MAN CHARGED WITH STEALING MARIJUANA FROM STATE

A Milwaukee man is scheduled to appear today in Circuit Court on charges he
helped steal 185 pounds of marijuana from a storage locker the state
Department of Justice rented to stow narcotics seized in drug investigations.

Joey C. Flechner got a whiff of the $75,000 cache while visiting his own
storage locker at the West Allis facility and figured it might ease the
cash pinch he and his roommate were facing, according to a criminal
complaint. Flechner, his roommate and another man subsequently broke into
the drug locker, according to the complaint, cleaned it out and took the
marijuana to their apartment.

The roommate wound up fatally shot this month in a still-unsolved Milwaukee
shooting, and police subsequently learned about his involvement in the
burglary with Flechner, according to police and the complaint.

Department of Justice spokesman Jim Haney said the practice of storing
illegal narcotics in such facilities will be reviewed as a result of the
alleged theft, but he added that the practice was not new and that
officials felt the facility was sufficiently secure.

"Certainly, something like this prompts you to review the security
procedures you have in place," Haney said. "They were tight, but not tight
enough in this case."

Flechner, 26, of the 3600 block of W. Lapham St., was charged with burglary
in the case and is scheduled to appear in court today for a preliminary
hearing.

His roommate, Francis G. Beaudry, 16, died from a single gunshot wound he
sustained Nov. 8 behind a home in the block where he lived. No one has been
charged in connection with the shooting.

Police have said they have not learned the motive for the shooting; they
have ordered the medical examiner's report on Beaudry's death sealed.

The marijuana was stolen Aug. 21 from the storage locker.

Haney said the marijuana, which came from two criminal cases, was stored in
a locked locker, in a locked building in a facility surrounded by fence and
monitored by a guard.

"The facility is actually a fairly secure facility," Haney said. "You'd
have to go through three levels of locks to gain entry."

The facility also has surveillance cameras, so the incident was caught on
videotape, he said.

Despite all the security, though, other tenants with access to the lockers
could easily discern what was inside the locker leased by the Department of
Justice, according to the complaint.

A department agent acknowledged "that the scent of marijuana was so strong
in the hallway outside of the locker," according to the complaint, "that
someone walking by could determine what was inside."

When he was interviewed by police about the break-in, the complaint says,
Flechner described the odor as "strong."

Flechner said that he and Beaudry and a man he identified only as "Mikie"
stole the marijuana after Beaudry cut his way into the locker, according to
the complaint.

Flechner said his share was just 11/2 pounds, according to the complaint.

Assistant District Attorney Denis Stingl, who charged Flechner, said
authorities have not learned the identity of Mikie.

Haney said the department used a private storage facility to warehouse the
marijuana because federal regulations prohibit storing such a large
quantity of an illegal drug in a workplace.

"We've had to store large quantities in other facilities," Haney said. "I
think you'll find other agencies have to do the same."

He said the marijuana came from two drug trafficking cases that were
resolved with guilty pleas, so no convictions were jeopardized by the
missing marijuana.

Haney said the marijuana that was stolen was the only narcotics in the locker.

Asked why the marijuana was still in storage and not destroyed if the cases
were resolved, Haney replied, "I believe that would have been happening soon."