PROSECUTORS THROW OUT 4 TAINTED CASES

Eight suspected drug dealers won their freedom Monday as a result of
reports that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's
second-highest-paid informant - a fallen star who helped put 475
dealers behind bars - is a known liar.

The Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office dropped all charges in
four cases stemming from the informant's work.

``It has come to the state's attention that a particular witness in
these cases has some credibility problems,'' Assistant State Attorney
Eric Myers told Circuit Judge Florence Foster.

``It is our legal and ethical responsibility, based on the facts
before us, not to go forward.''

The decision was lauded by defense attorneys who had argued the cases
were tainted.

But the controversy may follow Myers, who is being considered for a
Hillsborough County judgeship. The Tampa Tribune learned late Monday
that The Florida Bar has opened an ethics investigation into Myers,
who was responsible for overseeing the narcotics prosecutors assigned
to the state cases.

The problem, both with the cases and for Myers, centers on Andrew
Chambers, a career informant who has earned at least $2 million by
tipping off law enforcement to planned drug deals and setting up
reverse stings.

Chambers, once considered the best in his field, was ``deactivated''
as a DEA informant in February after media reports that he lied during
previous trials. The stories questioned why the DEA was still using
Chambers after two federal appeals courts ruled that he gave false
testimony about his education and his criminal past.

In his 15 years as an informant, Chambers, 42, of St. Louis, was
arrested at least seven times. He was convicted in 1995 after Denver
police charged him with soliciting a prostitute and impersonating a
law enforcement officer. Despite this, he has repeatedly denied being
in trouble.

Chambers started building cases in Tampa in 1998. He has been linked
to at least one federal prosecution here, as well as seven state cases.

The ethics investigation is believed to focus on what Hillsborough
prosecutors knew about Chambers' past and when they knew it. The DEA,
amid growing reports about the informant, sent certified letters to
the state attorney's office in November referencing a problem with
Chambers' previous testimony. Only one prosecutor sought details from
the DEA. None shared the warning with defense attorneys.

The state attorney's office at first denied receiving the letters.
Then the DEA presented copies of them, prosecutors found the originals
and Myers began a review.

Monday's dismissals bring the number of Florida defendants freed
because of Chambers' credibility problems to 12. And defense attorneys
are predicting more.

``You are going to start seeing people who are incarcerated come out
of the woodwork now,'' said Dario Diaz, an attorney for one of the
Chambers defendants.

Chambers ``made millions of dollars, but the tragic thing is that 95
percent of the people or better will never know he was involved'' in
their case, Diaz said.

That's because current law limits the information law enforcement
agencies have to reveal about a confidential informant. Even in state
court, where the defense is entitled to more advance evidence than in
federal court, prosecutors are not always required to disclose an
informant's identity if they don't plan to use him as a witness.

Despite repeated calls to his home, Myers could not be reached late
Monday for comment on the Bar's investigation, which so far includes
none of the assistant state attorneys who directly handled the
Chambers cases.

But in an interview Monday afternoon, Myers said the state would have
been forced to put Chambers on the stand in the four cases it dismissed.

``Some may question, `Well, you guys let a lot of drug dealers go,'
but that's not how we look at it,'' Myers said. ``We could not
knowingly put a witness with credibility problems on the stand. We are
not trying to incarcerate anybody and everybody. We have to make sure
the justice system works.''

State prosecutors will proceed against two other defendants with whom
Chambers was involved because those defendants had only minimal
contact with Chambers, Myers said.

The state also plans to notify attorneys representing two more state
defendants arrested as a result of information supplied by Chambers.
One is serving state and federal time after pleading guilty. The other
fled after being placed on probation and is considered a fugitive.

Defense attorneys involved in the cases said the office ``did the
right thing.''

``It was the only thing they could do,'' said lawyer Mark Ober, who is
running against incumbent Harry Lee Coe for state attorney. ``They
could not walk into court and vouch for his credibility.''

Added Diaz: ``Sometimes a prosecutor has to fold his
cards, but this builds confidence for future cases.''

But Diaz also voiced concern that the cases may not be over. U.S.
prosecutors have up to five years to indict any of the defendants on
federal charges.

Monte Richardson, a spokesman with the U.S. attorney's office,
declined to comment on that possibility. But several courthouse
observers consider it unlikely.

``If I were still a federal prosecutor, I wouldn't touch this with the
proverbial 10-foot pole,'' lawyer John Fitzgibbons said.

Tampa's federal prosecutors are still smarting over having to drop
charges in an unrelated cocaine case because of a misleading sworn
report by a state trooper.

And their counterparts in Miami already have decided Chambers is more
trouble than he is worth. Last week, the U.S. attorney's office there
dismissed two cases made by Chambers.

DEA officials acknowledged Monday that they have been stung by the
dismissals.

``As a criminal investigator, I can tell you it is always
disappointing when the decision is made to dismiss criminal charges,''
DEA spokesman Terry Parham said. ``It is the same in this case.''

Nonetheless, Parham said, prosecutors have the final
say.

The DEA is considering policy changes that would increase informant
oversight.

``Informants who are working for money,`` Fitzgibbons said, ``are the
most dangerous entity in the criminal justice system today.''

Staff writer Ladale Lloyd contributed to this report.