DEA AGENTS FEARED THAT BOSS WOULD 'GO POSTAL'

The US Drug Enforcement Administration's New Bedford office was so
dysfunctional that some agents donned bullet-proof vests and others fled
the office in fear that their supervisor would "go postal" after being
reprimanded by his superiors in Boston two years ago, documents filed in a
federal legal dispute allege.

When agents continued to complain about Resident Agent in Charge John
Schaefer, however, DEA officials in Boston began turning a deaf ear, and
eventually threatened the agents with transfers if they didn't show more
loyalty to the agency, the documents charge. At one point, one Boston
official suggested that the agents resolve their problems with Schaefer by
going to a "gin mill" to "duke it out," the documents allege.

The allegations were filed by three DEA agents who contend they were
transferred to the Mexican border as punishment for exposing mismanagement
and rampant infighting at the agency's New Bedford office. The DEA was
ordered to halt those transfers last week by a judge of the US Merit
Systems Protection Board, a special court that hears personnel disputes
involving many federal employees. Chief Administrative Judge William
Carroll issued the order pending a full hearing on whether federal
whistle-blower protections apply to the agents, Christopher Grenier, Todd
Shea, and Paul Bock.

DEA officials have declined to comment on the dispute. Peter H. Noone, a
Belmont attorney who represents the three agents, also declined to comment
yesterday, citing the ongoing legal dispute. Schaefer, who has reportedly
left New England, could not be reached.

Papers filed in the case, however, charge that instead of dealing with
problems in New Bedford, the agency's "reaction spiraled downward to
ambivalence, through annoyance and culminated in anger" against the three
agents.

The dispute began in early 2001, the papers say, when agents began
complaining about mismanagement and erratic behavior by Schaefer, who was
in charge of the multiagency task force based at the DEA's New Bedford
office, but who is now retired.

Among the complaints were that Schaefer micromanaged investigations and was
frequently at odds with investigators from other agencies - allegedly
challenging two of them to fistfights - to the point that the task force
was in danger of breaking up. The agents also alleged that Schaefer
sometimes exhibited bizarre behavior, including eating lunch wearing a
military-style helmet and "dry-firing" his pistol in the office.

An official from Boston drove to the New Bedford office to investigate the
complaints, but conducted the interviews in a room where Schaefer could see
which agents were interviewed and for how long, the documents allege.
Schaefer allegedly confronted a female deputy sheriff assigned to the task
force after her interview, sending her away in tears.

Schaefer was called to the Boston office for a reprimand after the
interviews and was told to go home. Instead, he went back to the New
Bedford office where, fearful of his reaction, some agents donned
bullet-proof vests and others fled the office.

The day passed without incident, but instead of transferring Schaefer, DEA
officials began questioning the loyalty of the agents who had criticized
him and then punished them, the documents say. At one point, another
supervisor told one of the agents to "check his badge and credentials and
to remember who he worked for," the documents state.

A short time later, Shea was given a temporary reassignment to Rhode
Island, an 80-mile commute from his home. When Shea got the transfer
rescinded, another supervisor immediately began auditing his sick days, the
papers charge. Another agent, Bock, was involuntarily assigned a 60-day
stint as a federal sky marshal.

In September, all three agents were notified that they were being sent to
posts on the Mexican border for "lack of productivity," the lawsuit states,
even though they'd been praised for their performance.

The agents charge that Schaefer, even after he was removed from the New
Bedford post, may have had a hand in the transfer. Two months earlier, the
documents allege, Schaefer commented how agents could "live large on the
Southwest border" on a government salary.

The agents are scheduled to receive a full hearing on their allegations
next month.