LIES OF ST LOUIS INFORMER FREE ANOTHER DRUG DEALER

ST. LOUIS -- In January, a prosecutor told a federal judge in Los
Angeles that Dave Daly was such a bad guy he should be imprisoned for
life. After all, Daly already had five convictions for drug dealing
and was awaiting trial on another drug charge.

Now, the government has changed its tune. It reduced the drug charge
to illegal use of a telephone and released Daly from prison.

Why?

Daly's attorney asked the government to produce a document the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch says two federal agencies are trying hard not to
make public: the report of an internal investigation by the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration. It details how the agency's most
celebrated informer -- Andrew Chambers, formerly of suburban St.
Louis -- lied in court over 15 years while sending hundreds of people
to prison.

The DEA report remains secret. Described only as 157 pages long, it
is believed to document a cover-up by drug agents who watched as
Chambers perjured himself by claiming over and over that he had never
been arrested or convicted, the Post-Dispatch reported Sunday.

The agents and senior DEA officials knew he was lying, the newspaper
said. It claimed some of the agents had even helped him get out of
trouble when he was arrested, and said the DEA waged a two-year court
fight to keep Chambers' lies a secret.

Since the DEA scandal broke last year, prosecutors across the country
have dropped charges against at least 14 accused drug dealers rather
than risk putting Chambers on the witness stand again.

In the California case, Daly, 39, had to make some promises to the
government to get out of jail, where he had been awaiting trial for
more than three years. As part of the deal, he gave up his right to
try to see the DEA investigation, withdrew a motion accusing
prosecutors and drug agents of misconduct, and agreed there was no
government misconduct.

"That was the price of getting Daly out of jail," said one of his
attorneys, John Martin.