Pubdate: Tue, 04 Dec 2012
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Justin Berton
Page: C1

COP PLANS TO PLEAD GUILTY IN DRUG CASE

The former commander of an elite Contra Costa County police squad 
will plead guilty this week to charges that he stole narcotics from 
evidence lockers and tried to sell them back on the street with the 
help of a private investigator, court records show.

Under a plea deal filed Monday in federal court, Norman Wielsch, 51, 
will admit to five charges in a 2011 federal indictment in exchange 
for a lighter sentence. The charges allege that he stole marijuana 
and methamphetamines, falsely arrested a suspected drug dealer, and 
stole cash and cell phones from prostitutes, his attorney said.

The terms of the deal require Wielsch to agree not to argue for fewer 
than 10 years in prison when he is sentenced by a judge in February, 
his attorney, Michael Cardoza, said. Wielsch was facing more than 25 
years behind bars. Federal guidelines recommend that he serve 14 to 
17 years, but the judge has wide discretion on the length.

"After a full evaluation of all the evidence," Cardoza said, "he 
decided that it would be in his and his family's best interest to 
plead guilty."

Before his arrest, Wielsch was an agent with the state Bureau of 
Narcotics Enforcement for 12 years, and most recently served as 
commander of the Central Costa County Narcotics Enforcement Team, an 
elite multi-agency team that conducted drug raids and shut down 
prostitution rings.

The change of plea ends one story line in a saga that began in 
February 2011, when authorities arrested Wielsch and his friend, 
Concord private investigator Christopher Butler, 51.

Those arrests came after one of Butler's most trusted employees wore 
a concealed wire and video recorded the two men making a drug deal. 
The video appeared to show Wielsch counting money and voicing 
concerns about selling confiscated drugs.

Butler, who pleaded guilty in September and is serving an eight-year 
prison term, earlier told authorities about a raft of dirty deeds 
that allegedly involved four other local lawmen.

The ensuing investigation led to the imprisonment of Wielsch's 
second-in-command, San Ramon officer Louis Lombardi, 40, for stealing 
cash and drugs from crime scenes and lifting two stolen guns. Two 
Richmond police officers with ties to Butler were sentenced in August 
on charges that they illegally purchased guns for minors and tried to 
obstruct a federal investigation.

And former Contra Costa County Deputy Sheriff StephenTanabe, 48, has 
pleaded not guilty to charges that he participated in Butler's "dirty 
DUI" stings, where prosecutors say the officer arrested men who were 
targeted and set up for drunken driving arrests. His trial is pending.

In addition, Butler told authorities that Wielsch assisted him when 
he opened a Pleasant Hill massage parlor to front for a brothel. The 
private eye said Wielsch shared in the profits and used his law 
enforcement position to protect the operation, while ordering raids 
on competing brothels.

Cardoza said his client's alleged connection to the parlor was not 
among the charges he'll admit to Wednesday, when he is scheduled to 
appear in an Oakland courtroom before he is taken into custody.

"He spent the weekend with his church group," Cardoza said. "He 
understands from that day on he will be serving a lengthy amount of 
time for the crimes he committed."

In interviews after his arrest, Wielsch said he was deeply stressed 
from his job when he decided to steal the drugs and regretted the 
dishonor he brought to law enforcement.

"Norm certainly hopes other police officers are paying attention to 
what went on in this situation," Cardoza said, "and if they are ever 
tempted to do anything that they give it a second thought and not do it."
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