DRUG DEALERS USE CHILD CARE AS FRONT

Links Between Day Care Centers, Traffickers Common

More than a dozen Wisconsin child-care centers that reaped millions
of dollars in state subsidies have had close ties to drug-dealing
operations, including big-time crime bosses, a Journal Sentinel
investigation has found.

The newspaper identified 16 child-care centers with recent
connections to drug operations, and the number is likely much higher.
Those 16 alone have collected more than $8.5million in public
subsidies since 2006.

Records show many of those centers have been used to stash and
transport drugs, launder dirty cash and provide fake employment for
criminals - at taxpayers' expense.

In an ongoing investigation that has spanned more than a year, the
Journal Sentinel has revealed rampant fraud within Wisconsin Shares,
the state's $350 million child-care subsidy program. The
investigation has spurred sweeping reforms by lawmakers and
regulators, led to more than 130 child-care centers losing public
funding and resulted in criminal charges against several providers.

But the problems don't end with unscrupulous parents and providers
teaming up to scam subsidies. In June, the Journal Sentinel reported
nearly 500 child-care providers had criminal records - some including
felony convictions. This investigation went further. It found the
tentacles of some child-care centers also extend into dangerous
criminal operations.

In one case, a gunman burst through the door of a home-based
child-care business, stuck a gun in the face of an 8-year-old girl
and demanded money from the provider. Police believe the invasion was
drug-related.

In another instance, police found cocaine, marijuana and cash in a
home where children were being cared for by a Sheboygan Falls day
care provider whose husband was a suspected drug dealer.

And in yet another, a Milwaukee child-care provider gave $10,000 to
her live-in boyfriend, a convicted drug dealer, who used the money to
buy 2 kilos of cocaine from an undercover cop in 2007. It is unclear
whether the money used for the drug purchase came from Wisconsin
Shares. But the woman was paid $39,621 that year by the state through
the program.

She was on pace to collect $50,000 this year and remained in business
until Friday, when the state yanked her license in anticipation of this story.

"This is astounding - and the government is fostering this," said
state Rep. Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin), who has introduced
legislation to reform the troubled Wisconsin Shares program.

To tell this story, the Journal Sentinel cross-referenced databases
containing search warrants and court records with child-care
providers. It also reviewed hundreds of pages of police reports,
federal indictments, state child-care records, criminal complaints,
property records and other public documents. In addition, the
newspaper interviewed police officers and prosecutors and relied on
tips from child-care center employees and parents.

There is no way to know how widespread the corrupt connections are.

Child-care providers are seldom criminally charged for involvement in
drug crimes. Search warrants aimed at drug dealers often make no
mention that the dealer's wife or live-in girlfriend is a child-care
provider - even when the day care is the site of the search.

And nobody - not regulators nor law enforcement officials - tracks the overlap.

Yet, cops and prosecutors say they see links between day care
providers and drug dealers all the time.

"Probably in 25% of the cases I deal with, there is a wife or
girlfriend in the day care business," said Mario Gonzales, a veteran
gang and drug prosecutor with the U.S. attorney's office.

Regulators, too, see the connections. State records show parents and
employees commonly file drug-related complaints about child-care
centers. But inspectors rarely substantiate the allegations.

Officials from the Department of Children and Families said Friday
they were unaware of the specific drug ties until questioned last
week by the Journal Sentinel. On Friday, they revoked the licenses of
two of the providers and launched investigations into others.

"We will not accept providers who place children in harm's way, and
if we find out they have, we will shut them down," said Reggie Bicha,
secretary of the department.

As in numerous other cases involving child-care centers, the state
did not act until the newspaper made it aware of problems.

On Aug. 6, a child-care worker stood outside a day care center near
N. 29th St. and W. Fond du Lac Ave. where she worked, and sold a
quarter pound of marijuana to a regular customer, according to a
criminal complaint.

The woman, Brenda Lee Ashford, traded a bag of marijuana for $320 and
went into Children's Fantasy Childcare Center, the complaint says.
Another child-care worker served as a lookout. It turned out
Ashford's customer that day was a confidential informant working with
Milwaukee police.

Ashford was wearing a uniform from the child-care center and told her
customer and an undercover police officer that she owned the place.
The center is registered to Angelia Langston Jamerson, who also uses
several other last names, including Ashford, according to documents.
A woman listed as Brenda Lee Ashford began working at the center in
May, government records obtained by the Journal Sentinel show.

Ashford, 46, was charged in September with delivery of drugs. She
pleaded not guilty and is due back in court Tuesday.

Children's Fantasy has collected more than a half million dollars
from the Wisconsin Shares program since 2006. The center is licensed
to care for 57 children and had been billing the state roughly
$20,000 every two weeks.

Regulators revoked the center's license Friday on the basis that
Jamerson, the owner, did not report the arrest. Jamerson did not
return phone calls to Children's Fantasy. Ashford could not be
reached for comment.

In May of this year, police knocked on the door of John and Carolyn
Reinke. Officers had heard that John Reinke was dealing drugs and
that his wife was a child-care provider.

The Reinkes owned a Sheboygan Falls duplex and lived on the lower
level. The upper level was vacant.

Police found marijuana, cocaine, pipes and $3,400 in cash on the main
floor of the house where Carolyn Reinke was taking care of several
children, according to the criminal complaint.

Upstairs, police and a drug-sniffing dog found a stash of marijuana
sealed in packages labeled with names such as "Mr. Nice 6G" and
"Plane Wreck 4G," along with a dozen more pipes, large bags and
sealing equipment.

Carolyn Reinke, 41, admitted smoking marijuana she received from her
husband but denied knowing he had brought large quantities into their
home, the criminal complaint says. She had received roughly $20,544
from the Wisconsin Shares program since 2006.

John Reinke was charged with maintaining a drug trafficking place and
four other criminal counts. Prosecutors offered Reinke a deferred
prosecution agreement, which would result in dismissed charges if he
adheres to rules of probation and supervision.

In this case, regulators revoked Carolyn Reinke's child-care
certification after police called them in May. She was not criminally charged.

Carolyn Reinke did not respond to attempts to reach her at her home
and by phone.

An 8-year-old girl lay napping on the floor of a day care center on
Milwaukee's northwest side this past January when a gunman kicked in
the door, yanked her up and stuck a long-barreled, nickel-plated
handgun in her face.

Shaleatha Walls, who ran Follow the Yellow Brick Road Child Care
Center out of her home on N. 61st St., said the gunman demanded her
purse and threatened all eight children in her care that afternoon.

"I'll kill all the children," the man shouted, according to Walls and
other witnesses in the house.

The gunman then grabbed a purse - which was empty - and fled, Walls
told investigators. Police believe the robbery was drug-related,
though no drugs were reported being stolen.

The reason police suspected the involvement of drugs? At least three
men with criminal drug histories have connections to Walls or the
address of her home, according to public records and police
databases. And one of Walls' employees at the time, Kathy Burkett,
has a prior drug-dealing conviction.

Walls, 29, said she had never seen the gunman before, but that he
called her by name as he approached the house. Police never
identified the gunman.

In 2008, Walls collected about $44,000 from Wisconsin Shares. Two
days after the incident, her center closed, records show. No mention
is made of why.

She reopened in September and has received nearly $3,000 in public
subsidies since.

State regulators said Friday that as a condition of getting her
license back, the Milwaukee Police Department would have to review her case.

Walls didn't get a state license. Instead, she applied through
Milwaukee County for certification. It's unclear if the police review
ever took place.

Wisconsin's fractured child-care system allows providers to be
certified - instead of licensed - if they care for six or fewer
children. The Journal Sentinel exposed communication and other
problems with that system in previous stories.

Walls said in an interview that the state suggested she seek
certification at the county level. Walls declined to comment on the
gun incident or any drug connections.

Kenyounta "Kenny Fly" Harvester used his wife's child-care center for
a front for his mega-drug dealing operation, federal prosecutors said
in a criminal complaint in 2006.

Harvester's wife, Chantell Lockett, ran Sally's Little Angels on W.
Congress Ave. Prosecutors said she owned many big-ticket items such
as a BMW X5 SUV and a large diamond wedding ring bought with drug money.

Bank records showed she paid for the BMW through an account assigned
to Sally's Little Angels. Lockett also rented cars used in
Harvester's drug operation, and one of her van drivers purchased
weapons for Harvester, according to the complaint.

Police searched Lockett's house in 2004 and recovered nearly $42,000,
marijuana, a Glock .40-caliber handgun, a bulletproof vest and at
least $200,000 worth of jewelry, among other items, the complaint states.

Regulators yanked Lockett's child-care license, but she was not
criminally charged. Lockett could not be reached for comment.

When police in Racine and Milwaukee conducted recent investigations
of two suspected drug dealers - one a known member of the Gangster
Disciples - neither search warrant nor police report mentioned
anything about their live-in girlfriends being child-care providers.

In the Racine case, police were zeroing in on "Lil Rob," an alleged
crack-cocaine dealer by the name of Willie Robert Henderson, who
police say also belonged to the Gangster Disciples.

When the police raided the home in April, they found Henderson, a
convicted felon, in bed with his girlfriend, Latoya Jackson, who was
a child-care provider. Police found a 9mm pistol with nearby
ammunition and more than $1,500 in cash, according to the police
report. Two 10-year-old children were in the house, but it's unclear
from records whose children they were.

Jackson, 28, ran her child-care operation out of the house.

A week after the raid, Racine County child-care regulators noted that
it came to their attention that Jackson's house was being used to
sell drugs. The documents don't say how they found out.

The county revoked her certification for two years.

Jackson collected nearly $60,000 from the Wisconsin Shares program in
2008 and about $7,500 this year before the bust. Jackson could not be
reached for comment.

In the Milwaukee case, Latrice Kazee was running her day care
operation out of a house where multiple large-scale drug dealers were
suspected of selling cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana in 2008,
according to a search warrant.

Police also found Kazee frequently rented cars used in the drug
operations of her boyfriend, convicted drug dealer Andrell Jones. His
rap sheet includes convictions for drugs, weapons and violence dating
back to 1993.

Kazee and Jones filed restraining orders against each other in 2003.
In one, Kazee reported that Jones held a gun to her head. In 2005,
Kazee called police after Jones punched her in the face, according to
public documents.

Kazee, who was certified by Milwaukee County in 2004 to care for up
to six children in her home, had not reported that Jones lived with
her. She lied to inspectors about his identity when they spotted him
in her home/child-care center, records show.

Kazee, 37, collected $262,977 from the state subsidy program from
2004 until May 2008. County regulators revoked her certification May
27, 2008, for two years.

"Milwaukee County ... has made a determination that you had knowledge
of Mr. Andrell Jones' illegal drug activity and convictions and you
had knowledge that your child-care center's address had been tagged
as a Drug Trafficking Place," county regulators wrote in a letter of
revocation.

Kazee was not criminally charged for her involvement.

In a brief phone interview, Kazee said her house was not being used
to sell drugs. "It wasn't true," she said. She declined to comment further.

One day in January 2007, Candice Armstrong left her Milwaukee day
care center, withdrew $10,000 from her bank account and gave it to
her longtime live-in boyfriend, Leo Ford. The next day, Ford, a
twice-convicted, large-scale drug dealer, was busted when he used the
cash to buy 2 kilos of cocaine from an undercover cop.

At Ford's bond hearing, Armstrong, 31, argued the money was meant for
Ford to buy a classic car. She denied knowing he instead planned to
buy drugs with it.

Armstrong offered up the house where she operated her day care center
as collateral to bail Ford out. Prosecutors argued the property on N.
44th St. was likely purchased with drug money and was woven into
Ford's drug-dealing operation. They threatened to have Armstrong's
center shut down.

Ford went to prison.

Elizabeth Blackwood, the prosecutor for the U.S. attorney's office,
said she referred details of Armstrong's involvement to state
officials in 2007.

State regulators said they were unaware of any connection between
Armstrong and Ford and the drug trade.

They revoked her license on Friday for unrelated reasons, saying they
were unable to gain access to her child-care operation, among other problems.

Armstrong has collected more than $150,000 from the Wisconsin Shares
program since 2006.

Law enforcement officials acknowledge they don't typically pursue
people who are peripheral to their main case. They say including
child-care centers in their drug cases would be labor-intensive and
wouldn't help them with their primary goal of convicting drug dealers.

"As soon as you get the big guy, you generally blow off other aspects
of the investigation," said Milwaukee County District Attorney John
Chisholm. "You lose incentive. ... I'm not saying it's right that we
look at it that way or that's the way it should be, but that's the reality."

In addition, Chisholm said, it no longer makes much sense to use day
care centers or schools as so-called enhancers to boost their cases.
Criminals can face more serious punishment for committing crimes near
schools and child-care centers, but changes in sentencing laws in the
late 1990s rendered the enhancers unnecessary, he said.

In September, the FBI and law enforcement agencies at all levels of
government teamed up with the Department of Children and Families to
form an anti-fraud task force in Milwaukee County. The main focus is
to combat fraud in the child-care program, but members of that team
have worked drug cases and expect the task force will end up tackling
those crimes as well.

Despite street cops' common knowledge of the connections between drug
dealers and day care providers, Milwaukee Police Department
administrators declined to discuss the problem with the Journal Sentinel.

"I have spoken with our bureau commanders and they inform me that
we're not seeing this as a crime issue right now, so we don't have
anything to contribute to your story at this point," spokeswoman Anne
E. Schwartz wrote in an e-mail.

Like law enforcement, child-care regulators have their main focus -
and it's not investigating drugs.

Documents show they don't always thoroughly investigate drug-related
complaints. Proving claims can require staking out a center for days,
trailing individuals and using other investigative strategies
regulators are not trained to use.

In one case, regulators received an anonymous tip that drugs were
being sold upstairs from Jasmine's Learning House in Milwaukee and
that employees in the center were using drugs.

The inspector wrote in her report that she "could not get back to
complainant and tell them to call the police. ... This department
does not investigate drug usage."

In another case, an employee at From Up Above Academy reported that
the administrator was a serious drug user who came to work in a
"drug-induced stupor."

The inspector questioned the owner of the center and the
administrator. When they denied it, the inspector concluded the
complaint was "unsubstantiated."

In addition, Wisconsin's child-care licensors are assigned an average
caseload of about 100 centers, double nationally recommended
standards. That limits the time and scope of their investigations.

And, unlike most other states, Wisconsin does not require licensors
to have a college degree. Those two facts leave the state's roughly
5,500 licensed day care centers - and the children in them -
vulnerable, according to a report this year from the National
Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.

In fact, the report concluded Wisconsin ranks 41st worst out of all
states in terms of oversight of child-care centers.

Crooked child-care providers and drug dealers are capitalizing on the
lax supervision.

Police and prosecutors say drug dealers have found child-care centers
to be natural shelters for illegal activity. Cloaked with lots of
people coming and going at all hours, they don't usually raise the
suspicion of neighbors. And, providers can easily funnel money
through the business without drawing the attention of authorities.

"Day care centers are ideal sites, quite frankly, for conducting a
drug-trafficking operation," Chisholm said.

Journal Sentinel reporters Ben Poston and John Diedrich contributed
to this report.

[Sidebar]

By The Numbers

16 = Number of child-care centers with recent connections to drug
operations.

$8.5 million = amount of public subsidies they collected since
2006.

(Source: Journal Sentinel reporting)