COP, 46 OTHERS CHARGED IN MAJOR HEROIN OPERATION

A Chicago Police officer and a key Mickey Cobras street gang leader
were among 47 people charged Wednesday with running a major drug
operation out of the Dearborn Homes housing project -- but no charges
involved a rash of fatal overdoses involving fentanyl-laced heroin
linked to the same area.

According to a 213-page federal complaint, Prairie District Officer
Tashika Sledge, 29, helped Lynn Barksdale, a member of the gang's
board of directors, by hiding his drug sales paraphernalia.

Mickey Cobras arrested

She also allegedly gave Barksdale access to her police database to
help him determine which Mickey Cobras were under surveillance and to
identify who was following him by checking vehicle license plates.

Overseen by James Austin, the gang's "king," dealers marketed eight
strains of potent heroin -- identified by names such as "Max Pain,"
"Reaper," "Lethal Injection," "Drop Dead," "Fear Factor," Final
Call," "Skyrocket," "Girls Gone Wild" and "Penicillin," First
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro said.

"They carry niche marketing to the extreme," he said.

Dealers working with Austin would pay street taxes between $500 and
$1,000 a week so they could sell the different brands, Shapiro said.
Austin, 29, was arrested Wednesday in Akron, Ohio, and charged with
overseeing sales.

'No one is above the law'

Police Supt. Phil Cline said it was troubling that Sledge allegedly
betrayed the public trust. She was stripped of her police powers and
assigned to a clerical job two months ago when U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency officials alerted the department of suspicions about her
actions, he said.

She will be placed on a "no-pay status" in light of her arrest, Cline said.

"More than ever, this should illustrate that no one is above the law,
not even a police officer," Cline said.

While federal authorities spoke of many strains of heroin, they
divulged no details specifically related to fentanyl-tainted heroin
at the Chicago Housing Authority's Dearborn Homes complex.

They would only say that fentanyl, manufactured for legal use as a
pain-killer, was seized alone and not mixed with any other drug Jan.
25 and April 25 in small plastic bags.

No link to fentanyl deaths yet

Shapiro said additional charges could be filed, but he would not
connect 60 Cook County deaths linked to fentanyl-laced heroin to any
of the defendants listed in the federal complaint.

"It contains no allegations relating to resulting harm to drug
users," Shapiro said after an early-morning sting that reached from
Chicago to Katy, Texas.

"For this reason, I have to emphasize that none of these defendants
are charged with or are alleged to be responsible for any of the
deaths connected to fentanyl use," he said.

The other suspects charged in the "Operation Snakebite" probe include
Austin's chief assistant, Johnny Shannon, 27, of Chicago; Barksdale,
32; another Chicago-based Mickey Cobras' director, Larry Smith, 31,
and Kevin Williams, 25, who had been freed on bail after he was
charged with the 2003 shooting of a 9-year-old boy, police said.

Williams posted 10 percent of the $100,000 bond in the shooting. He
failed to appear at a court hearing, but he still managed to stay out
of jail, Cline said. The victim suffers from slurred speech, can't
use his right hand and is in a special education program in sixth
grade, Cline said.

"We're disappointed that such a low bond was set for a person who
shot a 9-year-old boy," Cline said. "It's a shame he was able to
continue doing business."

Thirty of the 47 defendants in custody are expected to appear in
federal court today.

All of the arrested suspects in the investigation, which followed
months of wiretaps and undercover drug buys, were charged with
conspiracy to possess and distribute heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana
and fentanyl from 1999 to 2006.

Contributing: Frank Main