JUDGE SENTENCES FORMER ANTI-GANG OFFICERS

Two former Denver anti-gang policemen will each perform 80 hours of
community service and undergo one year of unsupervised probation for
getting rid of evidence in at least 80 drug cases.

The officers, Danny Alverson, 49, and Kurt Peterson, 37, pleaded guilty
Friday in Denver County Court to misdemeanor counts of abusing public
records and a petty offense of second-degree official misconduct. The
officers were expected to be arraigned in county court when they entered
their guilty pleas.

County Judge Kathleen Bowers sentenced the officers.

The officers had made numerous arrests and issued numerous tickets between
September 1998 and May 26 of this year for possession of marijuana and
possession of illegal drug paraphernalia, according to police reports.
However, none of the evidence in any of the drug cases was logged in the
Denver Police Department's property bureau.

Most of the offenses were minor and were prosecuted by the Denver city
attorney's office and not the district attorney.

Police spokeswoman Virginia Lopez said Saturday that the officers still
face an internal-affairs probe.

The officers were transferred when the charges came to light in June from
the department's anti-gang unit to the patrol division.