JEFFERSONVILLE COP ACCUSED OF TIPPING OFF DEALER BACK ON JOB

JEFFERSONVILLE - A Jeffersonville city police officer suspended for almost
a year is back at work, but city officials say they cannot pay him more
than $14,000 in back pay.

Ellis Veal III returned to work last month, after an attorney hired by
Jeffersonville city officials said it appears the officer was not properly
notified of his suspension. It took several votes - and an almost entirely
new council - to get the officer back on the job.

Veal was suspended with pay in January 2003 for allegedly tipping off a
drug dealer about an upcoming drug bust. His criminal case is expected to
go before the Twiggs County grand jury Tuesday.

Jeffersonville Mayor Sonja Mallory said Veal was paid for a month after his
suspension, but the checks stopped in March. Now, she said, there is no
money in the budget to pay Veal.

"The council didn't budget the money," Mallory said. She said City Council
members discussed the issue several times last year, but voted several
times to leave Veal on suspension.

"They didn't have the guts to fire him or reinstate him," Mallory said.

Mallory said a new City Council voted unanimously in January to reinstate
Veal. John Walker, a Perry attorney hired by the city, recommended in
November that Veal be returned to his regular duties.

Jeffersonville Police Chief Lawson Burnett said Veal is back on the road as
one of the department's four full-time officers. Burnett said he is happy
Veal is back at work.

"We've been waiting for his case to go forward, but nothing happened,"
Burnett said. "When you're talking about a year, that's a long time to wait."

Greg Winters, an assistant district attorney in the Macon Judicial Circuit,
said he was assigned as a special prosecutor to the case last fall after
the Twiggs County district attorney recused himself.

Veal declined to comment on the case, but his attorney, Frank Hogue, said
his client might have to sue the city in civil court to collect his money.

"I've recommended an attorney for Ellis on that matter," Hogue said.

Last year, GBI officials charged Veal with violation of oath of office and
obstruction of a law enforcement officer for allegedly tipping off a drug
dealer that the Twiggs County Sheriff's Office was going to search his house.

Hogue said his client made the call at the request of a Twiggs County
sheriff's official.

"The Twiggs County sheriff's department acquired a search warrant for a
house they thought contained drugs," Hogue said. "One of the officers
requested that Ellis Veal ... call the neighboring house ... to check to
see whether anyone was at the target house.

"Later, when officers arrived to execute the search warrant, nobody was
home, and no drugs were found," Hogue said.