PENDER HEARING OVER; RULING TO COME

Fate of Former TPD Investigator to Be Decided by End of March

Former Tallahassee Police Investigator Ryan Pender should know by the
end of March whether he will get his job back.

Pender was the only officer fired by police Chief Dennis Jones for
his role in the 2008 drug sting that led to the death of confidential
informant Rachel Hoffman.

His two-day police union arbitration hearing wrapped up Wednesday
following hours of personal testimony about how he recruited the
23-year-old as a C.I. after a drug raid at her apartment and then
lost her less than three weeks later.

Pender took no responsibility for Hoffman's failure to obey his
orders during the May 7, 2008, buy-bust operation he planned and her
subsequent decision to follow Deneilo Bradshaw and Andrea Green to
dead-end Gardner Road, where she was robbed and killed. Bradshaw was
found guilty of her murder last month; Green stands trial in October.

"It was not my decision; it was not my direction; it was solely her
choice," he said.

Pender fought back tears only once -- when he was asked by his
attorney how he would feel if he were to be reinstated as a
Tallahassee police officer.

"To get my career back, that I worked eight-and-a-half years for ...
," he trailed off, overcome with emotion. "I've learned a tremendous
amount more than I thought I would have learned from this."

During his testimony, Pender described Hoffman as a model informant.
She was forthcoming with information, and was reliable and
well-connected in the local drug scene. He had full confidence that
she was up to carrying out his plan to handle $13,000 in cash to
purchase drugs and a gun from the men.

Even though she only had a few ounces of marijuana at her place when
he busted her April 17, 2008, Pender recounted how Hoffman told him
right away that she was a "bookkeeper or mule" for a major marijuana
dealer who moved 5 to 10 pounds of pot a week -- with a street value
of about $5,000 a pound -- through her east Tallahassee apartment.

"Her role in the drug trade in Tallahassee was very significant,"
Pender said. "She was extremely knowledgeable."

Pender and other officers who testified during the hearing said there
was nothing unusual about the fateful buy-bust that ended with
Hoffman being killed. They said the operation was properly vetted,
approved by the chain of command and conducted in keeping with
long-standing department practice.

At the time, there was no specific department policy on how to handle
confidential informants in buy-bust drug deals. The officers
described a fluid process of planning and approval, in which details
could be sketchy, locations could change, paperwork could be put off
and much happened on the fly.

Pender's supervisors, who signed off on the operation plan that day,
were suspended without pay for two weeks, but kept their jobs. They
testified Pender was a hard-working officer, who had always
demonstrated sound judgment.

Fellow vice Investigator Kevin Miller testified Wednesday that after
Pender was fired he asked for a one-on-meeting with Jones to express
his concern about the termination.

"I felt it could have been any one of us," Miller said.

During that meeting, Miller said the chief told him that if Pender
were to get his job back through the union grievance process he was
"not going to contest it." Pender said Jones told him that he would
have no problem welcoming him back.

On Tuesday, Jones said he thought it would be difficult for Pender to
return to the department after all that has happened.

Arbiter Christopher Shulman is to decide Pender's fate within 30 days
after he receives final written statements from both sides in the
case, which are expected by Feb. 19.

"I've got a lot to consider here," Shulman said. "I will work as
quickly as I can."

Lance Block, the attorney for Hoffman's parents wrote a statement on
behalf of them.

"Ryan Pender case managed one of the most notoriously incompetent
undercover operations in law enforcement history. He lost his job
because of it, but that pales in comparison to Rachel Hoffman losing
her life because of it," Block wrote. "There can be no justice for
Irv Hoffman and Margie Weiss for the wrongful death of their only
child in the Pender arbitration regardless of the outcome.