POLICE OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY

Roanoke City policeman agrees to plea bargain

Photo caption -- Natalee Waters/The Roanoke Times Roanoke City Police
Officer Frederick Pledge pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to one
count of racketeering.

Frederick Pledge did not implicate any other officers when he admitted his
guilt.

Frederick Pledge pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering Tuesday in
federal court, conceding he'd used his Roanoke city police badge to get
money from drug dealers.

"I knew I was violating police policy, but I never thought it would be a
federal violation," said Pledge. After the hearing, though, Pledge's
attorney, Christopher Kowalczuk, said his client "certainly knew that he
violated the law."

The count Pledge pleaded guilty to in a plea bargain contained 23 acts of
racketeering. He could face up to 20 years in prison and more than $250,000
in fines. The severity of his sentencing will depend on whether U.S.
District Judge James Turk decides Pledge's actions constituted robbery,
bribery or extortion.

A federal grand jury charged Pledge, a seven-year veteran of the force who
patrolled the streets of Northwest Roanoke, with accepting almost $16,000
from drug dealers and other criminals. He was also accused of taking guns,
crack cocaine, marijuana and jewelry from people he stopped from 1994 until
July 2000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bondurant described Pledge as a "thug with a
badge."

Pledge's plea on the eve of his trial scheduled for next week removed the
spotlight from the Roanoke City Police Department.

The department was preparing Pledge's termination papers Tuesday after
learning of the guilty plea, but Pledge resigned first, according to police
spokeswoman Shelly Alley.

Had the case gone to trial, Kowalczuk was planning to present evidence that
two other former police officers, Levert Jackson and the late Connie Lee,
were involved in illegal activity.

Jackson is believed to have left the state, and Lee, who used to ride with
Pledge in a motorcycle group called the "Killer Bees," was killed in an
accident last year.

Two other officers were placed on administrative leave last year when they
became the subject of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement
Administration. One has since been fired, but his termination was not
related to the Pledge case, Roanoke Police Chief Atlas "Joe" Gaskins said
later.

Gaskins defended his 250-officer department.

"I don't think that one rotten apple can change the good that our officers
do day in and day out," he said.

In December, Robert Tyrone Adams, a Roanoke man indicted on drug conspiracy
charges, referred to Pledge and two other Roanoke police officers as his
"knights in shining armor," according to the indictment. Adams paid Pledge
and the two other officers for not arresting him, the indictment charges.

Federal authorities are still investigating some of the allegations
involving the police department, Bondurant said. Pledge did not implicate
any other police officers when he pleaded guilty.

Pledge was placed on administrative leave last summer after he was
indicted, but he remained on the city's payroll.

Reached later at her office, City Manager Darlene Burcham said, "hopefully
we can put all this behind us and move forward. We should judge the Police
Department as a whole and not just on the actions of one."

Though Pledge pleaded guilty to racketeering, Bondurant admitted there was
no evidence that Pledge had sold drugs himself. Pledge was originally
indicted on a drug conspiracy charge that alleged he and other members of
the Police Department would "shake down" or steal money from drug dealers.
He was also implicated in the distribution of more than $10,000 worth of
drugs to New York City.

During the hearing, Kowalczuk pointed out that although Pledge pleaded
guilty to the racketeering count, he did not concede that he committed all
of the acts alleged in the charge.

Pledge stood silent for almost a minute when Judge Turk asked him if he was
aware of the rights he was giving up if he went ahead with his decision to
plead guilty.

Pledge whispered to Kowalczuk, then sighed, cleared his throat, and mumbled
his assent.

The acts Pledge did admit to were detailed in an investigation report
Bondurant introduced into evidence during the hearing. In June 1999, on the
eve of his indictment, Pledge met with federal authorities and "admitted
that he knew the money he accepted was obtained from drug sales," according
to the report.

Pledge told federal authorities that he allowed numerous people he stopped
for traffic violations to go free and to pay him back with meals and
haircuts. He also admitted accepting $200 each from two men for not
charging them with traffic violations.

One of the men, a former drug dealer named Donald Lee Stokes, said he was a
friend of Pledge's and had pushed the $200 on him.

"I gave it to him in case he ever heard my name ringing downtown," he said.

Pledge also said he'd accepted loans totaling $425 from another drug
trafficker, and not paid her back.

On several other occasions, Pledge said, he extorted money from other
people and admitted checking arrest warrants for at least one person he
knew was a drug trafficker.

Pledge mentioned three other Roanoke police officers, but did not implicate
any of them.

The $825 and free goodies Pledge admits accepting fall far short of what
DEA Special Agent Donald Canestraro testified Pledge accepted in the 23
acts alleged in the indictment. On cross-examination, Kowalczuk pressed
Canestraro to admit that a "majority" of the allegations against Pledge
came from convicted felons themselves.

Pledge's sentencing is scheduled for June 8.

Staff writer Zeke Barlow contributed to this report.