D.C. OFFICER ALLEGEDLY LEAKED INFORMATION

McGill Accused Of Warning Other Drug Ring Members About Police Plans

D.C. police officer Andrew James McGill Jr., who is charged with being part
of a major drug gang that sold heroin, cocaine and marijuana for most of
the past decade, provided "confidential law-enforcement information" to a
member of the gang, according to court records filed in connection with
recent guilty pleas in the case and a related case.

Three other men charged with participating in the drug ring that allegedly
included McGill, 29, have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in
Greenbelt to drug conspiracy and money laundering. The three also have
agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors against the remaining
defendants, according to court records.

"Using confidential law-enforcement information provided by co-defendant
Andrew James McGill Jr., defendant Jeffrey Ewing warned other members of
the conspiracy of pending law-enforcement activity at and in the vicinity
of 37 Forrester St. SW," according to a statement of facts Ewing signed in
connection with his Feb. 25 plea. He pleaded guilty to distributing marijuana.

Federal prosecutors allege that the drug gang used the house at 37
Forrester St. SW as its headquarters. For much of the 1990s, until he was
transferred in 1997, McGill worked as a patrol officer and sometimes in
plain clothes in the 7th Police District, which includes Forrester Street.

In exchange for the information McGill allegedly provided, Ewing gave the
officer "things of value," according to the statement of facts. The
statement did not detail what information McGill allegedly gave the drug
gang, nor did it describe what Ewing, also known as "Fat Cat," allegedly
gave the officer.

McGill, who has been suspended without pay from the police department since
his Jan. 6 arrest, has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, William C.
Brennan, declined to comment yesterday.

The documents filed in connection with Ewing's guilty plea provided more
information than had been previously disclosed about McGill's alleged role
in the drug ring. The indictment charging McGill and nine others with being
part of the drug gang and other court records filed in connection with the
case do not contain details of McGill's alleged role.

In court papers seeking dismissal of the charges against McGill, Brennan
said prosecutors have given him "absolutely no incriminating evidence
demonstrating that McGill was involved in the conspiracy charged in this
case."

However, in a motion to suppress evidence, Brennan wrote that
law-enforcement officials questioned McGill after his arrest and "obtained
incriminating statements from him." The motion, which did not detail what
statements McGill made, is pending.

In addition to Ewing, two other men charged in the drug conspiracy have
pleaded guilty in the past two weeks. Denard "Den Den" Hartwell, a cousin
of alleged ringleader Erskine "Pee Wee" Hartwell, pleaded guilty to one
count of being part of a drug conspiracy, and Dominic Dorsey pleaded guilty
to money laundering, according to court records.

With those pleas, six of the 12 alleged members of the drug gang who have
been publicly identified have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with
federal prosecutors against the remaining defendants, including McGill.

A seventh defendant, former Clinton auto dealer Bassem Najjar, was found
guilty by a federal jury last year of running a stolen car operation that
prosecutors allege helped launder money and provide cars for the drug ring.

Brennan's motion to have McGill's case separated from the other alleged
conspirators was granted. McGill, who originally was to stand trial March
28, is now scheduled to go to trial May 2.