TRIAL CASTS SPOTLIGHT ON WORK OF DRUG UNIT

While Darnyl Parker and three other Buffalo narcotics detectives go through
a well-publicized corruption trial in U.S. District Court, a fifth
narcotics detective recently admitted to engaging in felony cocaine
trafficking while he was supposed to be arresting drug dealers.

As part of his plea deal, Rene Gil agreed to tell federal agents all he
knows about illegal activities by Buffalo police officers, including
"embezzlement, theft, violations of civil rights and public corruption."

In the federal court trial, meanwhile, the star prosecution witness claimed
last week that Parker once told him that $5,000 a month was "the going
rate" for bribing a narcotics detective.

"I asked him, "What do bad guys pay the cops?' He said the going rate is
$5,000," testified Theodore Calhoun, a longtime cocaine dealer turned
government witness. "Me being a cheapskate, I talked him down to $4,000."

Jurors also heard Parker on an FBI tape recording explain how some unnamed
officers specialized in stealing money from Jamaican narcotics dealers. The
officers would take the dealer's money, leave him alone in an unlocked
police car and hope that he ran away, Parker says on the tape.

How often do such incidents really happen among Buffalo's finest? How
serious is the problem of corruption in Buffalo police narcotics
investigations?

Capt. Christine M. Giardina, who took over the 37-member Narcotics and Vice
Squad late last year, said she understands why the Parker trial and Gil's
plea deal might cause many to question the integrity of drug investigators.
But Giardina said those wrongdoings are in the past.

"Morale is low. Nobody wants to walk around with a cloud over their head,"
she said. "But the people we have working up here now are honest people,
doing a good job. We want to build our reputation back up and not be judged
by the alleged actions of a few people."

Joseph J. Terranova and Terry Granger, two Buffalo lawyers who frequently
represent drug dealers, say the allegations they have been hearing in the
Parker trial coincide with claims their clients have made for years.

"Over the years, I have had at least 25 incidents where drug clients have
told me cops (had) pushed their way into their houses, taken their drug
money and left," Terranova said. "No arrests, no paperwork, no forfeiture
case - just take the money."

"I'm not surprised at what I'm hearing, because clients have told me things
like that happened," Granger said. "There have been problems in the
Narcotics Squad going back to at least the early '70s. . . . Maybe there's
too much temptation with all that money."

Terranova said he is glad the allegations finally are being aired in the
Parker trial.

"I think this trial is scaring some cops into realizing that they could get
caught," Terranova said. "I haven't had any complaints about this kind of
activity since Parker and the others were arrested (in March 2000)."

Calhoun, 39, a convicted felon who began dealing cocaine in his teens,
finished his marathon eight days on the witness stand Friday afternoon. The
only police officer Calhoun ever mentioned by name was Parker. He said he
believed Parker's "police buddies" helped steal from drug pushers, but he
never dealt with any of Parker's co- defendants - former narcotics
investigators Robert Hill, John Ferby and David Rodriguez.

Calhoun acknowledged that he and his wife have received almost $95,000 in
expense payments since he became an FBI informer in 1999. He also admitted
that he hopes his testimony will help him avoid a long prison term. But
defense lawyers could not shake the stocky, blunt-speaking witness off his
contention that Parker and other officers were involved in illegal activities.

Mark J. Mahoney, Parker's attorney, tried to show that Parker may have been
doing legitimate police work and "playing a role" when he gave Calhoun
thousands of dollars for cocaine and plotted with Calhoun to steal $36,000
in drug money. Federal prosecutors say Parker and his co-defendants stole
the money from an undercover FBI agent posing as a drug dealer and then
split the loot with Calhoun.

As a narcotics officer, Mahoney said, Parker would not be acting unusually
or illegally by seizing cash from a drug dealer. He told Calhoun that
Parker was "out there, making arrests every day."

"What kind of police officer is Detective Parker?" Mahoney asked.

"A dirty one," Calhoun snapped back.

"You didn't think he might be playing a role?" Mahoney asked.

"No, I didn't," Calhoun responded.

During several days of sparring, Mahoney and Calhoun had some testy
exchanges. At one point, Calhoun rolled his eyes and raised his voice when
Mahoney asked about his "mission" as an FBI informer.

"What do you mean by this mission, mission, mission?" Calhoun bellowed.
"I'm no James Bond. I'm no 007. I'm just an ordinary common man."

At least eight Buffalo police officers, including two top aides to
Commissioner Rocco J. Diina, have monitored parts of the trial from the
spectators' area of the courtroom.

Friday, Judge Richard J. Arcara took steps to keep jurors from learning
that Gil, a former co-worker of the four defendants, had accepted a felony
plea arrangement in his courtroom Jan. 17, just two days before the Parker
trial began. The judge warned jurors not to read, watch or listen to any
news reports connected with the Buffalo police.

Gil, 43, pleaded guilty to a felony drug conspiracy charge that is expected
to put him in federal prison for at least 18 months. Prosecutor James P.
Kennedy said in court papers that Gil admitted taking part in drug deals
involving more than 400 grams of cocaine from late 1999 to May 2001.

While assigned to the Narcotics Squad, Gil helped to arrange cocaine deals
between New York City and Buffalo, and sold cocaine himself, Kennedy said.

According to his deal with the U.S. attorney's office, Gil is required to
give authorities any information he has about illegal activities, including
"embezzlement, theft, violations of civil rights and public corruption" by
police officers.

Law enforcement officials said Gil already has provided information about
other Narcotics Squad members, prompting FBI agents to search the desks and
lockers of five detectives in Police Headquarters in August.

But Louis Rosado, Gil's attorney, said his client will not testify at the
trial of Parker and his co-defendants.

"Rene Gil would have known those officers and would have worked with them
on some cases," said a police official familiar with the case. "But he
didn't work closely with Parker or the others."

Gil resigned from the police force after the FBI arrested him in May. The
officers whose lockers were searched deny any wrongdoing and remain on the
police force. Some still are assigned to the Narcotics Squad.

Parker, Ferby and Rodriguez - who are suspended from duty with full pay -
also remain listed on the Narcotics Squad roster, Giardina said. Hill
retired last year.

"We have officers who are under indictment and officers who are under
suspicion," Giardina said. "It's a difficult situation."