Narc cop gets busted.

[Grendelkhan]

Another fine example of police getting all crazy corrupt.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/16/BAI41HO8E3.DTL
Not sure if this is correct spot for post but if anyone has gotten a case with these cops, then you should talk to a lawyer and see if you can't get your case reopened.
Peace. Gkhan.

A veteran state drug agent based in Contra Costa County and a Concord private investigator were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of conspiring to sell drugs stolen from an evidence locker, authorities said.

Norman Wielsch, a state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement special agent supervisor, and Christopher Butler, the owner of Butler and Associates Private Investigations, were booked at Contra Costa County Jail after a monthlong undercover investigation.

Authorities believe the two conspired to sell methamphetamine, marijuana and steroids, said Special Agent Michelle Gregory of the state narcotics bureau. Sources said the two allegedly sold drugs that had been seized on the street and then stored in police evidence lockers.

Wielsch is commander of the Central Contra Costa Narcotics Enforcement Team, which includes officers from police agencies in the county, and has been with the state drug agency for 12 years. He has taken the lead in several investigations, including one last month in which several pipe bombs were found in a Pacheco storage locker.

"It's a very sad situation for all involved," said Michael Cardoza, Wielsch's attorney. "We will meet these allegations head-on."

Butler has gained renown in Bay Area and national media for employing unassuming-looking women as private investigators dubbed "Mommy P.I.s."

Butler has said in interviews that female investigators often react creatively, whereas men might be saddled with an authoritative, gung-ho mentality. Besides, Butler has said, cheating spouses and criminal suspects aren't suspicious of women driving minivans.

For the past few months, a Los Angeles production company filmed the female investigators in sting operations for a reality show titled, "P.I. Moms of San Francisco." A website for the company, which contained a video clip of the pilot episode, said the show was in production through Lifetime.

Both Wielsch, 49, of Antioch and Butler, 49, of Concord are former Antioch police officers. Wielsch was on the SWAT team.

Wielsch's arrest "is definitely not reflective of our agency or personnel," Gregory said. "It's an unfortunate situation."

The two were booked on suspicion of conspiracy, embezzlement, burglary and possession and transportation of controlled substances. Wielsch is being held in lieu of $660,000 bail. Butler's bail was set at $840,000.

 

[Aerohead]

Wielsch's arrest "is definitely not reflective of our agency or personnel," Gregory said. "It's an unfortunate situation."

LOL this statement in the article cracks me up... How can it not reflect on the agency and personnel ? Just a bunch of corrupt well trained liars. The jails should be full of cops not MJ users..;

 

[FatChillin]

LOL this statement in the article cracks me up... How can it not reflect on the agency and personnel ? Just a bunch of corrupt well trained liars. The jails should be full of cops not MJ users..;

In every case invlving a bad op they say that to try and retain their image when it's hard to hide the truth and the events happened from their "highly trained" indivuduals.

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

i just have to say.....



HAHAHAHAHAHahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa

(breath)

HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

sorry couldnt help myself like this doesnt happen everyday.... Any one notice how LOW the bails are??? you can get a 1 mil bail for growing... but stealing evidence out of a police locker to sell on the street for people that are suppose to be held in higher regards and who know how much other shit they done they dont even get a mil???>

Please remind me guys that i should just probably be making meth since there less of a chance i will get caught and i can make as much as i can and no one is looking for me and i can run around city tweaked out of my mind and be ok... but dont walk around smelling like weed.....

sorry end rant meth had nothing to do with this but i had to get it off my chest -=P

 

[ddrew]

Ah yes, I love to see them fall

 

[greenmatter]

aw poor cops.. anyone wanna take bets on how light the sentencing is if they go to trial? bet ya if they do a day it won't be in general population.

 

[Dr.Dank]

In the old town I lived in Florida this happened before... Cops are thieves and crooks.. they will do anything to get their hands dirty.

 

[vta]

Norman Wielsch aka Scumbag

 

[mean mr.mustard]

He looks like he smells like a cop.

 

[rick shaw]

Bad cop,no donut. ROFL

 

[Madrus Rose]

" Fallout from Contra Costa's top drug agent's arrest begins"
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_17415662?source=most_viewed

(this is all over the local news out here , a very big deal ... friggin corrupt system
& cops----> let them do a little time now, hope they like Santa Rita Jail )


MARTINEZ -- Public defenders on Thursday quickly moved to re-examine cases against their clients after the arrests of a Contra Costa County drug task force chief and a private investigator accused of running a narcotics-selling scheme, possibly with confiscated drugs.

The arrest of Norman Wielsch, commander of the state's Central Contra Costa Narcotics Enforcement Team, or CNET, could have far-reaching ramifications in superior and appellate courts, said Contra Costa County Public Defender Robin Lipetzky. The arrest not only calls into question the credibility and integrity of Wielsch as an individual, she said, but also that of the task force as an investigative body and the guardian of prosecution evidence.

"Was he motivated by a desire to confiscate as much drugs as he could so he could turn around and sell them? Was he writing false police reports? Was he exaggerating in police reports? You have to question everything in a CNET investigation," Lipetzky said. "You also have to wonder when it's the top cop of the investigation that's a crooked cop, what did others in CNET know?"

Wielsch and Chris Butler, who runs the investigative firm Butler and Associates, were arrested together in Benicia by federal agents Wednesday morning after an undercover investigation that began in January, said Department of Justice special agent Michelle Gregory.

Both men were booked into County Jail in Martinez on as many as 25 suspected felony

offenses, including possessing, transporting and selling marijuana, methamphetamine and steroids, and embezzlement, second-degree burglary and conspiracy. District Attorney Mark Peterson said his office will likely decide whether to file charges Friday.

Deputy public defenders on Thursday began requesting police reports surrounding Wielsch's arrest during court appearances for clients arrested by CNET.

"At this point, this is material we are entitled to because it could impact the integrity of the investigation of any open case," Lipetzky said.

She said she is waiting to hear details about the allegations against Wielsch before assessing how his arrest would affect past CNET cases. The further back criminal activity is alleged to have occurred, the more cases would be affected. The public defender said she is prepared to have the office revisit cases from years back at a time when staff time and resources are already scarce.

"It could lead to any number of motions, appeals, requests to resentence," Lipetzky said. "Until we know what we are talking about, it's difficult to say.

"These are the more serious drug cases in the county," she said. "We are not talking about individual users or small-time dealers."

Gregory said it appears that Wielsch and Butler were the only ones involved in the alleged operation, and that this is the first time a DOJ narcotics agent has been arrested for selling drugs.

While Wielsch awaits prosecution, Gregory said a special agent-in-charge will temporarily oversee CNET. In the meantime, Wielsch is on paid administrative leave.

The arrests have also spurred sentiments from police around the county urging the public not to distrust law enforcement for the actions of the few.

"Every once in a while (officers) make mistakes, some of them big and some of them small. But when they do they have to pay for it just like everyone else. People should have the utmost confidence in their police officers and department," said Walnut Creek police Chief Joel Bryden.

Wielsch, a 49-year-old Antioch resident, is being held on $660,000 bail. Butler, 49, of Concord, is being held on $840,000 bail. They are both former veteran Antioch police officers who worked in the narcotics division and left that agency in the late 1990s. Several sources say Butler resigned after facing termination for insubordination.

DOJ agents began investigating Wielsch and Butler in January after receiving a tip about potential drug sales, Gregory said.

Reaction from several former colleagues of Wielsch's from his days as an Antioch officer were generally critical of the CNET head and what they called his brash and reckless style of police work. Wielsch's attorney took exception to them speaking anonymously.

"This is an officer with a stellar reputation and a stellar career," said Walnut Creek-based attorney Michael Cardoza. "This is horribly sad for everybody involved."

A man and woman at Wielsch's Antioch home Thursday declined to comment to a reporter and slammed the door.

Since news of the arrests surfaced, the website for Butler and Associates, which Butler has led since 2002, has been taken down.

Butler made a name for himself as the head of his private investigations firm, recently for shepherding a group of mothers-turned-investigators dubbed "PI Moms" that made the national talk show circuit last year.

"He built his business on lies and deception," said Carl Marino, an investigator who answered an ad and joined Butler's firm two years ago after 17 years as a deputy sheriff in Monroe County, N.Y.

Butler had once unsuccessfully tried to develop a reality television show based on his firm, Marino said, and then aroused a producer's interest with the concept of the "PI Moms." A show about them was set to air in the spring, according to their website, but Butler's arrest could scuttle it.

"He set up elaborate stings to catch subjects in (bad) behavior," Marino said. "Some of that was created for the media."

Pacheco resident Tom Cudd turned to Butler and Associates for help finding his missing daughter and liked Marino, but said Butler was there strictly for glad-handing. The "PI Moms" actually got involved in his case, a move both Cudd and Marino believe was made to bolster their prospective reality show.

"I got the feeling he was a used-car dealer sales guy," Cudd said. "Quick talker, smooth talker, flashy guy. I wouldn't play poker with him."

Marino said though he disagreed with Butler's methods, he continued working for him because he liked the investigative work and found certain cases, such as his role in finding Tom Cudd's missing daughter, rewarding enough to stay on. And even though he is now out of a job -- at least he thinks so -- he does not sympathize with his soon-to-be-ex-boss.

"He was a master of deception," Marino said. "I felt like his whole business was deception, and he didn't care who he hurt in the process, and ended up hurting a lot of people.

"He kind of got what he deserved."

Staff writer Elisabeth Nardi contributed to this report. Contact Robert Salonga at 925-943-8013 or rsalonga@bayareanewsgroup.com.

 

[libby]

Britain is sacking a bunch of cops shortly, don't know wether that makes me happy, or sad?

 

[pearlemae]

If the top cop in a dept narc or otherwise is dirty and breaking the law, you can bet that the people that he supervised were dirty or at least knew or suspected he was doing something. Notice how no one else seems to have come forward to accuse the boss. The blue wall in action. Theres no way you could work in narcotics and at least suspect something was happening. They are all suspect as they should be.

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

aw poor cops.. anyone wanna take bets on how light the sentencing is if they go to trial? bet ya if they do a day it won't be in general population.

i bet they dont even go to jail....

 

[NorcalBob]

I grew up in Martinez, this doesnt surprise me at all.

 

[StealthDragon]

It was probably just martin and riggs doing an unauthorized undercover sting on some badguys.

 

[Iraganji]

Shameful!

 

[Yes4Prop215]

i used to live and sell herb in the CCC for a couple years...the cops out in that area always struck me as arrogant assholes who acted above the law. there is lots of drug business in contra costa county, especially with meth and coke.

this doesnt surprise me much at all....

 

[Madrus Rose]

i bet they dont even go to jail....

The fellow accused private eye Chris Butler, is still in jail & this is incredible that this Commander of one of California's largest Drug Task forces , CNET is alledged for using his position for selling drugs for profit .

Drug task force chief, accomplice stole narcotics, DA says
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_17423125?source=rss

They reduced Norman Wielsch's the Narcotics Chief's bail from $1mil down to 400K so he bailed today after some days in county jail on suicide watch . But his private eye friend of 25yrs Chris Butler's bail of $900K hasn't been reduced which has raised the ire of his attorney Bill Gagen , who said he would ask for his client's $900,000 bail to be lowered after he reviews the

"remorseful and self-serving statements by the co-defendant as it relates to my client."

Buttler's attorney Gagen said he was disturbed to learn that Chief Wielsch implicated his friend of 25 years, particularly when Wielsch was the law enforcement member.

"Clearly there has been an abuse of trust by a high-ranking police officer," Gagen said. "My client had no access to these drugs."I think if that's the route that (Cardoza and Wielsch are) going to take, they better be ready for a fight," Gagen said. "My client got sucked into this."

Some real storm clouds brewing here ... these men are facing huge sentences if it was indeed, sale for profit on many multiple felony counts . Major drama & major attention drawn to much lessor cases involving someone facing the same felony counts for just transporting a few P's of pot . It does say he Commander Wielsch had health issues & a daughter needing a bone marrow transplant , well thats something to consider but many other busted on drug charges could say the same thing & take the full shit the law dishes out . This Narc Chief was selling a pound of meth & pounds of pot , xanex & steroids !

So what would happen to you or me caught doing the same ? Think they would drop our bail by 1/2 & let us out ...no they would bury us as deep as they could . Going to be a very interesting /fascinating ongoing case & these guys are looking at serious major time in jail if guilty . Welcome to club fed ...

 

[Deft]

This should be in the news section, not legislation.