SAN LEANDRO DRUG COP CHARGED WITH MARIJUANA FELONY

(05-20) 18:19 PDT SAN LEANDRO -- A San Leandro police narcotics
detective was charged Friday with giving more than a pound of
marijuana to a confidential informant - a woman who was engaged in an
extramarital affair with the officer, according to his attorney.

Detective Jason Fredriksson, 38, provided the marijuana to the woman
so she could sell it, police said. He surrendered Friday and pleaded
not guilty in Alameda County Superior Court in Hayward to
transporting and furnishing marijuana for sale, a felony. He was
released on $40,000 bail.

Outside the court, his attorney, Harry Stern, said Fredriksson was
guilty only of a lapse in judgment, not a crime, and denied that the
detective had given marijuana to the informant.

"This is a case of dangerous liaisons," Stern said. "He got involved
with a person romantically that he shouldn't have."

Authorities did not identify the informant. She has not been charged.

Prosecutors did not say where they believe Fredriksson got the
marijuana. But San Leandro police emphasized that the case was not
connected to a drug-theft prosecution in Contra Costa County
involving a former state narcotics agent who headed a multi-agency
law enforcement task force.

San Leandro police said Fredriksson, who is married to a dispatcher
with the department, is also the subject of an internal investigation
regarding the informant, but declined to elaborate.

A search of Fredriksson's Danville home March 23 turned up evidence
that led to the charges, Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli said.
Fredriksson has been put on paid leave, she said.

"The San Leandro Police Department will not tolerate and deplores the
conduct that has been alleged to have been engaged in by Officer
Fredriksson," Spagnoli said. "The department takes great pride in
professional service to the community and places a high priority on
public trust."

Fredriksson's wife, Sheryll Confreros Fredriksson, was awarded
Dispatcher of the Year in 2007, according to the department's website.

She has also been placed on paid leave as part of the internal
investigation, Spagnoli said. She is not part of the criminal probe
and has not been charged, the chief said.

"Obviously, this is a complicated family issue," said Stern, the
defense attorney. "My client is in a tough spot, there's no question."

Jason Fredriksson has been on the San Leandro force for nine years,
and most recently has been a detective in the vice/narcotics unit and
a member of the 14-person SWAT team. He formerly worked as an Alameda
County sheriff's deputy.

Fredriksson was the first officer to respond to the July 25, 2005,
slaying of a fellow officer, Nels "Dan" Niemi, 42, who was shot and
killed by Irving Ramirez, 23, near Doolittle Drive and Belvedere Avenue.

A San Leandro officer who did not want to be identified because of
the investigation said Fredriksson wore his blood-soaked uniform for
18 hours while he helped locate and arrest Ramirez, who had fled on
foot after shooting Niemi in the back of the head.

The incident earned Fredriksson "the respect of every man and woman
in this department," the officer said.

According to his Facebook account and other social-media sites,
Fredriksson is an avid motorcyclist who goes by the handle "Big
Dirty." He writes a blog that chronicles his two-wheeled adventures
along the back roads of Northern California.

Fredriksson is due back in court June 14.