in November. He 
told Lopez he had become disenchanted with the drug ring when it had 
refused to front him several kilograms of cocaine. Now, Turner said, 
he wanted to rob the drug ring of at least 25 kilograms of cocaine 
and needed help from people the drug dealers did not associate with 
him, the affidavit said.

Earlier this month, Lopez and Champagne met with Turner and agreed to 
help him rob Turner's "employer," the affidavit said. "The next step, 
I explained, was for me to meet everyone who was going to 
participate, so I could be sure that everything 'checked out' and 
that everyone was trustworthy," Turner said in his affidavit.

On Jan. 15, all four soldiers met with Turner. Turner discussed plans 
for the armed robbery and put them on notice they needed to be 
well-armed, the affidavit said. At least one armed guard named "Oso" 
would be at the stash house, Turner told the soldiers.

The soldiers, the affidavit said, wanted details: How were they going 
to get to the drug house? How many armed guards would be there? Where 
would the cocaine be hidden? Were there any obstacles that might 
hinder a quick entry into the house?

"Spivey interjected that he was an expert in urban assault and that 
details about the house and location of the armed personnel were 
important," Turner wrote in his affidavit.

On Wednesday, Turner called Lopez and told him a shipment of cocaine 
would arrive on Thursday. Lopez, White and Champagne then went to 
Buckhead and spent the night in a hotel there, which had been 
arranged by Turner, the affidavit said.

Shortly after noon on Thursday, Turner met with Lopez, White and 
Champagne to discuss their plans. At that point, Turner asked why 
Spivey wasn't there.

Lopez said Spivey was their boss and that the three Rangers could not 
have taken the day off without Spivey covering for them. "Lopez 
assured me that Spivey was still part of the team; he was simply 
playing a different role" and would still get his share of the 
cocaine, Turner said in the affidavit.

Turner told the men he needed to make a phone call. Within moments, 
the Rangers had been arrested without incident, the affidavit said.

Scott Sweetow, ATF acting special agent in charge, on Friday called 
the charges "an isolated incident." But he said the four "are grown 
men --- all of them non-commissioned officers. They came into it 
heavily armed and with their eyes wide open."

Monica Managanaro, spokeswoman for Fort Benning, the base and 
training center for the Rangers, said the Army was cooperating with 
the investigation 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake