DeKalb officers arrested, charged with protecting drug dealers
Two DeKalb County Police officers, a Stone Mountain Police officer and two former county jail officers were among 12 people arrested Feb. 12 in a drug trafficking sting by the FBI.
Dennis Duren, 32, and Dorian Williams, 25, of the DeKalb County Police Department, have been placed on administrative leave with pay, pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
According to an FBI press release, Duren and Williams were protecting drug dealers during the trafficking sting.
Interim DeKalb Police Chief Lisa Gassner said what both officers are charged with is âincomprehensible,â because they are sworn to protect the community from such offenders.
âThese officers do not reflect the character of the hundreds of DeKalb County Police officers that wear the badge. Their alleged actions only assist in eroding the publicâs trust in those that honorably serve and that is truly disheartening,â Gassner said.
Duren has been employed by the DeKalb County Police Department since 2002 and is assigned to the Tucker precinct along with Williams, who was hired in 2007.
Stone Mountain Police officer Denoris Carter, 42, was arrested and has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending an investigation. Stone Mountain Police Chief Chancey Troutman reassured residents that he and his staff are committed to keeping them safe.
âIf the allegations are true, Officer Denoris Carter had a serious lapse in judgment to get involved in criminal activity and betray the public trust,â Troutman said.
According to a news release from the FBI, Duren, Williams and Carter, along with seven Atlanta Police officers, two former DeKalb County Sheriff officers, a Federal Protective Services officer and five civilians have been charged with accepting thousands of dollars in cash to provide protection during drug deals.
U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said the officers who were charged sold their badges to those they should have been arresting.
âThey not only betrayed the citizens they were sworn to protect, they also betrayed the thousands of honest, hard-working law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to keep us safe,â Yates said.
Among the civilians who were arrested were Gregory Lee Harvey, 26, of Stone Mountain, and Jerry Mannery Jr., 38, of Tucker.
Yates said the undercover operation arose out of an investigation into an Atlanta-area street gang in 2011. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm (ATF) agents allegedly learned from an informant of police participation in drug deals.
Acting at the direction of the FBI and ATF, Yates said, the informant set up police protection for upcoming drug deals he was to participate in, involving the sale of several kilograms of cocaine.
According to a press release, the officers arrested and charged Feb. 12 participated in various stings set up by law enforcement officials. Yates said the officers, usually in uniform and displaying a weapon, patrolled the parking lots where the deals took place and monitored the transactions, which were recorded.
Former DeKalb County Sheriff jail officers Monyette McLaurin and Chase Valentine allegedly portrayed themselves as deputies and provided protection for what they believed were several drug transactions in 2013.
McLaurin is charged with attempted possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Valentine is charged with attempted possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Similarly, Duren, Williams and Carter are charged with having provided protection for what they thought were several separate drug deals.
Duren allegedly accepted $8,800 in cash for his services and allegedly offered to drive his patrol vehicle to future transactions for an additional $800, which he later received. He is charged with conspiring to commit extortion by accepting bribe payments and attempted possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. Duren also is charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Williams, along with two civilians, accepted $18,000 for their services, according to federal investigators. He has been charged with conspiring to commit extortion by accepting bribe payments and attempted possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
According to a release from the FBI, Williams also suggested that future drug transactions should take place in the parking lot of a local high school during the afternoon, so that the âexchange of backpacks containing drugs and money would not look suspicious.â
Carter, working with a civilian, allegedly provided protection for what he believed to be five separate drug deals, which took place between April and Sept. 2012. Both allegedly accepted payments totaling $23,500 and are charged with conspiring to commit extortion by accepting bribe payments, attempted possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
That the citizens of DeKalb are sick and tired of DeKalb Police working at corrupt bars with little to no oversight by superior officers.
That the citizens of DeKalb are sick and tired of greatly overcrowded bars that have no oversight by either the Fire Marshall, Fire Chief or Code Enforcement. They are just left to run wild.
There is no better sign of a Corrupt Police Dept than all the Bars throughout East and South DeKalb County with dozens of Illegal Video Poker Machines in them.
No way to run a Police Dept in the past, are things going to change under Chief Alexander, we’ll see.
Several years ago I suspected drug activity near my home in Tucker. Cars coming every 2 minutes, ppl walking out with baggies, the whole bit. I went to the Tucker precinct to report it. About 15 minutes after I got back home, my neighbor pounded on my door demanding to know why I went to the police about him.
Bet it was one of these a$$hole “cops”.
Don’t let the gov’t take your guns, people. You think the police & 911 will protect you? They are in bed with the criminals. 911 is indeed “a joke in yo’ town.”
I live in Dekalb. I had to deal with drug dealers scaring me by leaving crack bags on my steps after I’d see them do deals at night. And once my mailbox was taken apart. I reported it and got no help. Seeing this article just makes me think of how being a young black female student in a lower class area is harsh. I agree with Lanier us struggling citizens that try to live a honest life need guns.
Black cops have been protecting drug dealers ever since I was a teenager. Back then, the popular drug was marijuana. Cops received “hush” money to keep quiet. A lot of the dealers were being taught how to deal drugs by their dads, stepdads, uncles, etc. And black cops protected any and every dealer who paid them. It became nothing unusual to see a cop in full uniform standing in the kitchen while dealers bagged up pounds of marijuana and not report it.
Somewhere in the 80’s, black officers graduated to protecting crack dealers. And getting paid more money. Just like the cops in Atlanta, they were paid in the thousands. It allowed them to live in nice homes, drive luxury vehicles, and buy expensive clothes, among other perks. When a crime is committed that could link a dirty cop, they often play dumb in order not to reveal their association with the crime. They’ve been doing this s**t for years. Dirty black cops know a lot of info pertaining to a lot of crimes, but they won’t say anything. It’s one of the reasons why so many cases go unsolved, especially black on black crime.
Have these dirty cops been sentenced yet? I pray they get some real time, at least 15 years. Hopefully, they receive more than a slap on the wrist.
Not just black cops helping Drug Dealers. A Dunwoody cop is also dirty and he also helped drug dealers:
Robert Pasquale Bentivegna, 64, of Woodstock, Georgia, pleaded guilty to computer fraud. But why was it just computer fraud?
Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn said “Bentivegna’s conduct undermines trust in law enforcement and could have exposed the public to significant harm. It is a sad day when a career law enforcement officer turns his back on decades of public service by selling his access to sensitive law enforcement information,”
J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “The FBI’s number one criminal investigative program remains that of public corruption due to the vast harm that it can cause. The guilty plea of former Dunwoody Det. Bentivegna illustrates the betrayal of the badge by a very seasoned law enforcement officer and the consequences that he now faces for this betrayal.”
Assistant United States Attorney Garrett L. Bradford is prosecuting the case.
Judge: Judge Leigh Martin May
US District Court Northern District of Georgia
2167 United States Courthouse
75 Spring Street, SW
Atlanta, GA 30303-3309
Sentencing was originally scheduled for June 1, 2015 and was rescheduled to June 30, 2015 at 10am
Can someone find out if this dirty cop still gets his Dekalb and/or Dunwoody Pension?
Can someone find out if he is free while waiting for sentencing? If so why was he given that luxury?
Sentencing was supposed to be today (June 1, 2015) but the sentencing was delayed until June 30th at 10am. When I went to the courthouse today it sounds like his lawyer asked for more time to be sentenced but no one was positive. If he is out on bail this is more free time outside of a jail for a bad cop who helped the very drug dealing criminals his co-workers were trying to arrest.
Lots of questions here.
And consider this if this bad cop gets a slap on the wrist for “Computer Fraud” instead of many more serious chargers : Around the same time Dunwoody Detective Robert Pasquale Bentivegna was secretly helping drug dealers, a kid by the name of Aaron Swartz was arrested after downloading academic journal articles from JSTOR. Like the dirty cop case this was a Federal Case. Federal prosecutors charged Aaron with two counts of wire fraud and 11 violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, carrying a cumulative maximum penalty of $1 million in fines, 35 years in prison, asset forfeiture, restitution, and supervised release. After the threat of such an extensive punishment Mr. Swartz took his life rather than go to prison. It seems reasonable that a corrupt cop who helped drug dealers would face more time than Mr. Swartz for similar Computer Fraud charges. Also, why didn’t the corrupt cop face more counts if he helped drug dealers with confidential police information multiple times (free airline tickets, free use of a car, etc). To make matters worse the corrupt cop profited from his crimes and Mr. Swartz did not.
And then consider this:
Three former DeKalb County watershed workers who investigators say doctored time sheets and lied about overtime were sentenced to prison in 2015. Cynthia Hall, Jarvis Foster and Anthony Lee pleaded guilty Wednesday to theft by taking. Hall and Foster received 15 years with two years to serve and the rest on probation, which said they must also perform community service and pay $20,000 restitution to the county. Foster faked overtime and split the extra pay with Hall, who altered time sheets, but neither was a cop who helped drug dealers.
If you live in Dunwoody, or you are a legit police officer from anywhere in GA, please take some time at the end of the month to show up at the sentencing to let the Judge know why this cop should do at least half the time Mr. Swartz was threatened with and much more time than the corrupt Dekalb watershed employees.
http://www.fbi.gov/atlanta/press-releases/2015/former-dunwoody-police-detective-pleads-guilty-to-running-fraudulent-warrant-checks-in-return-for-airline-tickets-and-other-kickbacks
That crap about Det. Bentivegna is not true. He’s being used as a scapegoat and a patsy to cover up and minimize the exposure of the real bad cop, (Dante Jackson) and the FBI .
Those dirty cops received sentences ranging from 3-7 years. Just what I thought: A SLAP ON THE WRIST! They should’ve gotten at least 10 years. Crooks like them should be ordered not be allowed to serve as officers ever again. But, I bet they remain in the drug game. The money is too good for them to stop now.