DRUG COP ALLEGEDLY FILMED COUNTING CASH FROM SALE

CONCORD -- A state drug agent was caught on video counting money and
laughing after he sold a pound of methamphetamine he had allegedly
stolen from a law enforcement evidence locker, according to court
documents filed by state investigators.

Norman Wielsch, 49, who led a multiagency anti-narcotics team in
Contra Costa County, was recorded on a video device worn by a
confidential informant who acted as the middle man between Wielsch
and a phony drug buyer, investigators said in an affidavit they filed
to obtain a search warrant.

Wielsch and co-defendant Christopher Butler, 49, were each charged
this week with 28 felony counts connected to the alleged sale and
distribution of methamphetamine, marijuana, steroids and prescription
pills. The two are scheduled to enter pleas Wednesday.

The court documents outline a four-month investigation by state
Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agents who watched and listened as
Wielsch allegedly raided evidence lockers and passed the drugs on to Butler.

Authorities say Butler found buyers through his private
investigations firm, Butler and Associates of Concord.

In one instance, investigators said, Wielsch stole 12 pounds of
marijuana after his team had made a 50-pound seizure on Jan. 27. To
avoid drawing attention to the lightened evidence bag, Wielsch
allegedly "fluffed" it up, investigators said.

Butler told the confidential informant that Wielsch was trying to
make extra money before he retired, according to the affidavit.

In one wiretapped phone conversation between the two defendants,
according to the documents, Wielsch jokingly complained that a
marijuana purchaser had paid with too many small bills.

"The guy is not going to use fives and tens for the next purchase, is
he?" Wielsch allegedly asked.

On Feb. 15, investigators said, Wielsch visited Butler's office to
collect his share of the profit from a sale of a pound of
methamphetamine. Video allegedly shows Wielsch and Butler weighing
the drugs before handing them to the undercover informant.

Wielsch thanked the informant for paying ahead of time, saying it
eased his fears he was selling to an undercover police officer.

"Cops would never give up the money first," Wielsch allegedly said.

Investigators said Wielsch and Butler had conspired to steal 3 pounds
of methamphetamine from a Contra Costa sheriff's building in Concord.

Wielsch forged a "destruction order" to remove the drugs,
investigators said. As a supervisor, Wielsch was authorized to
destroy illicit drugs at a Martinez landfill.

Investigators watched as the two men drove in Butler's Hummer to the
landfill. According to the documents, Wielsch and Butler allegedly
kept the 3 pounds of methamphetamine and dropped 3 pounds of flour on
the ground.

When they searched Butler's office, agents seized dozens of bottles
of steroids and 4,000 Xanax anti-anxiety pills, the court documents
say. Agents believe the drugs came from seizures made by Wielsch's
anti-narcotics team. The team has been suspended until an audit is conducted.

Wielsch's attorney, Michael Cardoza, said his client had become mired
in debt and was helping authorities with their investigation.

"We're not done vetting the accuracy of all the evidence," Cardoza
said Friday. "But the tape is the tape. The crime is the crime. ...
We're going to continue to cooperate and sit down with the district
attorney's office and see if this case can be resolved."

Butler's attorney, William Gagen, did not respond to phone messages.

Wielsch is free on bail. Butler is still being held in lieu of $900,000 bail.