Sheriff, D.A. agree to drop charges against 60 arrestees
St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne has asked District Attorney Harry Morel to drop pending charges against 60 people arrested in an undercover drug operation last year after an officer involved in the sting lied to authorities about his arrest record.
In 2009, the Sheriff’s Office embarked on an operation called “Krewe of Dope,” in which an undercover officer made street buys of illegal narcotics that included marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, oxycodone and heroin. The sting led to the arrest of 97 St. Charles Parish residents in February 2010.
Twenty-one of those arrested in the undercover operation had been arrested 20 times or more.
Just before a majority of the cases were set to go to trial, the Sheriff’s Office was hit by a bombshell. The officer who made the undercover buys, Elijah Gary, had a record that included a domestic violence arrest, according to Champagne.
Gary was on loan from the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office, something that is commonly done in undercover operations. Because most of St. Charles’ detectives are known to those on the streets, parishes across the area routinely bring in outsiders to make undercover buys.
When Gary’s 2004 domestic violence arrest came to light, he was questioned by two St. Charles Parish detectives along with two assistant district attorneys. Gary denied the arrest, Champagne said, but the Sheriff’s Office soon uncovered a copy of the report.
When Gary was confronted with the report, he told authorities that he thought the matter had been expunged from his record, and that he didn’t have to “own up to it,” Champagne said.
Gary had pleaded under Article 894, which means that a defendant can plead guilty to a misdemeanor but have the charge dismissed in the future if he or she commits no other offense.
After the undercover operation was over, Gary was involved in another domestic incident in April where he violated a Jefferson Parish restraining order that was issued against him by the mother of his two children. Again, Gary was asked about the violation, and again he denied it occurred, Champagne said.
When it was uncovered, Gary was suspended from the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office.
“Even if these incidents didn’t affect the cases he worked on, they affected his credibility,” Champagne said. “In the interest of justice, I requested that any pending charges against those in the undercover operation be dismissed.”
Out of the 97 people who were arrested during Operation Krewe of Dope, 20 have already pled guilty to the crime, while 20 are in custody on charges unrelated to the undercover sting.
Others have bailed out or made plea deals and three of those who were arrested during the undercover operation have since been re-arrested on unrelated drug charges.
Only seven people were released from jail as a result of the charges being dropped.
“This is not a situation where 70 individuals walked out of jail,” Champagne said.
Champagne believes that while the pending charges are being dismissed, most of those arrested in the undercover sting will be re-arrested because they are chronic users. Still, Champagne said he can’t even begin to put a price tag on the cost on the year-long operation.
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