HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL: UNDERCOVER DEPUTY RECORDED GUN SALE, DRUG
TRANSACTIONS

PORT ST. LUCIE -- A 17-year-old local boy who bragged about selling ecstasy
opened his refrigerator in February and showed a St. Lucie West Centennial
High School "student" a .38 caliber revolver.

"When you're done using it and you want to clean it or sell it to someone
else, don't just use oil and wipe it down," said James Emery Clark, 23, who
was standing nearby.

"You have to use bleach, that way forensics can't pull the prints off it."

With that, the "student" gave Clark, of 365 S.E. Airoso Blvd., $150 for the
gun, and handed the 17-year-old $120 for 10 ecstasy pills.

It was just one of many transactions detailed by the "student," actually a
St. Lucie County sheriff's deputy engaged in a six-month undercover
operation at two local high schools, according to records obtained Thursday.

The operation led this week to 19 arrests, many of which were of juveniles.
Officials arrested 17 on Wednesday and two more Thursday. One more arrest
is expected.

In the operation known as Safe Kid, the undercover deputy spent months
posing as a student -- first at Port St. Lucie High School, then at St.
Lucie West Centennial High School -- with instructions to "open himself up
to anything that was offered to him," Sheriff Ken Mascara said.

The results of what was offered, detailed in a stack of sheriff's
documents, was a series of illicit deals ranging from the comical -- a taco
traded for marijuana -- to the troubling -- Clark's alleged statement that
filing off a weapon's serial numbers is "just what you do."

Schools Superintendent Bill Vogel said Mascara approached him with the
undercover operation months ago, and they began preparing during the
summer. Only five people knew of the operation: Mascara, Chief Deputy Garry
Wilson, Vogel, the deputy and the deputy's supervisor.

Some of the cases involved the undercover deputy, whom sheriff's officials
have declined to identify, engaging in simple transactions for small
amounts of marijuana or ecstasy.

On Feb. 1, a 16-year-old St. Lucie West Centennial student told the deputy
he could get him some marijuana. Reportedly, the deputy gave the student
$20 and the student bought four "nickel bags" of pot from a third person.
The student then handed the deputy three bags and kept one for himself.

In another incident, a 17-year-old Port St. Lucie High student in October
allegedly gave the deputy 20x02DD Adderall pills after she told him her
doctor gave them to her to "help her pay attention."

"She told him to take them with a beer to enhance the effects," the report
states.

The deputy in February also traded a ride home to a 15-year-old Centennial
student for marijuana "roaches" said to be "good for a couple hits off a
bowl," and exchanged a taco for pot from a 16-year-old, the report states.

The only weapon-related incident involved a 17-year-old St. Lucie West
Centennial student and his friend, Clark.

The deputy met with the 17-year-old Feb. 20 after he heard from other
students that the student "could find me a gun."

The teenager said his friend had a five-shot .38 caliber revolver that he
would sell for $150, and the deputy said he wanted the weapon "as soon as
he could get it."

Clark allegedly wanted to meet the deputy before selling the gun and spoke
to the deputy on the phone throughout the week. Clark reportedly said he
had the gun but that he had to find a bench grinder to file off the serial
numbers.

"I asked him why and he replied, 'That's just what you do,' " the deputy
wrote in his report.

Clark said the gun was "hot" and told the deputy he has a friend with a
bench grinder who "used to 'run' guns in New York."

Meanwhile, the deputy arranged to buy 10 ecstasy pills from the same
juvenile who connected him with Clark. All three met at the 17-year-old's
house at about 8:45 p.m. on Feb. 28.

The deputy, who was wearing a listening device to record the operation,
asked Clark where the gun was, and the 17-year-old opened the refrigerator.
That's when the deputy reportedly gave Clark $150 for the revolver and the
17-year-old $120 for the ecstasy.

When Clark was arrested, deputies reportedly found 266 grams of marijuana
in a duffel bag.

Some school board members and principals Thursday expressed support for
Operation Safe Kid.

"I wholeheartedly support the fact that the St. Lucie County Sheriff's
Office and the St. Lucie County School Board are ensuring safety for all
other schools," said Garden City Elementary Principal Rita Johnson.

"Our goal is a safe campus and I am in full support of what the program was
about," said school board member Judi Miller. She said that she is pleased
that that Operation Safe Kid represents a proactive approach toward school
law enforcement.

Board Chairman Samuel Gaines agreed, saying that the program has created a
deterrent for students to commit crimes on campus.

"It sends a very clear message that students never know who might be
sitting next to them," he said.