Ex-probation officer pleads innocent

She stands accused of taking gifts, cash to let drug trafficking continue

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— A former state probation and parole officer pleaded innocent Tuesday morning to a federal indictment accusing her of turning a blind eye to the drug trafficking of a convicted murderer and another man she supervised in exchange for goods and cash.

Roxanne Davis, 38, of Wynne entered the plea before U.S. Magistrate Jerome T. Kearney during a brief appearance at the federal courthouse in Little Rock.

Davis, who has been released pending trial, declined to comment through her attorney after her arraignment, which came about a month after two men appeared before a judge in the same courthouse and implicated her in a bribery scheme.

On Sept. 17, Torrence Turner and Anthony Hall each pleaded guilty to a drugconspiracy charge stemming from an FBI-led drug-trafficking and public-corruption investigation known as Operation Delta Blues. In their plea agreements, Turner, a parolee, and Hall, a probationer, laid out their purported arrangements with Davis, who supervised them.

Turner, who goes by “Hot Shot,” said he routinely gave Davis cash, gifts and shoes in exchange for her allowing him to continue running a Marianna-based drug-trafficking ring that distributed more than 110 pounds of cocaine in the Arkansas Delta.

Davis began supervising Turner in 2007 when he was paroled from the Arkansas Department of Correction after serving more than 11 years of a 38-year prison sentence for first-degree murder.

Federal prosecutors say that between 2007 and Turner’s arrest in 2011, he paid Davis thousands of dollars in amounts ranging from $50 to $800. At times, Davis indicated that the payments were for expenses such as her “mortgage, car note, birthdays, plane tickets and salon trips,” according to federal court papers.

In addition to taking bribes from Turner, Davis is accused of accepting cash from Hall in exchange for not reporting his drug-dealing.

Hall, who was on probation for two drug convictions, said he met with Davis once a month either alone or with a group of others from the Marianna area who were on probation.

If he was alone, Hall said, he would pay Davis $20 to $30. If he was with the group, Hall said, the probationers would pool their money for the payoff, usually totaling between $100 and $150, according to his plea agreement.

The same morning Turner and Hall entered their pleas, federal authorities arrested Davis on a criminal complaint that outlined the plea agreements as well as conversations, recorded by wiretaps, between Turner and Davis discussing payoffs.

After her arrest, a grand jury indicted Davis on two counts of violating the Hobbs Act, specifically accusing her of misusing her authority as an Arkansas Department of Community Correction officer to collect cash payments and goods in exchange for not enforcing parole and probation conditions. Each count carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Davis, who has since resigned her position with the Department of Community Correction, is the sixth law enforcement officer charged in the Delta Blues investigation.

Five Helena-West Helena police officers were indicted last October on similar charges. Four have since pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison. The fifth officer, Lt. Marlene Kalb, is to be tried in December.

Arkansas, Pages 15 on 10/17/2012

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