FDLE INVESTIGATION NAGS POLICE

A State Investigation of Drug Arrests by Tarpon Springs Police
Continues, With Claims That Officers Planted Evidence.

TARPON SPRINGS - A cloud of suspicion continues to hang over the
Tarpon Springs Police Department and its efforts to make drug arrests,
months after becoming the target of a state investigation.

Chief Mark LeCouris said street informers have told him agents for the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement have been asking whether police
officers have planted drugs on suspects, a charge LeCouris denies. But
one suspect has made that allegation to FDLE, and a lawyer in another
case unsuccessfully made that argument in court.

Meanwhile, Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger said his
office has received more than a dozen complaints from clients who
alleged that Tarpon Springs police planted evidence.

"We've had clients pass polygraphs to that effect," said Dillinger,
who would not detail specific cases. "It came up frequently enough
that we started paying attention to it."

The FDLE so far has requested scores of documents and police reports,
but LeCouris said agents have not told him what they are seeking. He
said he has seen no proof his officers have planted drugs on suspects
and doubts the FDLE will find any.

"I'm not saying 100 percent that's not happening," LeCouris said. "I
can't say that. But I can tell you I haven't seen a shred of evidence
or some semblance of something that says that's what's happening."

In September, the FDLE requested police records on more than a dozen
arrests, many of them drug-related. In its request, the agency named
Sgt. Michael Trill and retired Officer Romando Black as officers whose
actions are under review. Formerly partners on the department's
narcotics team, Trill and Black, both 34, made hundreds of drug
arrests before Black retired on medical disability in April 2003.

LeCouris said street informers told him that FDLE agents asked a lot
of questions about rumored evidence-planting. But he contended local
drug dealers are fueling the rumors to undermine the department's
credibility and said he has seen no evidence to indicate his officers
have done anything wrong.

"We knew before this thing with FDLE that the way to stop Mike Trill
or the TAC team and stuff was going to be to file numerous complaints
and get it going or file allegations of planting drugs," he said.

FDLE spokesman Rick Morera declined to comment on the scope of the
investigation. He denied LeCouris' claim that FDLE has kept him in the
dark about the investigation's focus.

"We have had conversations in the past with the chief about the
investigation," Morera said. "And we'll continue to have conversations
and discussions with the chief."

FDLE agents would not be the first to question whether Tarpon Springs
police planted evidence. Holiday attorney Steve Bartlett alleged in
court pleadings that Tarpon Springs officers planted drugs in his
client's car in 2002.

Eric Jon Dickson was standing near his 1990 Honda CRX on Mango Street
on June 6, 2002, when police Officer Matthew McLane stopped and asked
if he could search the vehicle. Dickson did not consent to the vehicle
search, nor did he agree to let officers search him, Bartlett claimed
in court.

But McLane said in a report that Dickson did consent and then tried to
destroy a piece of crack cocaine he was holding in his fist. He was
charged with possession of cocaine and tampering with evidence. Police
also impounded his car. A search that day found a BB-gun and nothing
else, records show.

A week later, Dickson accused the police of stealing $600 in cash from
his impounded car so they searched it again, records show. A police
document naming Trill as the case officer shows that the second search
revealed plastic bags containing 12 hydrocodone tablets, 20 methadone
tablets, 20 diazepam tablets, an oxycodone tablet, a plastic pipe and
spoon coated with drug residue.

"Either they had Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles search that car the
first time or something was wrong," Bartlett said.

Detective Sgt. Allen MacKenzie said the first search missed a small
compartment holding the drugs. LeCouris said it was an honest mistake.
Dickson was never charged with possessing the drugs found in his car
because officers could not prove the drugs belonged to Dickson or that
he put them in the vehicle, MacKenzie said.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Nelly Khouzam ruled the evidence-planting
allegations were "not relevant" to Dickson's arrest. Dickson
eventually pleaded guilty to the original cocaine possession and
evidence-tampering charges. A formal finding of guilt was withheld and
he was sentenced to 2 years' probation. He has since been charged with
possession of oxycodone and violating his probation and is serving a
6-month jail sentence.

FDLE officials won't say whether Dickson's case is part of their
investigation. Bartlett, who is no longer Dickson's attorney, said the
FDLE has not contacted him about Dickson's case.

Another drug suspect, however, said he has complained to FDLE that
Trill planed evidence in his car and that agents have interviewed him.

Scott Monroe, 33, of Port Richey, has a long history of run-ins with
the law, including charges for battery, forgery and driving under the
influence, records show. He said he has struggled with drug and
alcohol addiction for years.

On Oct. 18, 2001, Monroe said he approached a man standing at a
well-known drug hot spot in Tarpon Springs.

"He asked me if I wanted weed. I said, no. I said I wanted coke,"
Monroe said. "Then he said he was an undercover cop. They put a 9mm
(gun) to my head."

Trill, Black and two other officers arrested Monroe, records show.
Monroe said Trill drove him to the police station. During the ride the
two discovered that they had once attended the same church.
Embarrassed, Monroe promised to try to stay clean and not score drugs
in Tarpon Springs again.

"He (Trill) prayed over me, and I kind of broke down," Monroe said. "I
thought he cared."

But on Nov. 23, 2001, Monroe returned to Tarpon Springs in search of
drugs and was pulled over by another officer on Martin Luther King Jr.
Drive. Monroe admitted he had tried and failed to buy drugs minutes
before but didn't have any drugs on him, he said.

When Trill arrived minutes later, "He said, "What the f--- are you
doing here? I told you not to come back here anymore,"' Monroe said.

"The first cop went into the car and looked and he never found
anything," Monroe said. "But then Trill went in and they found something."

That something was a small baggie containing crumbs of cocaine,
according to a police report. But Monroe said he has told FDLE
investigators he thinks Trill planted the baggie in his car to teach
him a lesson. Monroe pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced
to two years' probation and outpatient drug treatment.

"He said he thinks that he's doing me a favor because we're both
Christians," said Monroe, who is in the Pinellas County jail on
charges of driving on a suspended license, felony fleeing and eluding
and violation of his earlier probation.

Police officials said Trill was not available for comment. LeCouris
denied Trill has done anything wrong. He praised Trill's record as a
narcotics officer and said he would be the first to fire any officer
caught planting evidence.

"I hate bad cops just as much as anyone," LeCouris said.