SHELBY GRAND JUROR JAILED AFTER DRUG SUSPECTS ARE TIPPED OFF

A Shelby County grand juror accused of tipping off suspects in a drug
investigation will remain in jail at least until Friday, a judge said
yesterday.

Karen A. Beach, 39, allegedly alerted suspects just days before they
were to be arrested, authorities said.

Shelby County Sheriff Mike Armstrong said some suspects named in
sealed indictments began surrendering, leading authorities to suspect
a leak.

"We became concerned when they began turning themselves in because
there was no way for any of them to know whose names were on that
list," Armstrong said.

The sheriff said the leak allowed at least two suspects to flee before
their arrest and might have endangered officers who participated in a
roundup last week.

"These individuals knew that the police were coming for them, and that
makes it possibly more dangerous for our officers," Armstrong said.

Circuit Judge William F. Stewart, who signed a bench warrant for
Beach's arrest Monday, said such situations are rare.

"I have not ever had the report of a grand juror in any of my three
counties divulging grand jury business, not even a whimper," Stewart
said, noting that he has been a circuit judge for Anderson, Shelby and
Spencer counties since 1990 and began practicing law in 1975.

Stewart said he doesn't plan to release Beach until Friday at the
earliest so prosecutors have time to decide whether to pursue criminal
charges.

Armstrong said Beach told investigators that she had talked about the
case with others, but told them she hadn't realized it was illegal to
do so.

A man who answered the telephone listed in Beach's name declined to
discuss the matter yesterday.

A 13-month investigation into drug dealing in Shelby County resulted
in indictments of 72 area residents June 18, authorities said.

Nearly 60 state police, Shelbyville police and county sheriff's
department officers fanned out last Wednesday and arrested dozens of
suspects, Armstrong said.

Before signing Beach's arrest warrant, Stewart said, investigators
played for him a taped phone call from the county jail in which a
prisoner discussed Beach's alleged warnings.

Stewart said he tells every grand jury to keep secret the content of
sealed indictments.

He said he recounts for the jurors an incident in 1996 in a nearby
county where a police informant was killed by defendants who learned
of their imminent indictment from a grand juror.

Stewart said Beach did not show up Monday for her regularly scheduled
grand jury duty.

The failure to appear, coupled with concerns by prosecutors that she
may tell others not yet arrested about the indictments, led him to
jail her for contempt of court, he said.

On Friday, Beach will face Stewart along with many of the about 40
suspects police have arrested so far.

Many of the suspects are charged with dealing cocaine.

Armstrong said about $20,000 in cash and a vehicle have been seized as
a result of the investigation.

As a group, he said, the defendants do not appear to have been working
together, and there was no evidence of a larger drug network.