D.C. DETECTIVE RECEIVES TWO-YEAR TERM

Johnny St. Valentine Brown Jr., a charismatic D.C. police detective who
became the department's top drug expert at criminal trials, was sentenced
to a two-year prison term yesterday after admitting he repeatedly lied
under oath about his credentials.

Brown, who as a witness was supremely confident in court, was shaky
yesterday as he urged a federal judge to give him a second chance instead
of locking him up on perjury charges. He said that he has punished himself
for months, adding: "I felt bad for so long that on days that I felt good,
I felt guilty. . . . I don't deserve to feel well."

In 29 years of law enforcement, Brown accumulated a wealth of knowledge
about the inner workings of the local drug trade. But rather than relying
on that experience to establish his expertise, he routinely told juries
that he had a doctorate in pharmacology and that he was a board-certified
pharmacist. Both claims were false.

Brown, who uses the nickname Jehru, testified at thousands of criminal
trials during his police career, working closely with the U.S. attorney's
office to win convictions in federal and local courts. He explained the
slang used on the street, the techniques used to package crack cocaine, the
mechanics of a drug deal and sometimes the effects that drugs have on
users. He abruptly resigned last summer after a lawyer handling a civil
case delved into his background and discovered the fabrications.

Since then, 31 people convicted of drug crimes have filed motions for new
trials.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Jeffress said prosecutors expect
dozens--"possibly hundreds"--of additional defendants to file similar
challenges. Two convictions have been overturned, and others are in
jeopardy, Jeffress said.

Brown, 57, pleaded guilty in February to eight perjury counts involving
testimony in U.S. District Court and D.C. Superior Court. Authorities said
it appears he had been lying about himself for at least 16 years, as a
witness and on his resume.

When he pleaded guilty, Brown offered no explanation for his actions. Even
yesterday, during roughly 20 minutes of soul-searching in court, he was
hard pressed to do so.

"I've asked myself a thousand times why I allowed this to happen," Brown
said. "I could certainly speculate as to why. I'm sure that part of it was
ego. The other part is that I didn't have the kind of confidence in myself
that I thought I had."

Brown said he was angry with himself and deeply sorry for any trouble he
caused his family, friends, prosecutors and others. "I've been deemed a
criminal," he said, fighting tears. "That's hard for me to fathom with what
my past has been. I'm a felon."

On the witness stand, Brown typically began his testimony by reciting
details about his background. That, in turn, led judges to designate him as
an expert witness--someone who could speak with authority on the subject.
Defense lawyers said Brown was so convincing that they had no reason to
examine his claims. Over time, Brown won the respect of judges, lawyers and
juries for his command of the subject matter. He sometimes testified as a
defense expert, seemingly calling cases as he saw them.

During the late 1980s, Brown briefly left the police force to work as a
chief investigator for a U.S. House committee studying drug trafficking.
Then, from 1989 until 1991, he worked for the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, the nation's drug czar.

In recent years, Brown helped train police and prosecutors, gave talks to
schoolchildren and community groups, and did occasional consulting work.

Defense lawyer Bertrand Thomas maintained that Brown never had lied in his
explanations about the nuances of the drug trade and that it was his
"dynamic personality," not his phony credentials, that swayed so many
juries to convict accused drug dealers.

"He was able to take the streets, the seamy side of this community, and
translate it for a jury in a way they could understand," Thomas said.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. shared Thomas's assessment,
recalling his own experiences watching Brown as an expert witness. He
described Brown as a "good man who did a terrible thing" and said the case
was difficult for everyone involved.

But Kennedy said Brown's actions called for prison time, to be followed by
two years of court-supervised release. He also fined Brown $6,000. Kennedy
declined a request from prosecutors that Brown be barred from seeking work
as an expert witness once he leaves prison, and permitted Brown to make
arrangements with marshals and prison officials to turn himself in rather
than ordering him incarcerated immediately.