FORMER TULIA UNDERCOVER AGENT FIRED

Tom Coleman: The Undercover Agent Was Fired Three Weeks Ago From A Task Force

WAXAHACHIE - An undercover agent involved in a controversial drug
bust in Tulia has been fired from the Southeast Dallas County / Ellis
County Task Force, Ellis County District Attorney Joe Grubbs said
Friday.

Tom Coleman was dismissed about three weeks ago after less than a
year on the job, Grubbs said.

"It did not involve any of his work as an undercover officer," Grubbs
said. "It involved his relationship with an individual in the
community."

Grubbs said that when his agency hired Coleman, he had been named
officer of the year in the Panhandle. He said it was after Coleman
was hired that allegations about the drug bust in Tulia came to light.

The 1999 drug bust in Tulia prompted an investigation by the U.S.
Justice Department. The bust in which 46 people - 40 of whom were
black - were arrested brought national attention and questions about
the way the state's drug task forces conduct investigations.

When contacted about Coleman's dismissal, 64th District Attorney
Terry McEachern said he had heard Coleman might be in some trouble in
Ellis County but didn't know any facts of the situation.

Amarillo attorney Jeff Blackburn represents one of the people
arrested in the sting who filed a civil suit against Coleman and
Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart. Blackburn said the dismissal
was proof that Coleman is a crook.

"His problem apparently is he can't stop being Tom Coleman,"
Blackburn said. "He can't stop breaking the rules. He can't stop
framing people and misusing his authority."

In the federal civil suit filed in February, Coleman and Stewart were
sued by Billy Don Wafer, who was accused of delivery of a controlled
substance, a charge that later was tossed out by an appeals court.

The suit seeks unspecified damages from Stewart and Coleman, alleging
that they conspired to eliminate blacks from Tulia by manufacturing
evidence in the drug sting.

Many of the cases against black Tulia residents were based solely on
the testimony of Coleman. During the trial of Freddie Brookins Jr.,
24, testimony emerged about past charges against Coleman, Globe-News
files show.

Coleman was charged with theft in Cochran County, where he worked in
law enforcement before coming to Tulia, files state. According to the
complaint from Cochran County, Coleman was charged with abuse of
official capacity and theft for using a county credit card to
purchase fuel for his personal vehicle.

Later testimony indicated Coleman took about five days off to settle
the matter, which included paying off $7,000 in old debts and making
restitution for $65, and the charges were dropped.

The Associated Press and Globe-News Staff Writer Ricky George
contributed to this report.