The Battalion Monday, Nov. 28, 1988 Page 3
am, The
ve the “death
into their
is a low-down
g worse than a
penalties”
proclaiming tohl
lestroying the
pted to take a
own opinion,bin
l solely on
jf someone with
rrived here, you
ply winning a
>ing to the
hese are
wo-year
nd 2.) probabh
te University)in
but instead you
s. You broke
i and yourself,
•ryone knows
he four years
>f being known
hips and the
State/Local
ewspaper: DEA staged seizures for press
HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration
[lirected local law enforcement agen
cies throughout the country to stage
bhony drug seizures and generate
false news reports to help DEA
agents gain the confidence of drug
jords, the Houston Chronicle re
ported Sunday.
DEA spokesman Maurice Hill in
Washington, D.C., said the tech
nique is employed in high drug traf
fic areas nationwide, including Flor
ida and Texas.
“It’s a procedure that is used, but
can’t begin to tell you with what
frequency,” Hill said. It’s not a new
technique, I can tell you that.”
The practice of staging the bogus
[seizures and feeding the informa
tion to news reporters apparently
tame into practice several years ago
[to resolve a dilemma for undercover •
drug agents posing as cocaine im-
orters for Colombian drug lords,
According to the copyright report.
Often the DEA operatives deliver
[the drugs according to instructions
from Colombian exporters and keep
[the shipment under surveillance in
[hopes of intercepting it before it hits
[the streets, officials said.
But the DEA sometimes ensures
that drugs never reach the street by
“dropping the load” in cooperation
with local authorities, who stage
phony seizures and allow the under
cover operation to proceed without
detection, the newspaper said.
Newspaper clippings generated
by the tactic are used to provide
cover stories for agents, according to
the Chronicle, which determined at
least two highly publicized seizures
in the Houston area had been
staged.
“The Colombians, the only way
they’ll believe you is to show them
the stuff (drugs), the money or the
newspaper clips,” Hill said.
Harris County Sheriff Johnny
Klevenhagen said local police agen
cies use the tactic only at the request
of the DEA. He praised the bogus
seizures as productive in taking illicit
drugs off the street.
Because of its success, he said, the
practice has gained widespread na
tional acceptance.
“DEA-Houston is only one fin
ger,” he said. “This is going on all
across the United States.”
While law enforcement agencies
defend the ruses on grounds that
they preserve investigations and
protect agents, journalists say the
scams raise ethical questions about
government deception of the news
media and the public.
Houston Chronicle Managing Ed
itor Tony Pederson acknowledged
that extraordinary measures are
necessary to fight drug trafficking,
but said government agencies must
maintain credibility.
“If the DEA is willing to lie to the
media and public about this issue,”
Pederson said, “what else might they
be willing to lie about?”
The practice also carries implica
tions about the final responsibility
for the actions of government
agents, journalists said.
“We almost have a shadow gov
ernment in addition to the govern
ment of the people,” Will Norton,
chairman of the journalism depart
ment at the University of Mississippi,
said of the drug agents’ actions.
“There seems to have been no ac
countability in the entire process,”
Pederson added. “At least some type
of judicial review has always been
necessary for other elements of law
enforcement deception, the key ex
ample being wiretaps. But who, if
anyone, has reviewed this process?”
In 1984, DEA agents helped
smuggle 952 pounds of cocaine into
the country, then abandoned their
van at a prearranged Harris County
roadblock set up by the Texas De
partment of Public Safety, the
Chronicle reported. On Aug. 2,
1984, the DPS alerted news report
ers that troopers had found a cache
of drugs described at the time as one
of Texas’ largest seizures.
Alan Spears, one of the state
troopers who made the 1984 seizure,
said he never was told that it was
staged.
Apparently, it is not uncommon
for the officers directly involved in
the seizure to be used as unwitting
participants.
Former preacher describes battle
with incest, fight to see children
reach in and
nr the “death
lied and made
think about y’l
g into the
ve irritated me
yhat ever
lead of tearing!!
lamp, now our
a sophomore,
couple of years,
e your liberal
say, “Thanksfor
‘i-yourself and
ire jealous and
Four-car accident
hurts 2 at bonfire
A four-car accident left two men
pinned between vehicles before bon
fire on Nov. 22.
Jeffrey Cox, a 24-year-old Texas
|A&M computer systems manager
pom College Station, and Mark De
part, a 28-year-old assistant lecturer
pom Fort Worth, were pinned by
the tailgate of a truck at about 7 p.m.
pn A&M student attempting to park
p Jersey Street struck another car,
phich caused a chain-reaction acci
dent, police reports said.
The student was maneuvering to
barallel park along the eastbound
brb of Jersey Street near Dexter
Drive. She apparently placed her
loot on the gas pedal instead of the
brake and struck a parked pick-up
truck.
Cox, who was seated in a lawn
chair between a Dodge Daytona and
a Ford Bronco, and DeHart, who
was seated on the Bronco’s tailgate,
were trapped between the vehicles
when the pick-up hit the Daytona.
Cox was taken to St. Joseph hospi
tal in Bryan, complaining of pain in
his back, the report said. He was
treated and released that night, hos
pital sources said. DeHart was not
injured.
As of Sunday night, no charges
had been pressed against the driver,
College Station police said.
DALLAS (AP) — Lewis Charles
Elliott, a former minister and father
of 18 children, sometimes cries when
he looks at pictures of them.
“This one I’ve never seen,” he
said. “She was born after they put
me in jail.”
The 53-year-old Elliott has been
sentenced to prison and has had to
give up his parental rights because
he is not just the children’s father. In
most cases, in the eyes of the law, he
is also their grandfather.
Elliott, a building contractor and
former Baptist minister in south
Dallas, admitted to fathering 13 chil
dren with his three adopted daugh
ters. He also had five children with
his wife.
Although he said he loves his fam
ily and hopes someday “we’ll all be
together again,” Elliott conceded he
was “addicted” to incest.
“The state can’t take away the love
we have — just like they can’t take
my blood out of those kids,” Elliott
told the Dallas Times Herald during
an hour-long interview in the Dallas
County Jail.
“I know people have trouble un
derstanding this, but I was a good fa
ther,” he said. “I took care of the
family.
“Preachers make mistakes like ev
eryone else,” he said. “I never told
anybody I was perfect. I didn’t in-
“This year
FI! get organized!’
it.
mments and Hal
ustion. Who
ill/George Sraitb,
Smith
A A
se, by all means,
:‘ach you to do it
najor, but it
ead in the Nov.
is Morning New
ake it true. Whs
ed their source
ruth before you
u are aware tha
cross the
at have
I also am not
isn’t true. Ifitiv
m to the
ed, in this
•hi to edit letters for sM
ted and must induitto I
Breathejl
| OKflY'l'MOff}
KJV M VP!
3ACKItil{
m
mmmm\
Msmj
And this year I really mean it. So Fm buying _ _
my self an IBM ? Personal System/2® computer to help me
do everything from organizing notes and revising papers
to creating high-quality graphics, and more. And not
only is this IBM PS/2 easy to learn and use, but if Fm
eligible, Fll save up to 40% with my discount.
Who knows, with this IBM PS/2,1 may be so
organized even my socks will match.
FREE box of diskettes and diskette case with purchase of a PS/2. Hurry-supplies
are limited. See the MicroComputerCenter for details.
MicroComputerCenter
Computer Sales and Supplies
Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Memorial Student Center
IBM and Personal System/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.
vent incest. . . . After experiencing it,,
it was just like drugs; it went too far.”
Court records indicate Elliott be
gan having sex with his adopted
daughters as they reached adoles
cence and continued for about 15
years. The records also indicate he
used violence and threats to control
family members and keep the matter
secret.
After being sentenced to 50 years
in prison in the first molestation
trial, Elliott said he decided not to
contest the remaining charges be
cause “I didn’t want the kids
dragged into this.”
But he insists that his only crime
was incest and said some of the
youngsters still send him money in
jail, where he awaits transfer to state
prison.
Elliott said he didn’t actually con
sider the acts criminal because the
young women were not his natural
children. Nor was the arrangement
bigamy, he said.
“I never did consider them my
wives,” Elliott said, “I just considered
we were having sex.
“The only thing that led me (to
commit incest) was that human in
stinct in me,” Elliott said. “I was just
like any other man.”
Crime Stoppers request help
solving murder of manager
On Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 a.m.,
the clean-up crew for the Schulman
6 Theater discovered the body of the
theater manager, Don Craven,
seated at his desk. He had been shot
in the head with a medium-caliber
handgun.
Co-workers at the theater, located
at 2000 E. 29th Street in Bryan, re
ported that they had last seen Cra
ven alive at 12:30 a.m. when they left
the theater after work. Evidence in
dicates that the manager had been
counting the daily receipts at the
time of his death and that the sus
pects) stole an undisclosed amount
of cash after shooting the manager.
No viable suspects have yet been
identified; however, investigators
believe that the suspect(s) may have
been known to the manager and that
the manager’s 1984 maroon Plym
outh Voyager van may have been
used by the suspect(s) before the
murder and then left parked on the
northwest side of the theater.
This week, the Bryan Police De
partment and Crime Stoppers need
your help to identify the person(s)
responsible for this capital murder.
If you have information that could
be helpful, call Crime Stoppers at
775-TIPS.
When you call, Crime Stoppers
will assign you a special coded num
ber to protect your identity. If your
call leads to an arrest and grand jury
indictment. Crime Stoppers will pay
you up to $1,000. Crime Stoppers
also pays cash for information about
any felony crime or the location of
any wanted fugitive.
Plan Ahead For
Christmas
with Texas Coin Exchange
Texas A&M
SEIKO
Watches
$225°°
Mens or Ladies
Colored Stones 14k Gold Chains
Ruby, Saphires, . .,
Emeralds, Blue to- sold by weight
pas mounted in ear
rings, necklaces
Plenty to Choose From
rings & bracelets.
14k Gold Charms
Small $12 95
Large $21 95
Aggie Watches
Quartz
Swiss Made
$32 50
Ask about Lay-Way
TEXAS COIN EXCHANGE
404 University Dr. College Station
846-8905 846-8916
M-F 9-5:30 Sat. 9-3:00
Texas 6
| Texas Ave. |T
* Texas Coin Exchange
l — o
i^r
Texas A&M