DEPUTY IN STING HAD MEXICO TICKET

A Denver deputy sheriff who authorities say spent months smuggling
contraband to inmates in the Denver County Jail had bought a ticket to fly
to Mexico today.

The deputy, Solomon Mikael, 34, was arrested Wednesday after an extensive
investigation. The probe began in April after prosecutors, police and
sheriff's officials heard that a deputy was bringing contraband to the jail
to sell to inmates.

On Sept. 1, Mikael met an undercover agent and received marijuana, tobacco
and $250 in marked money, court records say. Officers said Mikael then
smuggled the drugs and tobacco into the jail and sold them to an inmate.

On Wednesday, Mikael met with an undercover agent and received marijuana,
tobacco and $600, authorities said. Before he could take the items to the
jail, he was arrested. The documents say that after his arrest, Mikael
confessed that he sold contraband to an inmate Sept. 1.

Investigators asked for a high bail. They said Mikael has no family here
and is going through a divorce. They also noted that in a search of his
home, a Sept. 9 plane ticket to Mexico was found. Bail was set at $100,000.

Mikael was hired as a deputy in 1998. He was put on leave in November 2001
after a submachine gun he was issued disappeared.