STING EXPOSED MEN TO HIV, LAWSUIT CLAIMS

But Prostitute Never Had Sex To Complete The Drug Deals, Say Police In Okanogan

A rural Washington police task force used a prostitute to lure men into
supplying her drugs -- an undercover operation that one man claims exposed
numerous people to the virus that causes AIDS.

A lawsuit against Okanogan County and the North Central Washington Task
Force contends police should have known the danger of turning a convicted
prostitute into a police informant.

"It's outrageous police misconduct to do such a thing," attorney Rodney
Reinbold said. "The government has no right to prey on men who are lonely
and expose them to AIDS."

County Prosecutor Rick Weber, acting as the attorney for the county and
task force, said the woman, who says she is HIV-positive, helped nab eight
or nine drug suspects. But he maintained that she did not have sex with any
of them.

"She disputes that she was using sex to complete these drug deals," Weber
said. "She denies it. We deny it."

The 31-year-old woman signed on as a task force informant in November,
after she completed drug treatment. The officer who had arrested her for
smoking pot talked her into helping the task force, according to court
documents.

She is no longer helping make busts, Weber said, though she still testifies
against drug suspects in court.

The lawsuit was filed March 30 by John Danny Shearer, an apprentice plumber
who was arrested for delivering marijuana.

The 49-year-old Methow Valley man claims the woman made sexual advances
toward him, cajoling him to hand over some of his pot.

They had sexual contact at least a few times, according to his written
statement, and now he is fearfully waiting to learn if he is HIV- positive.

Five other men arrested on drug charges have come forward, worrying that
the woman may have infected them, Reinbold said. He will ask for approval
of a class-action suit to seek damages for the other men, along with their
partners and their future mates.

Several men gave sworn statements claiming the woman made sexual advances,
then persuaded them to go find her some drugs.

At least three said they had sexual contact with her, completely unaware of
her HIV status.

Another man who simply knew the woman claimed "she intended to infect as
many men, women and children as possible before she died."

Reinbold contends the task force knew the woman was HIV-positive. She has
disclosed it in several public court hearings, and she even said she told
the task force herself, according to court documents.

The lawyer also argues that the task force must make sure its informants
are gaining the confidence of drug suspects with sex.

"They had an obligation to watch her and know what she was doing," he said.

A Chelan County judge has banned the task force from employing prostitutes
until April 30, when she will hear arguments from both sides.

Shearer's earlier claim sought millions of dollars: $100,000 for people who
needlessly worried that they were infected with HIV, and $2 million -- plus
$15,000 each year for medical expenses -- for those who contracted the virus.

It also sought $2 million in punitive damages, roughly five times the task
force's $400,000 annual budget, Reinbold said.

Aside from money, Shearer's lawsuit also asks to have all drug cases that
involved the woman dismissed. As a tradeoff, the men would have to take
mandatory HIV tests.

Reinbold contends that's the only way to help keep the men from spreading
the deadly virus unknowingly, a measure he deems more important than
prosecuting crimes that involved negligible amounts of drugs.

The drug task force has been around for more than a decade. It targets drug
crimes using the combined resources of police in cities like Omak, Okanogan
and Winthrop with county and state officers. The Okanogan County Sheriff's
Office oversees its efforts.

The use of informants is not new, said Weber, the county prosecutor.

Officers learn all they can about someone's past, he said, then they make
"a judgment call" about whether they would make a trustworthy informant.

They were fully aware that the woman at the center of controversy had a
long rap sheet that involved prostitution, he said.

"Drug task forces have a difficult job," he said. "In order to deal with
the criminal conduct, they're essentially required to employ people who fit
into that part of society."

The woman said she was paid for her undercover work, according to court
records. First it was $225 per case, then $50 for each drug buy, and most
recently, a flat $75 a day.

Weber said the task force had no policy about using people who are HIV-
positive, simply because the issue hadn't come up before. He said he didn't
know when the task force learned of the woman's HIV status.

But he was doubtful that the police would condone the woman's alleged
tactics of making sexual advances toward suspected drug users or dealers.

"I don't believe that the task force would knowingly encourage an informant
to employ those means," he said.

Calls seeking comment from the sheriff's office and the task force were not
returned yesterday.

Weber said he was reluctant to discuss many details of Shearer's lawsuit
because of the pending criminal cases against the drug suspects whom the
woman helped nab. He did say, however, that those charges may be fueling
the allegations.

"Dismissal of the cases is obviously a major motivation in this," he said.

The prosecutor also noted that Reinbold had filed a previous lawsuit
against the task force, saying the lawyer's "animosity toward the task
force is well-known."