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By CANDACE RONDEAUX, Times Staff WriterA state investigation of drug arrests by Tarpon Springs police continues, with claims that officers planted evidence.
TARPON SPRINGS - A cloud of suspicion continues to hang over the Tarpon Springs Police Department and its efforts to make drug arrests, months after becoming the target of a state investigation.
Chief Mark LeCouris said street informers have told him agents for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have been asking whether police officers have planted drugs on suspects, a charge LeCouris denies. But one suspect has made that allegation to FDLE, and a lawyer in another case unsuccessfully made that argument in court.
Meanwhile, Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger said his office has received more than a dozen complaints from clients who alleged that Tarpon Springs police planted evidence.
"We've had clients pass polygraphs to that effect," said Dillinger, who would not detail specific cases. "It came up frequently enough that we started paying attention to it."
The FDLE so far has requested scores of documents and police reports, but LeCouris said agents have not told him what they are seeking. He said he has seen no proof his officers have planted drugs on suspects and doubts the FDLE will find any.
"I'm not saying 100 percent that's not happening," LeCouris said. "I can't say that. But I can tell you I haven't seen a shred of evidence or some semblance of something that says that's what's happening."
In September, the FDLE requested police records on more than a dozen arrests, many of them drug-related. In its request, the agency named Sgt. Michael Trill and retired Officer Romando Black as officers whose actions are under review. Formerly partners on the department's narcotics team, Trill and Black, both 34, made hundreds of drug arrests before Black retired on medical disability in April 2003.
LeCouris said street informers told him that FDLE agents asked a lot of questions about rumored evidence-planting. But he contended local drug dealers are fueling the rumors to undermine the department's credibility and said he has seen no evidence to indicate his officers have done anything wrong.
"We knew before this thing with FDLE that the way to stop Mike Trill or the TAC team and stuff was going to be to file numerous complaints and get it going or file allegations of planting drugs," he said.
FDLE spokesman Rick Morera declined to comment on the scope of the investigation. He denied LeCouris' claim that FDLE has kept him in the dark about the investigation's focus.
"We have had conversations in the past with the chief about the investigation," Morera said. "And we'll continue to have conversations and discussions with the chief."
FDLE agents would not be the first to question whether Tarpon Springs police planted evidence. Holiday attorney Steve Bartlett alleged in court pleadings that Tarpon Springs officers planted drugs in his client's car in 2002.
Eric Jon Dickson was standing near his 1990 Honda CRX on Mango Street on June 6, 2002, when police Officer Matthew McLane stopped and asked if he could search the vehicle. Dickson did not consent to the vehicle search, nor did he agree to let officers search him, Bartlett claimed in court.
But McLane said in a report that Dickson did consent and then tried to destroy a piece of crack cocaine he was holding in his fist. He was charged with possession of cocaine and tampering with evidence. Police also impounded his car. A search that day found a BB-gun and nothing else, records show.
A week later, Dickson accused the police of stealing $600 in cash from his impounded car so they searched it again, records show. A police document naming Trill as the case officer shows that the second search revealed plastic bags containing 12 hydrocodone tablets, 20 methadone tablets, 20 diazepam tablets, an oxycodone tablet, a plastic pipe and spoon coated with drug residue.
"Either they had Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles search that car the first time or something was wrong," Bartlett said.
Detective Sgt. Allen MacKenzie said the first search missed a small compartment holding the drugs. LeCouris said it was an honest mistake. Dickson was never charged with possessing the drugs found in his car because officers could not prove the drugs belonged to Dickson or that he put them in the vehicle, MacKenzie said.
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Nelly Khouzam ruled the evidence-planting allegations were "not relevant" to Dickson's arrest. Dickson eventually pleaded guilty to the original cocaine possession and evidence-tampering charges. A formal finding of guilt was withheld and he was sentenced to 2 years' probation. He has since been charged with possession of oxycodone and violating his probation and is serving a 6-month jail sentence.
FDLE officials won't say whether Dickson's case is part of their investigation. Bartlett, who is no longer Dickson's attorney, said the FDLE has not contacted him about Dickson's case.
Another drug suspect, however, said he has complained to FDLE that Trill planed evidence in his car and that agents have interviewed him.
Scott Monroe, 33, of Port Richey, has a long history of run-ins with the law, including charges for battery, forgery and driving under the influence, records show. He said he has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for years.
On Oct. 18, 2001, Monroe said he approached a man standing at a well-known drug hot spot in Tarpon Springs.
"He asked me if I wanted weed. I said, no. I said I wanted coke," Monroe said. "Then he said he was an undercover cop. They put a 9mm (gun) to my head."
Trill, Black and two other officers arrested Monroe, records show. Monroe said Trill drove him to the police station. During the ride the two discovered that they had once attended the same church. Embarrassed, Monroe promised to try to stay clean and not score drugs in Tarpon Springs again.
"He (Trill) prayed over me, and I kind of broke down," Monroe said. "I thought he cared."
But on Nov. 23, 2001, Monroe returned to Tarpon Springs in search of drugs and was pulled over by another officer on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Monroe admitted he had tried and failed to buy drugs minutes before but didn't have any drugs on him, he said.
When Trill arrived minutes later, "He said, "What the f--- are you doing here? I told you not to come back here anymore,"' Monroe said.
"The first cop went into the car and looked and he never found anything," Monroe said. "But then Trill went in and they found something."
That something was a small baggie containing crumbs of cocaine, according to a police report. But Monroe said he has told FDLE investigators he thinks Trill planted the baggie in his car to teach him a lesson. Monroe pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to two years' probation and outpatient drug treatment.
"He said he thinks that he's doing me a favor because we're both Christians," said Monroe, who is in the Pinellas County jail on charges of driving on a suspended license, felony fleeing and eluding and violation of his earlier probation.
Police officials said Trill was not available for comment. LeCouris denied Trill has done anything wrong. He praised Trill's record as a narcotics officer and said he would be the first to fire any officer caught planting evidence.
"I hate bad cops just as much as anyone," LeCouris said.
- Researchers Kitty Bennett, Caryn Baird and Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Candace Rondeaux can be reached at 727 771-4307 or rondeaux@sptimes.com