Parole officer is Delta arrestee

LITTLE ROCK — A convicted murderer and Marianna drug kingpin admitted Monday that he bribed his parole officer with cash, gifts and shoes in exchange for turning a blind eye as he distributed more than a hundred pounds of cocaine in the Arkansas Delta.

Torrence Turner told a federal judge that he paid parole officer Roxanne Davis, 38, numerous times and that she spent the money on plane tickets, salon trips, and mortgage and car payments.

Turner, 38, also said he paid Davis with shoes for her and her family and other merchandise from a store that he owns and where he allows people to shop by request only.

Federal agents arrested Davis on Monday morning shortly after Turner and two other men pleaded guilty to drug charges during court hearings at the federal courthouse in Little Rock. All three men publicly implicated the parole officer in taking bribes.

One of the men, Anthony “Lil A” Hall, told the court he made monthly payments to Davis - usually $20 to $30 - so that he could continue dealing drugs with no fear of his probation being revoked.

After the third defendant claimed Monday that he witnessed transactions between Turner and Davis, the FBI filed a criminal complaint that accused Davis of misusing her authority as a parole/probation officer to collect cash payments from known drug traffickers under her supervision.

Davis made her first appearance in federal court late Monday afternoon, wearing a white blouse, gray pants, leg chains and a somber expression.

After Davis entered a plea of innocent, U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray released her pending trial.

At the request of Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters, the judge ordered Davis to avoid contact with any parolees or probationers whom she had supervised.

Peters made the request in light of statements Davis gave to federal agents that led them to believe that her conduct may be “more widespread than what was mentioned in the complaint.”

Roxanne Davis is the sixth law enforcement officer to be charged by federal authorities as part of an FBI led drug-trafficking and public corruption investigation known as Operation Delta Blues. The investigation culminated last October with the arrest of about 70 people.

Five Helena-West Helena police officers were indicted as a result of that probe. Four have since pleaded guilty. The other, Helena-West Helena police Lt. Marlene Kalb, is set to be tried in the coming months.

Davis’ employer, the Arkansas Department of Community Correction, was made aware of the FBI investigation a year or so ago, spokesman Rhonda Sharp said, adding, “We cooperated fully.”

As of Monday evening, Davis remained employed by the agency.

“No decisions have been made,” Sharp said, “but we will take appropriate steps.”

She noted that it would be difficult for Davis to do her job and abide by the judge’s order to avoid any contact with parolees or probationers.

“Contact with these people is a primary function of [officers’] jobs.”

PAYOFFS ALLEGED

Peters, the federal prosecutor, first publicly detailed the purported arrangement between Turner and his parole officer during the Marianna drug trafficker’s hearing Monday morning.

“Between 2007 and 2011... the time of Turner’s parole and his arrest in 2011, Turner paid the state parole/probation officer ‘racks and racks,’ meaning thousands and thousands of dollars in cash, for the state parole/probation officer’s personal use,” Peters read in court.

“These payments ranged from approximately $50 to $800, sometimes represented by the state parole/probation officer to be for expenses such as the officer’s mortgage, car note, birthdays, plane tickets and salon trips.”

In return, Turner, who was “an active drug user,” was required to take only a handful of “random” drug tests during four years of supervision, according to federal court papers.

Turner - who pleaded guilty in 1995 in Crittenden County Circuit Court to killing Lee Andrew Lemmons during an armed robbery - was sentenced to 45 years in prison with seven years suspended, according to court records.

He was paroled in early 2007 and began reporting to Davis, who was offered a job by the Department of Community Correction in 2003 and certified as a parole officer the next year.

Last year, FBI agents tapped Turner’s phone as part of the Delta Blues investigation and overheard discussions between the officer and Turner.

Transcripts of these recorded conversations were included in the criminal complaint filed Monday.

In one transcribed conversation, Turner asked what Davis had done with her “Mother’s Day present.”

“What did I do with it? ... I think I spent it on the kids,” she replied.

Turner also asked, “Hey, did the, did the shoes fit?” and the officer replied that they did.

Davis then told Turner that one of her children would be celebrating a birthday in two days.

The same day, the FBI wiretap recorded another conversation during which Davis and Turner discussed what do with $170 that Turner had given the officer.

The pair originally had agreed that $100 would be given to Davis’ child as a birthday present.

But during the conversation as transcribed, Davis mentioned that she was shoppingat Fashion Connection.

Turner: “You know, if you need some more, you know, you take that $170 and get, you know, just take care of the baby for me, that’s all I care about.”

After Davis pressed him about what to do if she needed more money, he told her to just spend $50 - instead of $100 - on the child’s birthday.

“And you keep, put $50 on your clothes, baby,” Turner said.

About 20 minutes later, Davis again contacted Turner and asked him to buy her a car for $1,500.

Turner told her to do some comparison shopping first, prompting Davis to ask, “You gonna get it?”

“We’ll see what it do, in due time, but right now you know my mom back in the hospital.Let me situate her, and then woopty-woopty-woo.”

Davis also alerted Turner to law enforcement’s interest in his drug dealing, according to court papers.

FBI Special Agent John Marsh, who investigated Davis, wrote that federal agents used the Arkansas Crime Information Center’s criminal history database on five separate occasions during 2011 to look into Turner. The database checks were to support wiretaps and Turner’s arrest as part of the Delta Blues investigation.

Because Davis was Turner’s parole officer, she was notified that the FBI had accessed his information. The notification, which is routine, allows parole or probation officers to then inquire of the agency or the parolee about any illegal activities that might warrant revocation.

Instead, Davis warned Turner of the FBI’s interest, according to Turner’s plea agreement.

“Specifically, the state parole/probation officer told Turner that the FBI had tapped into the officer’s computer and Turner should watch his back,”according to federal court papers.

The criminal complaint also cites a conversation between Turner and Demetrius Colbert, who also was arrested in the Delta Blues investigation.

Turner told Colbert he’d been “chillin’” because “My P.O. told me to jack my slacks for a week or two,” according to court records.

He later elaborated: “Yeah, that was my ... P.O. come personally, she come over to the doorstep.”

After telling Colbert his officer’s name was Roxanne, Turner added, “I respect her ’cause whenever I need a favor - and I would call on her if I need one - I know she’ll be beside [me] 100 percent.”

Turner’s admissions about his purported arrangement with Davis were included as part of his plea agreement with federal prosecutors that was preliminarily accepted Monday by U.S. District Judge James M. Moody.

In the plea, Turner took responsibility for dealing 110 to 330 pounds of cocaine and at least 6 pounds of crack cocaine and agreed to a 30-year prison sentence, which Moody said Monday that he likely will approve at a later hearing.

During Monday’s hearing, Turner said he was certain that he wanted to plead guilty.

“Well, I think I better give it up,” he told the judge. “I’m not going to trial.”

Less than 30 minutes later, his son, Torrence Davis, admitted to the court that he knew about the alleged monetary relationship between his father and the parole officer.

Torrence Davis, who is not related to Roxanne Davis, also pleaded guilty to participating in the Marianna drug-trafficking ring.

In his plea agreement, Torrence Davis acknowledged that he was present when Turner paid the parole officer cash for “fines” and also when the officer bought clothes and received free shoes from Turner.

Turner explained to his son that such payments ensured that Roxanne Davis would leave Turner alone to “hustle” - sell drugs - according to the plea agreement.

Turner wasn’t the only one making payoffs to Roxanne Davis, according to Hall, the third defendant who pleaded guilty to drug dealing on Monday.

Hall told the court that he, too, paid Davis while he was on supervised probation from a Texas drug conviction and a later Lee County drug conviction.

According to Hall’s plea agreement, he visited the officer once a month, either by himself or with a group of probationers from the Marianna area.

If he was alone, Hall said, he gave Davis $20 to $30 per visit. If other probationers were present, they pooled their money for the payoff, which usually added up to $100 to $150 per visit, he said.

THE DRUGS

Hall also admitted Monday to buying at least a pound cocaine from Turner for redistribution.

In phone conversations recorded by the FBI, Hall and Turner discussed a “crisis” - the shortage of cocaine in the Marianna area. This shortage allowed them to charge more but posed a problem when they didn’t have the drugs and had to refer customers to other dealers.

On one occasion, Hall called Turner and told him about someone who had bought a kilogram of cocaine for “29” - meaning $29,000.

That person “flew out there and drove it back,” which the FBI interpreted to mean that he flew to a pickup location near the U.S.-Mexico border and drove it back to Arkansas.

Hall and Turner discussed whether the travel expenses involved in such a trip would make the kilogram cost just as much at the border as it would in Marianna.

Torrence Davis also played a role in his father’s drug-trafficking ring, selling both cocaine and crack cocaine.

Sometimes Davis negotiated deals at Turner’s house; other times he delivered drugs.

In all, Davis helped Turner distribute more than a pound of cocaine.

Wiretapped conversations between father and son indicate that Turner saw himself as a drug-trafficking mentor to Davis.

On one occasion, Turner called his son, who goes by “Chuck,” asking, “What you got going on, Chuck?”

“Makin’ this little money,” Davis replied, referring to drug sales.

At this point, Turner launched into a pep talk, saying: “I’m trying to teach you the right way, man. So you can get rich at a young age, man. Do you feel me?”

“Yes, sir,” his son answered.

Turner next asked Davis if he’d sold a half-ounce of cocaine to a customer.

“Yeah,” Davis replied.

Turner then offered another lecture on motivation:

“You’ve got a live wire, you got to get out there, man, like you never got out there before, man, and get your name and recognition in the street. That’s the key thing, do you feel me ?”