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Cleveland DEA Informant Scandal Wraps Up

Monday, July 14th, 2008

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a long and fascinating wrap-up of a massive debacle involving DEA agent Lee Lucas, drug informant Jarrell Bray, and the many people the two of them wrongly put behind bars.

The case reads a little like a trashy crime noir novel.  Despite ignoring repeated warnings about Bray’s trustworthiness from local police, and despite signs early on that he should have known Bray was prone to making things up, Agent Lucas continued to take the convicted felon at his word, and continued to wrack up arrests and convictions based on Bray’s assertions. 

Two dozen cases were dismissed.  All but one of those wrongfully arrested were black.   The kicker is that after all of this, Lucas is still on the DEA’s payroll (despite about a half dozen prior incidents where he has been accused of unethical behavior).  And former U.S. Attorney Greg White, who prosecuted the cases Lucas brought in, has since been promoted to U.S. magistrate.

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 9:13 am by Radley Balko and is filed under General Drug War, Police Informants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Cleveland DEA Informant Scandal Wraps Up”

  1. #1 |  MacK |  July 14th, 2008 at 9:58 am

    Ah! The fuck up move up syndrome, glad to see it is still in full effect.

  2. #2 |  Dave Krueger |  July 14th, 2008 at 10:00 am

    …The kicker is that after all of this, Lucas is still on the DEA’s payroll…”

    Yeah, I think there were similar problems with the Gestapo, SAVAK, Stassi, etc. Lack of accountability just comes with the territory. On the bright side, these are actually the good ol’ days. We just don’t know it yet. And when we do, we won’t be able to openly talk about it.

  3. #3 |  dsmallwood |  July 14th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

    so what’s the problem with White being a Magistrate? even though he left the blame squarely on Lucas’ doorstep, at least he had the decency to get the cases over turned. did i miss a step?

  4. #4 |  Nick T |  July 14th, 2008 at 9:06 pm

    dsmallwood,

    Yeah, that he prosecuted the cases to begin with is the problem. It’s a very good point Radley, just how many prosecutors critically examine the credibility of the law enforcement agents they put on the witness stand?

    It’s their job to see that justice is done, and the law enforcement officers are not their clients, and yet I get a distinct impression that few officers ever do their job as a filter for credible testimony. This needs to be pointed out more often.

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