OFFICIALS SHED LIGHT ON DRUG ENFORCEMENT UNIT

It's not often a drug dealer is arrested while staying in the same hotel as
the governor.

But that's what happened during a Fifth Judicial District Drug Task Force
sting on April 18, 1998, at a Blount County hotel.

Blount County Sheriff James Berrong, a task force agent and other county
officials spoke recently about what the drug enforcement unit does, how it
spends government funds and seized money, and why the team is needed.

The task force covers all expenses in paying informants and in using
``show'' money to set up sting operations, the sheriff said. ``Show'' money
is needed when a drug dealer demands to see cash before setting up a buy
with undercover officers.

Having the money on hand has helped make major arrests and seizures in the
past, according to the sheriff. As an example, he cited the 1998 bust at
the Hampton Inn in Alcoa. Gov. Don Sundquist was staying at the hotel
across from McGhee Tyson Airport while in East Tennessee for a meeting.

"We had to have $100,000 in 'show' money. We were able to do the deal and
the sting was successful,'' Berrong said.

Agents did not learn the governor was staying at the hotel until they were
setting up the sting. Investigators notified the governor's staff of the
situation, and Sundquist was secured in his room while search warrants were
executed in another part of the inn against several suspects from California.

As a precaution, other guests were cleared from the area near the rooms
where the suspects were staying.

Two kilos of cocaine were seized by the task force at the hotel.

"We try to not only be reactive, but proactive,'' the sheriff said.

One of the biggest complaints from residents is illicit drug activity,
according to Berrong.

"We need the unit to run covert operations.''

The task force also helps investigate violent or property crimes.

"The criminal activity that follows drug activity is extensive. They help
us frequently. I can attribute a few homicides to being solved by their
gathering of information,'' Berrong said.

Art Alexander with the state Comptrollers Office in Nashville said the
Fifth Judicial Task Force does a good job of accounting for its fiscal
resources.

The comptroller's office audits the financial books of every task force in
the state.

In some other districts across the state, leadership of the task forces
often changes and this leads to mistakes in accounting of drug funds,
Alexander said.

"We've never had any problems with the Fifth Judicial Task Force. It's
always been well operated,'' he said.

Berrong estimated the task force seizes about $40,000 in cash annually.
Seizures are placed in a bank account for either federal or state seizures,
depending on whether it's a federal or state case.

The total amount of money in those two accounts fluctuates, depending on
the amount of cash seized annually.

"You might stop a truck out here with $100,000 and not stop anything else
the rest of the year. (The total amount of dollars seized) depends on what
type of investigations you've got going on,'' Berrong said.

Following The Money

Dave Bennett is Blount County assistant county executive and director of
accounts and budgets. Bennett said April 19 there was about $131,000 in the
federal drug seizure account and $306,000 in the state or seized-money account.

In addition to the seized cash, Bennett said an Edward Byrne grant provides
$118,750 annually. This is a matching grant -- about $95,000 comes from the
federal government, and the county picks up the additional 25 percent.

Task Force supervisor Capt. Ron Talbott estimated that if the federal grant
ends, there would be enough money to continue operations for at least two
years, depending on the level of investigations being conducted.

Task force officials have to document what money is brought in and what
money is spent each year.

"We're audited here, at the court, and then we report quarterly on how all
(federal) money is spent. We're checked every which way we can, coming and
going,'' Talbott said.

Bennett said the seized money allows law enforcement officials to operate
without tapping tax dollars.

"From a financial standpoint, they're keeping criminals off the street and
not costing the general public any money,'' Bennett said.

"On the surface, it looks like there's all this cash, but it's very
strictly controlled,'' he said. "Every penny is probably counted two or
three times.''

Using Other Assets

Cash is not the only seized asset put to use. By using, auctioning or
donating seized equipment and vehicles, agents work to stop drug use,
trafficking and help make communities safer through education, Talbott said.

One example is seen every day at Heritage High School.

"We donated $10,000 worth of equipment for Heritage High School students to
learn horticulture,'' he said.

Donated grow lights and other horticultural equipment came from a marijuana
raid.

When money or property is seized, it takes about a year of hearings and
appeals in the courts to determine whether the money is to be returned or
forfeited.

"In a round-about way, drug dealers pay to keep kids off drugs,'' Talbott said.

The task force receives assistance from the Fifth Judicial District
attorney general's office. Assistant District Attorney General John Bobo is
the prosecutor who has worked with the task force.

Bobo said the drug accounts are not "slush funds'' that the sheriff's
office and task force officers dip into for luxuries.

"To arrest and prosecute drug dealers requires a great amount of training,
manpower, equipment and money,'' Bobo said.

'If the task force receives information someone is in town to sell cocaine
for $50,000, they have to be able to get that money to the undercover
agents immediately or that drug dealer is gone and we've allowed the dealer
to continue to operate in our community.''

Berrong said the money is audited and monitored by the state comptrollers
office and by federal officials.

Almost self-supporting

The sheriff said the task force is essentially self-supporting. Besides
about $20,000 from the sheriff's office annually, the team operates with
the federal grant money and the cash from seizures.

While the sheriff's office pays the salaries of all but one employee in the
task force, the unit pays for its own supplies, overhead costs, vehicles
and technology.

"Anytime they need new surveillance equipment, they have to pay for it,''
Berrong said.

In addition to enforcement, the unit is responsible for paying all costs
related to the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) programs in schools
throughout the county.

About $6,000 annually is spent on DARE supplies. The unit also pays
expenses for the K-9 unit (police dogs). A good police dog can cost about
$10,000.

The state gives the unit $95,000 annually to operate the task force.

"It may look like we've got a lot, but we've got a lot of expenses,''
Berrong said. "We get out and do our job, and if funds follow, that's
great. If money isn't seized, then we've done our jobs.''

Drug court costs

The sheriff also discussed a recent proposal to use drug task force money
to fund the drug court.

"Anything that will help (drug users) make a life for themselves, we're
for, but the sheriff's office is in the enforcement end of it,'' Berrong
said of drug court.

Berrong said the Fifth Judicial District Drug Task Force already is drained
of about $15,000 annually because of the loss in revenues from their
portion of fines they normally collect when a person on drug charges is
sent through the traditional courts, such as the general sessions or
circuit courts.

The sheriff said that when a defendant is found guilty in drug court, they
are exempt from paying the fines. The point being the person will not be
responsible for the fines if they stay out of the drug lifestyle. This
restricts the task force in that the defendants are not allowed to have
contact with the task force members, according to Berrong. That means the
task force's pool of informants becomes drained. This could result in fewer
arrests because there are fewer informants to give good information, the
sheriff said.

Prosecutor Perspective

There are other reasons seizures in drug cases impact the drug trade in the
community, assistant D.A. Bobo noted.

"When we seize assets from drug dealers, we cripple their ability to get
back into the drug trade,'' he said.

Plus, the drugs are destroyed after the case has gone through the system.
Seized cars and vehicles are often used for undercover purposes.

Bobo said the task force also pays the cost of training for officers and
agents.

"The drug task force does a fantastic job of building cases. The officers
there have demonstrated a work ethic you wouldn't believe,'' Bobo said.

"I don't think citizens have any idea of the volume of drugs and offenders
they process a year,'' he said.