all kinds of stench in this story .....
Highly paid lady informant could be unmasked
By Megan O'Matz, Sun Sentinel
April 13, 2014
For years, a sexy brunette posed as a Colombian cocaine supplier, helping Sunrise Police draw dozens of faraway drug buyers to town in a recurring dragnet that enabled her to live comfortably — and secretly — as a professional informant.
Her closely guarded anonymity now may be nearing an end.
A Broward judge ordered that the identity of Sunrise's starinformant must be revealed to the defense in the case of a Clearwater man arrested on trafficking charges in 2009.
The woman was a critical player in the undercover ploys police usedto import criminals, bust them, then seize their cash and cars, the Sun Sentinel found in an investigation published in October.
The newspaper reported that the woman was the city's most prolific and profitable snitch. Police paid her more than $800,000 over five years.
She regularly identified potential drug buyers from outside Sunrise — even from outside the state and country — then lured them into the western Broward suburb to buy kilos of cocaine at bargain prices from thepolice. Many of those deals were conductedat family restaurants near the city's sprawling outlet mall.
She and the cops benefited. Police seized the tens of thousands of dollars the buyers brought to the deals, along with their cars and other items, bringing the city millions and fueling hefty overtime payments for the undercover officers.
In a deposition nearly a year ago, a Sunrise sergeant testified that the woman got a cut of the money she helped reel in, which at the time stood at $5 million, netted from63 stings.
After the Sun Sentinel published its investigation last fall, Sunrise Mayor Michael Ryan announced that the city had halted the stings because the newspaper's disclosures compromised the operations.
A recent examination of Broward jail bookings shows only one major cocaine bust since then. In January, two Miami men came to a Sunrise hotel parking lot, where they allegedly boughttwo kilos from police in exchange for $22,000, a watch and a 2011 Land Rover. Federal agents also were involved.
If an informant took part, there's no mention of it in the arrest affidavit or police narratives.
In justifying his ruling Wednesday, Broward Circuit Judge Bernard Bober wrote that Sunrise's lady informant was the primary person who arranged the drug deal with the Clearwater man, Blake LaRocca, and that "much of their negotiation either is not taped or done in the absence of any other person."
The state can challenge Bober's ruling.
Prosecutor Jonathan Goodman's other options include dropping the charges altogether or offering the man a plea deal to keep from having to publicly name Sunrise's star snitch and subject her to depositions or appearing as a witness at trial.
"I have to make a decision," Goodman said, leaving court grim-faced.
The judge's order has implications for others nabbed in Sunrise's cocaine-selling stings.
Many defense lawyers are eager to learn who the woman is and question her under oath about her work for the police department.
Over the years in court, defense lawyers have argued that the stings were dangerous and staged largely to make money for the city rather than to curb local crime.
In a private hearing with Judge Bober sometime last year, the lady informant told him that she "had a vague memory as to how much she earned" and that she relied on police to decide how much to compensate her, he wrote in his decision.
"She could not remember specifics but stated she believed the income figure stated in a Sun Sentinel newspaper article was accurate," wrote the judge, a former public defender who was elected to the bench in 2008.
If and when the woman is forced to testify, defense lawyers say she'll be questioned about the payments, her working relationship with the police, and her actions in the case.
"I'm pleased with the judge's ruling," said Michael "Mickey" Rocque, co-counsel on the case involving the Clearwater man. "Now we can get to the bottom of what's been going on with the City of Sunrise's reverse sting operations."
Reached by phone Wednesday, Sunrise Police Chief John Brooks declined to discuss the judge's order, saying he was ill, and referred questions to a staff member, who did not provide comment.
The accused man, LaRocca, 37, who is free on bond, was not in court for the ruling. Rocque said he'd recently had a heart attack and was not able to make the drive from Pinellas County. If convicted of cocaine trafficking, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
According to a Sunrise Police arrest affidavit, an informant told Sunrise police on Oct. 22, 2009, about a Clearwater man who was interested in purchasing multiple quantities of cocaine.
The informant and LaRocca met that same day at the Bahama Breeze restaurant outside Sawgass Mills mall, according to a police report. Two days later, LaRocca allegedly made the buy in the parking lot of Sunrise's TGI Friday's.
In the motion to disclose the identity of the informant, filed in April 2013, LaRocca's attorney, Kevin Kulik, argued that the informant had contacted LaRocca "to entrap him into becoming involved in a drug deal. The informant knew that Mr. LaRocca had lost his job and was suffering extreme financial difficulties."
Kulik argued in the court document that the informant offered LaRocca about $200,000 worth of cocaine — eight kilos — at a bargain price: only $20,000 plus some personal property.
In her private chat with the judge, however, the informant denied reaching out to LaRocca first. She said he contacted her, wanting 100 kilos on credit, "which she allegedly denied and he came down to asking for two kilos on credit," the judge wrote. "She claimed that she told him to call back when he had money."
Martin Roth, a Fort Lauderdale defense attorney for one of three men caught in a separate 2011 Sunrise sting, said his team likely will press for the release of the lady informant's identity too.
A transcript related to that sting reveals a conversation between her and an undercover officer while they're waiting for a young man to arrive at a gas station with the money. The woman seems to show some remorse over duping the buyers.
"I don't like this. This is the worst part of this business. I don't want to see them imprisoned — with, with, with — you don't feel bad for them?"
The officer replies: "It's not in my hands."
Highly paid lady informant could be unmasked
By Megan O'Matz, Sun Sentinel
April 13, 2014
For years, a sexy brunette posed as a Colombian cocaine supplier, helping Sunrise Police draw dozens of faraway drug buyers to town in a recurring dragnet that enabled her to live comfortably — and secretly — as a professional informant.
Her closely guarded anonymity now may be nearing an end.
A Broward judge ordered that the identity of Sunrise's starinformant must be revealed to the defense in the case of a Clearwater man arrested on trafficking charges in 2009.
The woman was a critical player in the undercover ploys police usedto import criminals, bust them, then seize their cash and cars, the Sun Sentinel found in an investigation published in October.
The newspaper reported that the woman was the city's most prolific and profitable snitch. Police paid her more than $800,000 over five years.
She regularly identified potential drug buyers from outside Sunrise — even from outside the state and country — then lured them into the western Broward suburb to buy kilos of cocaine at bargain prices from thepolice. Many of those deals were conductedat family restaurants near the city's sprawling outlet mall.
She and the cops benefited. Police seized the tens of thousands of dollars the buyers brought to the deals, along with their cars and other items, bringing the city millions and fueling hefty overtime payments for the undercover officers.
In a deposition nearly a year ago, a Sunrise sergeant testified that the woman got a cut of the money she helped reel in, which at the time stood at $5 million, netted from63 stings.
After the Sun Sentinel published its investigation last fall, Sunrise Mayor Michael Ryan announced that the city had halted the stings because the newspaper's disclosures compromised the operations.
A recent examination of Broward jail bookings shows only one major cocaine bust since then. In January, two Miami men came to a Sunrise hotel parking lot, where they allegedly boughttwo kilos from police in exchange for $22,000, a watch and a 2011 Land Rover. Federal agents also were involved.
If an informant took part, there's no mention of it in the arrest affidavit or police narratives.
In justifying his ruling Wednesday, Broward Circuit Judge Bernard Bober wrote that Sunrise's lady informant was the primary person who arranged the drug deal with the Clearwater man, Blake LaRocca, and that "much of their negotiation either is not taped or done in the absence of any other person."
The state can challenge Bober's ruling.
Prosecutor Jonathan Goodman's other options include dropping the charges altogether or offering the man a plea deal to keep from having to publicly name Sunrise's star snitch and subject her to depositions or appearing as a witness at trial.
"I have to make a decision," Goodman said, leaving court grim-faced.
The judge's order has implications for others nabbed in Sunrise's cocaine-selling stings.
Many defense lawyers are eager to learn who the woman is and question her under oath about her work for the police department.
Over the years in court, defense lawyers have argued that the stings were dangerous and staged largely to make money for the city rather than to curb local crime.
In a private hearing with Judge Bober sometime last year, the lady informant told him that she "had a vague memory as to how much she earned" and that she relied on police to decide how much to compensate her, he wrote in his decision.
"She could not remember specifics but stated she believed the income figure stated in a Sun Sentinel newspaper article was accurate," wrote the judge, a former public defender who was elected to the bench in 2008.
If and when the woman is forced to testify, defense lawyers say she'll be questioned about the payments, her working relationship with the police, and her actions in the case.
"I'm pleased with the judge's ruling," said Michael "Mickey" Rocque, co-counsel on the case involving the Clearwater man. "Now we can get to the bottom of what's been going on with the City of Sunrise's reverse sting operations."
Reached by phone Wednesday, Sunrise Police Chief John Brooks declined to discuss the judge's order, saying he was ill, and referred questions to a staff member, who did not provide comment.
The accused man, LaRocca, 37, who is free on bond, was not in court for the ruling. Rocque said he'd recently had a heart attack and was not able to make the drive from Pinellas County. If convicted of cocaine trafficking, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
According to a Sunrise Police arrest affidavit, an informant told Sunrise police on Oct. 22, 2009, about a Clearwater man who was interested in purchasing multiple quantities of cocaine.
The informant and LaRocca met that same day at the Bahama Breeze restaurant outside Sawgass Mills mall, according to a police report. Two days later, LaRocca allegedly made the buy in the parking lot of Sunrise's TGI Friday's.
In the motion to disclose the identity of the informant, filed in April 2013, LaRocca's attorney, Kevin Kulik, argued that the informant had contacted LaRocca "to entrap him into becoming involved in a drug deal. The informant knew that Mr. LaRocca had lost his job and was suffering extreme financial difficulties."
Kulik argued in the court document that the informant offered LaRocca about $200,000 worth of cocaine — eight kilos — at a bargain price: only $20,000 plus some personal property.
In her private chat with the judge, however, the informant denied reaching out to LaRocca first. She said he contacted her, wanting 100 kilos on credit, "which she allegedly denied and he came down to asking for two kilos on credit," the judge wrote. "She claimed that she told him to call back when he had money."
Martin Roth, a Fort Lauderdale defense attorney for one of three men caught in a separate 2011 Sunrise sting, said his team likely will press for the release of the lady informant's identity too.
A transcript related to that sting reveals a conversation between her and an undercover officer while they're waiting for a young man to arrive at a gas station with the money. The woman seems to show some remorse over duping the buyers.
"I don't like this. This is the worst part of this business. I don't want to see them imprisoned — with, with, with — you don't feel bad for them?"
The officer replies: "It's not in my hands."