SARASOTA -- A 19-year police veteran resigned during an internal investigation after he failed a random drug test. Sarasota police Officer Mark DeFraties wrote in a letter to Chief Peter Abbott this year that his job was the most important thing in his life. DeFraties wrote, "I throw myself at your mercy and hope you are able to forgive me as well." DeFraties admitted to smoking marijuana on Christmas Day. The department held random drug screenings the next day, and DeFraties told his supervisor that he would fail the test. [continues 225 words]
Lawsuit Claims Officer Should Have Called EMTs SARASOTA COUNTY -- Deputy Gabriel Eckert stopped in a shopping center parking lot and noticed a 21-year-old man apparently passed out in the passenger seat of a Jeep, with mucus coming from his nose. Eckert tapped on the window with his flashlight and got no response. He spent about 15 seconds there, then sent a digital communication to other deputies: "U SHOULD C THIS 1 ... HE IS CLOSER TO DEAD ... NICE, JUST WHO U WANT DRIVING AROUND AT NITE." [continues 481 words]
You don't hear much about the nation's "war on drugs" these days. It's a has-been, a glamourless geezer, a holdover from bygone days. Its glitz has been stolen by the "war on terror," which gets the news media hype and campaign trail rhetoric. Railing against recreational drug use and demanding that offenders be locked away is so '90s. But the drug war proceeds, mostly away from news cameras and photo-ops, still chewing up federal and state resources and casting criminal sanctions over entire neighborhoods. Some four or so decades into an intensive effort to stamp out recreational drug use, billions of dollars have been spent; thousands of criminals, many of them foreigners, have been enriched; and hundreds of thousands of Americans have been imprisoned. And the use of illegal substances continues unabated. [continues 517 words]
Miami-Based Group Used Homes In Secluded Areas, Officials Say SARASOTA COUNTY -- Deputies raided two marijuana grow houses this week in rural homes east of Interstate 75 that authorities say are connected to a Cuban drug ring based in the Miami area. The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has busted 18 grow houses with Cuban homeowners or tenants in North Port since April, and say this week's busts have another key similarity. "They're looking for areas that offer some seclusion," said Capt. Jeff Bell of the Sheriff's Office. [continues 393 words]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- State officials say prescription drugs accounted for nearly three-fourths of the 7,741 overdose deaths in Florida last year. The statistic was presented to Gov. Charlie Crist and the state Cabinet at a drug abuse seminar Tuesday. "I guess it has this cloak of legality about it because they're made by a legitimate company instead of grown in somebody's field somewhere," Crist said. "Nevertheless it's just as detrimental, can be just as destructive, so we again just have to work that much harder." The Florida Department of Law Enforcement also released numbers showing 3,980 autopsied bodies in the first six months of 2007 had one or more drugs in their system, mostly prescription drugs at lethal and non-lethal levels. [end]
DELRAY BEACH -- Whitney Tower, 56, a scion of the Whitney, Vanderbilt and Drexel fortunes, squandered his trust fund and sold family treasures to support a $1,000-a-day heroin habit before landing in a tough-love facility near here seven years ago and never leaving. "If I went back to New York I'd be dead in two weeks," he said. In some ways Tower, who spent three decades in and out of treatment, remains a creature of his pedigree. He favors foppish linen suits and drops names of the fast crowd he once ran with. [continues 1331 words]
Authorities Say Drug Cultivators Are Keeping Their Crops Small to Avoid Felony Charges Marijuana cultivators in Southwest Florida know that numbers are a very important component to their business plan. But instead of focusing on the bottom line, they are planting smaller crops to skirt drug trafficking laws -- and bypass potential prison time. Law enforcement officials say drug traffickers' savvy has made it harder to prosecute them, contributing to the proliferation of marijuana "grow houses" in the area. But help in the fight against the facilities may be on the way. The Florida attorney general and two state lawmakers have created legislation to stiffen the penalty for marijuana cultivation, lowering the number of plants needed to charge someone with drug trafficking, a first-degree felony. [continues 624 words]
Manatee's Samoset Community Gets Improvement Plan MANATEE COUNTY -- Virginia Facundo's predawn walk to work takes her a mere three blocks through Samoset, a mostly residential neighborhood. Yet that walk is more dangerous than it sounds. Crime is a problem here, but the streets themselves are the more immediate hazard. They are unlighted and too narrow for two-way traffic. Instead of sidewalks, they are lined by deep ditches often filled with standing water. Drivers seem oblivious and regularly zoom by. [continues 564 words]
SARASOTA COUNTY -- The Florida Supreme Court has suspended a criminal defense attorney who tested positive for cocaine and opiates after a circuit judge forced him to take a drug test. The emergency suspension of Lawrence R. Diamond, 50, is delaying about 30 pending cases in which he represented defendants, including several charged with cocaine trafficking or possession. Several of his clients say they paid Diamond to represent them and have not been able to contact him since, according to Florida Bar records. [continues 353 words]
BRADENTON -- Drug needles were scattered around the house and the refrigerator did not work. Rotten food clung to dirty dishes. A notice on the door said the power was about to be turned off. The authorities called the living conditions at Luz M. Jaime's house in Bradenton deplorable, and Manatee County sheriff's investigators arrested Jaime, 40, on a child neglect charge. A few miles away, Jaime's 11-year-old daughter was living at a reputed safe-haven for prostitutes. Jaime knew the man running the escort service there, and she believed her daughter would be safe in his company. [continues 821 words]
Plan Would Save Money by Moving Inmates to Work Release or Other Programs TALLAHASSEE -- Facing a bad economy that will require lawmakers to cut $1 billion or more from the state budget in a special session next month, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Legislature are looking for significant ways to reduce spending. James McDonough has a plan to do just that. But the political consequences may be more than Crist and the Legislature are prepared to deal with. McDonough, who heads Florida's Department of Corrections, wants to reduce hard time for thousands of the state's inmates. [continues 969 words]
State Attorney Can Show Independence in Police Scandal The local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union isn't the first and likely won't be the last to raise questions about how authorities should investigate alleged misconduct by three recently departed Bradenton police officers. It's important to clarify the direction now to ensure the probe is fair, thorough and as beyond reproach as possible. ACLU officials want the local state attorney's office to recuse itself from the investigation and ask Gov. Charlie Crist to assign it to a prosecutor elsewhere in the state. [continues 332 words]
Does moving open-air drug markets from one Manatee County neighborhood to the next constitute a drug war victory? Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime; it fuels crime. Drug policy should focus not on the Sisyphean task of eliminating drugs, but rather on reducing the death, disease, crime and suffering associated with both drug abuse and enforcement. [continues 67 words]
Roadblock In Troubled Neighborhood Helps, But More Is Needed When the Sheriff's Office barricaded an entrance to a drug-riddled southeastern Manatee County neighborhood this spring, longtime community activist Remonia Lewis was one of many people who said it was worth a try. But, she cautioned, "You're not going to change anything until you get rid of the people who are causing all the problems." The warning is still appropriate, three months into the experiment. The Sheriff's Office and some residents say the effort has driven away drug dealers, but other residents are skeptical of the results and critical of the inconvenience. [continues 170 words]
SARASOTA -- A 65-year-old Arkansas woman is suing the sheriff, saying a deputy slammed her to the ground during a raid at the Sarasota house where she was staying. Patsy Croom came to visit her son in Sarasota when his wife died in 2004, and she was sunning herself in the yard when the raid started, the federal lawsuit filed this week states. Earlier in the day, an undercover U.S. Postal Service investigator came up to her as she watered flowers and asked her to sign for a package, Croom's lawsuit states. [continues 148 words]
BRADENTON - On May 30, a woman in jail on prostitution charges was pulled from her cell by a Bradenton police internal affairs officer and taken to police headquarters, according to jail records. For three hours, Dawn Marie Gibson said she described to the investigators how she had sex numerous times with on-duty Bradenton police officers in a patrol car, at a substation and in alleyways. She said the officers gave her money and crack cocaine and offered her protection from arrest in exchange for the sex acts. The head of the police department's internal affairs division acknowledged that Gibson was taken from jail and interviewed. [continues 810 words]
Has fighting terrorism caused the FBI to shift its focus sharply away from domestic organized crime, white-collar crime and drug crime? If so, is that shift in the nation's interests? An inquiring Justice Department and Congress should want to know. Any examination of changes in priorities since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, should first recognize that the FBI plays a vital role in deterring terrorism. In fact, had national security officials paid more attention to warnings by FBI agents, the calamity of 9/11 might have been avoided. [continues 256 words]
YMCA Program At Pride Park Offers Alternatives For Those Living In At-Risk Area MANATEE COUNTY -- Jerry Parrish scoured the Pride Park neighborhood last week to round up kids cruising and hanging out on the streets. "Hey, you want to play flag football?" a bubbly Parrish asked loudly in his Southern accent to a child on a bike. What started as a game with six boys quickly grew to 30. Parrish recruited any child he could find. Youths with idle time, Parrish knows from experience, get into trouble or involved in gangs, a lifestyle Pride Park residents know too well. [continues 528 words]
I am Delane Johnson's attorney, who just obtained a favorable ruling from Judge Peter Dubensky regarding the Bradenton Police Department's Contraband Forfeiture Agreement procedures. Friday, I finished a deposition of Detective Mike Skoumal of the Bradenton Police Department. He testified at a deposition, unrelated to the Johnson case, that as late as last week (Thursday) he used the "contract" to take someone's property. It was reported in your paper that Mayor Wayne Poston said, "Obviously, we'll do whatever the judge says. If he says we ought not to do (the waivers), that's fine." [continues 112 words]
FABENS, Texas -- The prairie where it all happened is quiet now. A sign rests near a muddy ditch, "Stop Illegal Immigration," left behind by protesters who have visited in homage to two former Border Patrol agents, imprisoned for shooting a drug smuggler in the backside as he sprinted to Mexico. It seems almost unimaginable that one moment in this lonely place ignited the furor that rages two years later. A jury convicted the agents of assault, obstruction of justice and civil rights violations. A federal judge meted out punishment: 12 years for Jose Alonso Compean; 11 for Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos. [continues 1244 words]
BRADENTON -- For years, this city's police department has quietly seized reputed drug money through a program that bypasses the courts and funnels thousands of dollars into department coffers. But Bradenton leaders may now have to rethink their Contraband Forfeiture Agreements -- which allow people to sign away their cash and property -- after a judge rebuked the policy on Monday, calling it a dubious program that violates "the bedrock principle ... of checks and balances." Circuit Judge Peter Dubensky also said the police department must follow state law -- used in forfeiture cases by other agencies around Florida -- or return $10,000 to an Orlando man who contested the seizure. [continues 364 words]
TAMPA, Fla. -- A Colombian drug kingpin was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday and must forfeit $110 million, authorities said. Joaquin Mario Valencia-Trujillo, 49, was sentenced in federal court after being convicted in October on trafficking and money laundering charges, the Justice Department said. Valencia-Trujillo was arrested in Bogota, Colombia, in January 2003 and later extradited to Florida. He was arrested on charges of conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. [continues 101 words]
It's obvious that Bradenton Police Chief Michael Radzilowski is less interested in protecting the rights of citizens -- his job -- than in collecting money, for police use, the old-fashioned way: just taking it. I fail to see the difference between the current "forfeiture" actions and similar actions by organized crime. Since there is no direct victim in "crimes" of vice, it is easy to accuse anyone of anything. Indeed, police have been known to plant drug "evidence" and then take whatever is attractive to them -- houses, boats, cars, ad infinitum. Vice squads have traditionally been the most corrupt police agencies. [continues 95 words]
Bradenton Will Defend Lucrative Practice in a Hearing This Week BRADENTON -- How far can the police go to separate suspected drug dealers from their money? That is the essential question of a simmering dispute over this city's forfeiture program, which includes a little-known policy of asking people to sign away their cash and property without consulting an attorney or going before a judge. The policy has been a financial boon for Bradenton, raising thousands of dollars each month which have paid for items ranging from assault rifles to a midnight basketball program. Last week, the city approved a $45,000 expenditure from the forfeiture fund to buy police gear. [continues 797 words]
What is wrong with our criminal justice system? The Dec. 19 news item "Drug bust at house" is a perfect example. These convicted felons still prowl our streets instead of being in prison -- three convicted felons arrested again. One was arrested 20 times since 1999 for various serious crimes. Two days prior to his arrest in North Port, he was arrested for resisting an officer. Another felon was arrested 11 times since 1992, including robbery and gun possession violations. The third felon was arrested three times on drug and gun charges with two of the cases still pending in court. A stolen gun was recovered in this raid. Possession of a firearm by a felon is a violation of federal law. Why are these felons roaming our streets instead of doing prison time for their crimes? Our justice system needs a total review to deal with these career criminals. Our civilized society should demand nothing better. Art Grams, Nokomis [end]
MIAMI -- A Haitian-American man stripped of his U.S. citizenship after being convicted of federal drug trafficking charges was released to his family Thursday, after U.S. authorities failed to find a country where he could be deported. Lionel Jean-Baptiste, 59, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials let him know Thursday morning he would be released from the Krome Detention Center, about a week after an administrative review of his case. "I'm feeling happy, I'm with my family. I didn't even think they would release me," he said in a telephone interview from his Miami home. "I couldn't wait to get out." [continues 350 words]
Bradenton's Weak Defense Of 'Waivers' Bradenton officials continue to defend the Police Department's questionable practice of seizing cash and other property from people, without establishing even probable cause that the items might be linked to a crime. This practice generates money for the city, but it erodes civil rights - - and it could eventually cost taxpayers money. Last week, the city responded to a court challenge by 20-year-old Delane Johnson, who surrendered $10,200 to police when they stopped him outside an apartment building this summer. Police asserted the money was tied to drug activity, but Johnson was never convicted of a crime. [continues 280 words]
After denying that he had ever met a gay escort who claimed to have had a three-year sexual relationship with him, the Rev. Ted Haggard admitted yesterday that he had summoned the escort to give him a massage in a Denver hotel room and bought methamphetamine from him. But Mr. Haggard, one of the nations leading evangelical ministers, maintained that the two men never had sex and that he threw out the drugs without using them. I never kept it very long because it was wrong, Mr. Haggard said, smiling grimly and submitting to questions from a television reporter as he pulled out of his driveway yesterday, his wife, Gayle, silent in the passenger seat. I was tempted, I bought it, but I never used it. [continues 1243 words]
Legislature Should Review State's Forfeiture Law Florida's Contraband Forfeiture Act is a bad law. It was a bad law a decade ago when North Port police became embroiled in controversy over the seizure of money and a car during a traffic stop, and it's a bad law today, amid growing concerns that Bradenton police have been carrying the measure to extremes. The forfeiture act permits law-enforcement agencies to confiscate cash, vehicles and other assets if there's "probable cause" to believe that the property was obtained through illegal means. [continues 642 words]
Regarding the forfeiture policy that is utilized by the Bradenton Police Department, I say keep up the practice until the document in question is proven to be wrong, in a court of law. To make the leap that this procedure is corrupt because "other police departments" have had corruption in their ranks is nonsensical. Let the police do their job! If It is effective/legal and streamlines the process in confiscating drug monies, all the better for our citizens and society. Believe it or not we do not need lawyers to solve all of our problems. The police, better than anyone, know the "players" in the drug world, and the utilization of this document saves our city time and money as well as keeping officers on the street, fighting crime rather than in court fighting our overburdened legal system. I still place my trust and confidence in the police until proven otherwise. [continues 107 words]
BRADENTON -- For years, the Bradenton Police Department has quietly, without judicial review, confiscated hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and property from people they arrested for drug possession and other crimes. The police bypass the courts and confiscate money and property on the spot through a department-created form called the "Contraband Forfeiture Agreement." By signing it, a person agrees to relinquish their property to the police and waive any rights they have to try to get it back through the courts. [continues 1161 words]
Sarasota Businessman Is Accused of Heading a Distribution Ring SARASOTA -- Three men met at the Ritz-Carlton in February to talk business -- the sale of several kilos of cocaine, and a way to launder drug money to leave no trace of the crime -- according to federal court records released Friday. At the meeting, [Name redacted] , a manager of Khrome nightclub, bragged his boss could launder the drug sale proceeds because he is a "miracle worker" who owns all the Jackson Hewitt Tax Offices from Tampa to Venice, the records show. [continues 762 words]
BRADENTON -- With the recent rash of school shootings fresh on his mind, Manatee High School Principal Jeff Asher wanted to see how well his staff would respond if there was a weapon on campus. So he came up with a mock scenario -- aided by about two dozen uniformed officers -- about a student bringing a gun on campus, and decided to find out. But Thursday morning's drill quickly turned real, with police arresting four students for drug and weapons possession. "I knew right away something was going on," said sophomore Destiny Dawson. Other students said wild rumors -- including that someone had been abducted or killed -- spread throughout the school. [continues 382 words]
I continue to hear people speak about the drug problem in the Charlotte County area. My friend, Kai Hockel, died two weeks ago, possibly due to an overdose, so I don't need to hear about the problem; I can see it. This fast-growing community begs the question, what else are we supposed to do? Please tell me why, with a plethora of resources, we can build ourselves into a housing boom, but when someone mentions building a refuge for young people, everyone scratches their head. I wonder how some counties build parks and recreational areas for all ages, along with shooting ranges and preserves for youth recreation. I wonder how many construction people and tax dollars must be needed for them, because we obviously don't have enough. [continues 165 words]
He Retires After His Actions Botch a Large-Scale Venice-Sarasota Bust VENICE -- A 24-year veteran of the Venice Police Department will take "early retirement," effective Friday, following an internal investigation that found he leaked information that botched a drug raid. Sgt. Ralph Adrian, a patrol supervisor, was suspended for four days without pay for telling a local woman about the pending drug bust -- information that spread to the primary target of the investigation. The sergeant was also reprimanded for his unexplained absence during the April 3 raid, when he was expected to be on the scene. [continues 551 words]
Tragedy in Tallahassee should prompt a federal investigation Guards accused of trading money and drugs for sex with female prisoners. A prison-lobby shootout in which a guard and a federal agent are killed. Scenes from a bad film? Unfortunately, no. Federal law-enforcement agents walked into the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee on Wednesday to arrest six guards. An investigation had indicated that at least 10 incarcerated women had either traded sex for contraband or were forced to submit to sex or else face punishment. [continues 239 words]
MIAMI -- The proposed withdrawal of Army air support from a U.S.-Bahamas anti-drug effort could entice cocaine and marijuana smugglers to return to the vast island chain and may undo more than two decades of progress, key U.S. lawmakers and Bahamian officials said. "It would clearly have negative consequences for the region as a whole," Joshua Sears, the Bahamas' ambassador to the United States, said Thursday in a telephone interview. "The traffickers obviously would see that as a signal to increase their activity." [continues 460 words]
It's said that with its sophistication and charm, Sarasota is the gem of Florida's Gulf Coast. However, our city, as beautiful as it might be, contains underlying issues -- some seldom addressed. I've discovered through research that drug convictions in Florida made up 48.9 percent of its total criminal convictions in 2001. This is above the national average of 41.2 percent. Being a part of the younger generation, I'm interested in this problem. According to a survey, a higher percentage of middle- and high-school students in Sarasota have tried the specific drug OxyContin than in any other county in Florida. The 2002 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey reports that 5.9 percent of students in grades six through 12 in Sarasota County say they have experimented with the drug, compared with a 2.5 percent state average. [continues 156 words]
I read the May 17 article "Schools expand drug testing." I am surprised this testing has not been done before, and that students are not to be tested. I have been on the board of the Sarasota Military Academy since its inception more than four years ago. Two and a half years ago our students requested the administration to conduct random drug and alcohol testing on all students on a continuing basis. The administration and faculty agreed, and added themselves to the procedure. Since the onset seven students have tested positive, were referred for treatment and then returned to classes. Only one has been dismissed. [continues 236 words]
All New Employees, Regardless Of Position, Will Be Tested SARASOTA COUNTY -- Starting today, anyone who applies for a job with the county school district, whether they are a candidate for superintendent or custodian, must pass a drug test before being hired. Until now, only employees who have direct contact with students -- teachers, aides, bus drivers -- were tested as a condition of employment. School Board members approved the policy change Tuesday night in a unanimous vote. "We as a district need to do everything we possibly can to ensure that our children are safe," said School Board Chairwoman Carol Todd. [continues 347 words]
Federal authorities aggressively went after a Bradenton woman, Nicole Clare Capobianco, when she was facing 20 years to life for selling heroin to a man who later died of an overdose. Government prosecutors charged Capobianco under a rarely used provision that provides a maximum life sentence for a person whose drug-dealing contributes to the death of a user. Federal officials said then that they wanted to set an example, and Capobianco was their target. Capobianco, a former waitress who is 25 now, got 15 years in prison when the dust settled in late 2004. Her cooperation helped authorities track down and convict nearly a dozen members of a widespread heroin trafficking ring. [continues 613 words]
Nathan Tylutki arrived late in New York, tired but eager to go out dancing. When his friend Katherine K. offered him the Ritalin she had inherited from someone who had stopped taking his prescription, he popped two pills and stayed out all night. For the two college friends, now 25 and out in the working world, there was nothing remarkable about the transaction. A few weeks later, Katherine gave the tranquilizer Ativan to another friend who complained of feeling short of breath and panicky. [continues 3038 words]
BRADENTON -- About 9 pounds of cocaine seized by police during a drug traffic stop this year can be admitted at trial despite defense arguments that the stop was illegal, a judge ruled Wednesday. Attorneys for Sarasota residents Milton Borjas Delacruz and Arturo Oviedo argued that Bradenton police had no basis to stop the vehicle in which the men were riding Feb. 23 on Cortez Road in Bradenton. The defense attorneys said, among other things, that police used an unreliable confidential informant who was in custody when he said he would help investigators. [continues 241 words]
Offenders Forgo Program, Cite Lack Of Transportation SARASOTA COUNTY -- Drug and alcohol addicts in south Sarasota County forgo a drug court program aimed at giving them treatment instead of jail time because they have no transportation to required meetings. The drug court's meetings are in Sarasota. Offenders usually don't have a car or driver's license. And bus transportation from cities like Englewood and North Port makes it unfeasible for them to get there. So the drug court's operators are now brainstorming how to bring potential drug court clients to Sarasota meetings from South County, where they say drug arrests are climbing along with the booming population. [continues 664 words]
BRADENTON - Jeffrey Gutierrez just couldn't keep quiet one evening when he saw undercover police hanging around in his neighborhood. "That's the police! That's the police!" Gutierrez yelled, pointing to the plainclothes officers in a truck. He was right, and the police were not amused. Officers in a marked police car showed up a few minutes later and hauled Gutierrez to jail on the misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice. But state prosecutors dropped the case within weeks, saying the Bradenton man had a free speech right to tell the whole neighborhood about the presence of the undercover officers, so long as the man wasn't a lookout for the drug dealers on the corner or otherwise conspiring with them. He wasn't. [continues 879 words]
SARASOTA COUNTY -- Suzanne McBrayer knew she had to do something drastic after her 15-year-old daughter nearly overdosed on prescription medication. McBrayer, 48, researched teen boot camps, but she couldn't afford them. Then she heard about Camp XRAYD, a local program for teens who use drugs or alcohol. The catch was that her daughter, Katy, would have to be arrested before she could be referred to it. But that was not much of a problem. "I wasn't putting up with any more foolishness," McBrayer said. "I found a cigarette pack full of marijuana in her dresser drawer, and I called my husband. He said, 'You know what you have to do.'" [continues 388 words]
Police Should Target Larger Dealers, He Says. SARASOTA -- Vice Mayor Fredd Atkins said that by simply targeting crack in Newtown, police aren't doing enough to solve the city's drug problems. Atkins wants the department to target the bigger dealers bringing drugs into Sarasota. Police Chief Peter Abbott met with the commissioners Monday to discuss a recent Newtown drug raid in which police killed a man and threw flash bangs into a yard where children were playing. Abbott said the raid, which included a SWAT team, was necessary to protect children living in the house and to get drugs off the streets. [continues 397 words]
BRADENTON -- William Ben Christopher, "Kenny Bish" to those in the neighborhood, was on the corner with a friend that night when undercover officers rolled up. Everyone knows Kenny. The dopers. The drug dealers. The old-timers who peddle in gossip. And, yes, the police. At 46, Kenny Bish has come and gone from the corner at 10th Avenue West and Third Street in Bradenton, but never really escaped its grip. Undercover officers jumped out that night in March. They know that corner, and Kenny was there with a neighborhood guy. [continues 878 words]
BRADENTON -- In police undercover drug deals, there's always a chance for danger when an officer plays actor for an evening. In Manatee, like other counties, these deals often unfold in mall parking lots and in bars and restaurants, well-traveled places where the unknowing public is often nearby. Authorities, however, insist the deal-making is well-planned and safe. In the latest case, sheriff's detectives busted two Bradenton men July 22 following a months-long investigation that took officers into the Bradenton Ale House and to parking lots outside DeSoto Square Mall and the McDonald's in the 4700 block of U.S. 41. [continues 451 words]
SAN FRANCISCO, June 14 - The best sellers at the Green Cross medical marijuana dispensary here are whipped up in the kitchen of Kevin Reed, the founder and president. Fresh-baked marijuana cakes. Marijuana cookies with Ghirardelli chocolate chips. Marijuana peanut butter, lollipops, peanut brittle and espresso truffles. Each comes packaged with a warning: "Please keep out of the reach of children and pets." Mr. Reed, 31, a former mobile home salesman from Alabama who moved here after being arrested twice for marijuana possession, said the warning was added to the sweets when a customer reported that "their grandma ate one of them." [continues 1446 words]
