Officer in 'Delta Blues' case to be released pending trial

LITTLE ROCK — The only police officer who has not pleaded guilty after being indicted in a federal investigation into corruption and drug trafficking in east Arkansas will be freed pending trial under "stringent conditions," a judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome Kearney granted former Helena-West Helena police Sgt. Marlene Kalb's release to home detention after a lengthy hearing in which she took the stand, insisted she wasn't a "dirty cop" and said she looked forward to proving her innocence at a July 30 trial.

"I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong," Kalb said when asked about conversations she had with a confidential informant posing as a drug trafficker. "I wasn't dirty; I wasn't corrupt."

Kalb is one of five law enforcement officers and 71 defendants overall indicted last year in Operation Delta Blues, a massive investigation into drug activity centered in Helena-West Helena and Phillips County but extending into other states. The other four officers and two of the operation leaders are among those who have entered guilty pleas previously.

Prosecutors countered Kalb's motion for release with audio recordings of conversations between Kalb and the informant. Authorities contend Kalb on multiple occasions escorted the man, a known felon, through Helena-West Helena in exchange for cash.

In one of the phone recordings, the informant can be heard telling Kalb he has a "s*load of cocaine" and needs police to escort him through Helena.

"You trying to get me in trouble," Kalb replies. "You working for the feds? Cops don't do good in the pen."

Questioned about the exchange by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters, Kalb said she would have arrested the informant if she thought he actually had drugs, adding she believed at the time he was kidding.

"I thought he was playing," Kalb said. "He would joke about stuff."

Prosecutors showed aerial surveillance photos to show Kalb did escort the man through town, driving behind him in her patrol vehicle. Peters said in her closing remarks that Kalb presented "explanations that simply don't make sense."

"That conversation speaks for itself," she told Kearney. "She doesn't think he's kidding around ... The weight of the evidence against this defendant - whether she wants to believe it - is incredibly strong."

An FBI agent testified for the government, detailing the case against Kalb and at one point acknowledging that the informant - whose name was not disclosed - aided authorities in a bid to get a friend's sentence lowered. The informant was also paid $25,000 for cooperating.

Agent Ward Seale said that the informant worked undercover on "several police officers and other public officials."

"Some of whom have not been charged yet?" Peters asked.

"That is correct," Seale replied, suggesting additional indictments in the case are possible.

Kearney ultimately allowed Kalb's release but ordered her to electronic monitoring while under home detention at her older sister's residence in Conway. He also required that Kalb's mother move in as well to ensure someone is with her at all times.

Kalb will remain jailed until the home is inspected by probation officers and the home monitoring is set up.

She is charged with two counts of extortion, three counts of attempted possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and two counts of money laundering.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

Thank you for coming to the website of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. We're working to keep you informed with the latest breaking news.