COP FACES TWO MORE CHARGES IN DRUG CASE

A Suspended RCMP Officer Accused Of Drug Trafficking And Breach Of Trust
Faced Two More Charges In Halifax Provincial Court Monday.

RCMP charged Const. Joseph Daniel (Danny) Ryan, 31, on Friday with stealing
less than $5,000 from a teenager in Glen Haven, Halifax County, and another
count of breach of trust for using the seized cash for his own purposes.

The offences are alleged to have occurred on June 11, 2001.

Const. Ryan, a former member of the Tantallon RCMP street team now residing
in Aylmer, Que., was not in court Monday, when he was to plead to the
original charges laid Jan. 23.

He was accused then of selling what a source said was about 1.4 kilograms
of marijuana in Tantallon.

Mike Taylor, his lawyer, asked the court Monday to adjourn the matter to
allow time for disclosure from the Crown on the new charges.

The case is now expected to be heard on Aug.6.

Shelburne Crown attorney Jim Burrill said the latest charges are not
directly related to the earlier ones.

The victim in the alleged theft was 17 at the time and learned of the new
charges against Const. Ryan only when The Herald called him on Monday.

"Kinda cool," he said.

The theft allegedly occurred on a road near Hubley when Const. Ryan and his
partner pulled up beside a parked van with the boy, his girlfriend and
another girl inside.

"They parked right close to the van and jumped out right quick and told us
to 'Freeze' and we were under arrest," the teen said.

The officers said they could smell marijuana.

Const. Ryan "started talking about . . . how I would be in a lot of
(trouble) and if I didn't give him some information he was going to charge
me," the alleged victim said.

"Danny was doing all the talking and all the searching. . . . His partner
wasn't really doing much."

Const. Ryan allegedly seized a joint, about a gram of marijuana, rolling
papers, a lighter and $105 to $110 the teen had planned to use to repair
paint damage on his red 1993 Honda Accord.

Although he was given a ticket, the boy said it was not dated and he never
has appeared in court in the case.

He said his money was never returned but he hopes it will be.

"That would be sweet," he said.

Const. Ryan has spent his entire six-year career with the 40-member
Tantallon RCMP detachment outside Halifax, most of it on the street team -
a two-man plainclothes unit that concentrates on street-level drug dealers
and growers.

The street team racks up millions of dollars annually in drug seizures.

Const. Ryan was to be transferred to Ottawa and security detail for Prime
Minister Jean Chretien until the original charges were laid against him.

He is free on a $5,000 recognizance and was ordered to surrender his
passport and to have no contact with any members or employees of Tantallon
RCMP.

Sgt. Wayne Noonan, the RCMP's provincial spokesman, said Monday more
charges are possible.