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The Pledge

"I Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." I hate saying that. But I go ahead and say it anyway and hold my right hand over my heart and face the flag like everybody else. But I hate it.

Why do I hate it? Because it is a fake and phony thing to say, right from the beginning and all the way to the end of it.

Why should anyone have to recite a pledge of allegiance to one’s country? Shouldn’t that be taken for granted? If everyone in the room recites the pledge, does that mean that there are no traitors among them? Is that the purpose of it? To weed out traitors?

But wouldn’t a traitor be happy to recite a pledge? What difference would it make to him? Having to recite such a fake proof of patriotism wouldn’t bother a traitor, or an idiot either.

The only type of person that it could bother would be one of those, such as myself, that believe that true patriotism is diminished by such fake and phony proofs of patriotism and allegiance to one’s country.

From Oct. 1967 through Oct. 1968, I was an LOH (light observation helicopter) crew chief assigned to the Scouts, B Troop, 7/17th Air Cav, stationed primarily at Camp Enari, near Pleiku in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

During the time that I was there, three of the Scout helicopters assigned to me were shot down, killing everyone aboard. Each time it just happened to be on a day when I was assigned to some other duty on the ground.

But I flew enough to get the Air Medal. And I was there long enough to know the most courageous men that I’ve ever met and what it’s like to be in combat and have to face the reality of people dying and bullets being fired at you. Did all that prove my patriotism? Not really. I was against the war but I was drafted into the Army and was left with no other choice. I preferred to take my chances as a soldier than go to jail or leave my home and escape to another country.

In my opinion none of those who died in Vietnam or served in Vietnam did it out of patriotism or because they felt they were defending America’s freedom.

Those that died there and those that served there did it because they were caught up in that great, big black hole of fake patriotism which is at the hot core of American politics and government of, for and by the people – that required them to go along with the program, even at the risk of their lives.

That program is still in effect today and it just keeps getting dumber and dumber. And who can you blame except government of, for and by the people doped up on fake, phony patriotism that doesn’t have a thing to do with true patriotism or love of one’s country, or of individual thinking or sacred honor.

Where do we get these dumb thinkers that program this dumb machine that spits out these robots in such great numbers that think such dumb things as "We’re fighting them over there so we won’t have to fight them here," and we’re fighting for our freedom and to spread freedom around the world.

I believe they come straight out of the belly of government of, for and by the people and have been brought up programmed to recite fake patriotic pledges every morning in their schools as some sort of required proof of their Americanism and goodness, rather than being respected as free individuals whose patriotism should be taken for granted until proven otherwise, and who should be expected to think and reason according to the ability that God gave them.

Patriotism itself is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a natural thing that doesn’t have anything to do with the Pledge of Allegiance or the waving of flags. The love of one’s country comes as natural as the love of one’s mother and father. And yet, no one has come up with a daily pledge for that.

I hate it when I see our Congressmen and Congresswomen all standing together like school children in the morning with their hands over their hearts facing the flag and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

To me, this is something that would seem more reasonable if this were Germany during the reign of Hitler instead of being the United States of America. It’s a dumb ritual that doesn’t prove anything except that we love our dumb rituals. I don’t think George Washington and the other founding fathers would have ever imagined such a thing. They knew what patriotism was. It was part of their character and actions and sacred honor and didn’t have to be recited as part of some two-bit pledge written up by some two-bit writer of some two-bit boy’s magazine.

I hate that Congress begins it’s sessions with a prayer written up by some hired preacher with the gall to believe that he is officially responsible for dragging God into this mess and giving God instructions as to how God should enter into the minds of everyone present and lead them to intelligent thinking and wise decisions.

I hate it all, just because of the dumb, stupid hypocrisy of it. I really do believe that the greatest evils that have plagued the world from the beginning is because we feed our young on the same dumb, stupid hypocrisy that we grew up on.

If that’s not so, why can’t the American mind realize that terrorism is the killing of innocent people and that through our illegal and unjustified attack on Iraq we’ve killed more innocent people, in the form of acceptable collateral damage, than all the terrorists will be able to do in our lifetimes?

How else can it be explained, that America is bleeding itself to death with unnecessary war on Iraq (and more to come on the drawing board), and unknown billions for prisons and police in our stupid and hypocritical war on drugs, and unknown billions because we’re too stupid to plan and take care of the responsibilities we owe to our poor and the middle class and the challenges of nature and the continued existence of life itself on the planet? America needs to get smart and a good place to start would be to just throw all of our fake and phony ideas of patriotism overboard, along with our incredible and insane self-righteousness, and put our minds to thinking. Yes, thinking. Even in our schools. Education, regardless of how much money and effort is thrown into it, doesn’t mean a thing if we can’t figure out some way to trigger the thinking mechanism inside the minds of our young people, instead of just turning out robots that can recite the Pledge and keep us going in the same direction of world destruction the way we’ve been going since the Second World War.

That is what true patriotism is, even more than doing one’s duty as a soldier or raising a family of good citizens or serving in Congress or as the President of the United States, it’s using one’s mind to help bring about a better way for one’s country and all the peoples of the earth, "under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Déjà vu: Ringgold annexes Parkway properties a second time

08/23/05
Randall Franks


Late last year the Ringgold City Council voted to annex 13 properties on Battlefield Parkway between U.S. 41 and Interstate 75 — Aug. 22 the council annexed those properties again.

“We are redoing it because we didn’t do it properly last year,” said Ringgold Mayor Joe Barger. “When we went through the process last year I was under the impression that all 13 property owners had signed to come into the city. The first one on the list, Melissa Norris, had not.”

Because Norris had not signed it broke the link in the chain of properties that are contiguous (touching) Ringgold’s borders. Under the state’s 100 percent annexation method land must be touching a city’s borders to be annexed.

The city asked all 13 property owners to sign petitions again to come into the city, including the one owner previously missed. This move allowed Ringgold to follow the annexation procedures with the unanimous consent of all property owners, Barger said.

The council zoned all the properties C-1, commercial, except the two properties of Melisa Norris, which are zoned R-1, residential.

With this slight stumbling block out of the way, Ringgold is poised to once again start its march down Battlefield Parkway toward Fort Oglethorpe’s borders.

Ringgold officials said in April they plan to annex several Battlefield Parkway properties this summer. The last action the city took included the annexation of four properties on the west side of I-75 in April.

Also in April, Judge Jon “Bo” Wood of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court ruled against Ringgold and in favor of Fort Oglethorpe after a four-month long dispute over a small Battlefield Parkway parcel that Ringgold had annexed.

Fort Oglethorpe sued Ringgold over its annexation of that tenth-acre tract off Battlefield Parkway next to Hutcheson on the Parkway because it did not touch Ringgold’s city limits and Fort Oglethorpe officials claimed the property was part of their natural growth pattern.

Ringgold originally purchased the tract from Goosepond Properties, Inc. for $20,661 late last year and Goosepond had also petitioned the city to annex 18 additional acres in the that area.

City officials previously slated Ringgold’s annexation goal to reach beyond Hutcheson on the Parkway, a short distance from Fort Oglethorpe’s city limits near Dietz Road.

Barger said he anticipates additional annexations on the Parkway within the coming weeks.

Catoosa commissioners vote no on property tax hike

Public service fee proposed instead

07/28/05
Randall Franks

Catoosa County Board of Commissioners refused to raise the county property tax millage rate Thursday but the board will now consider imposing a public service fee.

After three public hearings in which numerous taxpayers complained about a proposed tax increase, commissioners voted unanimously July 28 not to raise taxes.

Catoosa County resident Lamar Dietz compared the tax increase to setting a live frog in cool water to boil.

“Degree by degree — putting the heat to him — pretty soon that frog is boiled,” he said. “You get to where you tax us out of existence.”

Fort Oglethorpe resident Kenneth Dodd said increases are hurting people on fixed incomes.

“I’ve heard comments that ‘if taxes keep going up I am going to have to move,’” he said.

According to Carl Henson, Catoosa County chief financial officer, the county portion of the millage rate will now be 3.133, generating $4,336,857.

Commissioners had proposed as much as a one-mill tax increase that would have generated approximately $1.3 million.

Henson said the lack of a property tax increase leaves a $1.184 million shortfall in the current 2005-06 budget of $19,648,875, which the board unanimously approved Thursday.

To make up for the shortfall money will be borrowed from the county's contingency or "rainy day" fund.

Commissioners cut the budget by $185,915 during recent meetings.

Commissioner Ken Marks proposed the budget deficit be funded by a public safety fee.

The fee will be debated through meetings and public hearings over the coming weeks. No dates are yet set.

Marks provided commissioners with an example of a $60 service fee per dwelling, mobile home and apartment. Commercial fees could be $200 per business and $2,000 for industries. The example scenario would generate $1.3 million in revenues from unincorporated Catoosa County.

Marks said he wants the county to work with Ringgold and Fort Oglethorpe to also collect the fee in the cities, which would lower the individual fees.

“I am banking heavily on the two cities coming in,” he said.

He also stressed that most of the fees should come from apartment dwellers and commercial and industrial sources rather than individual property owners.

“The intent of the alternative is not for residents to pick up the brunt of it,” he said.

Catoosa County Chairman Bill Clark said he is pleased there was no increase in the property tax.

“We now have to look at the fee, but keep it as low as possible,” he said.

Catoosa County Tax Commissioner Sandra Self said if commissioners approve a fee her office can place it on this year’s tax bills for collection.

“It would take quite a lot of work and will have to be done by hand,” she told commissioners.

Despite commissioners not increasing the millage rate, many property owners will still see an increase in individual tax bills due to property value reassessments. If a service fee is added it will also be an addition to property tax bills.

Commissioner Bobby Winters said he is hesitant about the proposed fee but commissioners should discuss the proposal in-depth.

Authorities recover over $500,000 in stolen property during theft ring investigation

It’s all about drugs, officials say

07/27/05
Leslie V. Marshall


Local authorities have banded together to combat a major theft problem in the surrounding area.

Police from Fort Oglethorpe, Catoosa County, Walker County, East Ridge, and Chattanooga have joined forces over the past six months to crack a major theft ring.

“We’ve jailed about 20 people over the last six months,” Detective Dave Scroggins of the Fort Oglethorpe Police Department said in a press conference Wednesday.

A raid Tuesday by the Walker County Sheriff’s Department yielded over $100,000 in stolen property, estimated Dan Bilbrey of the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department. The raid was at a residence at 121 Summit Drive in Rossville.

Sam McGee, the one time owner of the 121 Summit Drive residence, has been under investigation for some time and a warrant for his arrest is pending, Scroggins said. Authorities have evidence that McGee accepted stolen property for drugs, he said.

During the course of Tuesady’s raid officers seized about 12 trailers of various sizes and types, along with building materials, refridgerators, bathtubs, and more, Scroggins said. Authorities were also able to recover several pieces of lawn equipment stolen from Skyline Lawn and Garden on Cloud Springs Road Sunday, July 17.

Skyline owner Mike Kernea praised police efforts.

He estimated the total value of items stolen at over $10,000. This is the second burglary at Skyline in recent months, Kernea said.

Tuesday’s recovery is just part of the total effort, Scroggins said. In the course of this investigation officers have solved crimes in Hamilton, Walker, and Catoosa counties as well as East Ridge , Chattanooga, Rossville, and Fort Oglethorpe. The crimes include thefts of almost every variety and manner including residential burglaries, business burglaries, mini-warehouse burglaries and burglary of vehicles, he said.

“Its been amazing that we’ve done as much as we have over the last few months, and I credit that to the cooperative effort between all the agencies,” Scroggins said.

Scroggins said a conservative estimate of the total property recovered is more than $500,000.

Because the investigation is still ongoing officers would not release all of the names of those involved. They did release the following names of people arrested so far in connection with the theft ring: Jeremy Poteet, Bobby Blakemoore, Charles R. Blakemoore Jr., Bryan Blakemoore, Charlie Skiles, and Randy Boles.

All the thefts were drug related, Scroggins said.

“It’s all property that’s been stolen and in one way shape or form traded for drugs,” he said. “Some of it goes directly to the guy that’s dealing drugs; some of it goes to the fence down the street; some of it goes to the pawn shop, and the pawn shop buys it knowing full well that item is stolen.”

“Its part of our ongoing problem with drugs in this community,” Scroggins said.

Authorities are trying to find the owners of the recovered items. Individuals who believe some of the stolen property may belong to them may contact the Fort Oglethorpe Police Department at (706) 866-2512.

Verification of ownership will be required; a police report may be used for proof, Scroggins said. Authorities ask that citizens be patient. Due to the number of items recovered it may take some time for officers to return calls.

Catoosa commissioners cut more than $300,000 from proposed budget

County Manager Ron Brown recommends adding $163,000 for additional personnel


07/22/05
Leslie V. Marshall



After two public hearings Thursday in which many citizens spoke out against a proposed one-mill property tax hike, Catoosa commissioners continued to try and trim expenses from the 2005-06 budget.

Following the second hearing the Board of Commissioners approved two of 15 money-saving cuts/changes proposed by Board Chairman Bill Clark.

The board voted unanimously to reduce the Risk Management Contingency Reserve from $648,841 to $400,000 and to use regular unleaded gas instead of medium grade in Road Department vehicles.

Clark’s motion to eliminate all police officers requested by the school system and his motion to reduce officers scheduled for courthouse security from five to one did not even receive a second from the board.

County Commissioner Ken Marks proposed an alternate motion to Clark’s that reduced the officers scheduled for courthouse security from five to three; this motion was seconded by Clark and passed with a three to two vote. County Commissioners Ron Gracy
and Jim Emberson voted to keep five officers on courthouse security.

Clark’s motion to eliminate the proposed position of assistant county manager was altered as well. The final proposal called to eliminate the position, but to create a human resource officer position. The amended motion passed unanimously. The original budget proposal allotted $95,000 for the assistant manager position; the human resource officer position was only allotted $53,000.

According to Carl Henson, county finance administrator, the changes passed Thursday night totaled a savings of $339,000.

The board also voted to provide eight new circuit employees and an additional attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office but they voted to increase
Ron Brown
the amount allocated for the new attorney from $53,000 to $70,000. The difference comes from having the position filled in October 2005 rather than January 2006.

County Manager Ron Brown introduced another personnel related increase. Brown suggested adding two full-time employees and two part-time employees to the county’s road crews, an administrative employee to the Animal Control Department, and a receptionist for the new administration building. The total cost of these new employees would be about $163,000, Brown said.

The Commissioners will address Brown’s requests at the next commissioner’s meeting which will follow the final budget public hearing scheduled Thursday, July 28 at 10 a.m.

School Board approves $95 million budget

Debate marks final public hearing


07/25/05
Jessica Fleming



... After prolonged debate, the Catoosa County Board of Education accepted a budget of $95.5 million for anticipated expenditures in the fiscal year 2006 on Thursday.

These monies, board members say, are expected through a combination of local taxes, state and federal resources.

In the final public hearing held Wednesday, July 21, School Superintendent Beth Kellerhals presented the public with a detailed outline of the FY06 budget.

She outlined difficulties the board has faced in balancing the budget, observing state mandates and dealing with budget cuts that have severely affected Catoosa schools.

The board unanimously approved the budget.

The millage rate in Catoosa County will hold steady at 15.578 mills for the next year. However, due to countywide re-assessment of taxable properties, this rate is expected to bring in 10.66 percent more funds.

Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Chairman Chris Casey supports the revenue increase.

“Our kids are our future,” he said at the public hearing. “Education is one of the best investments we can make.”

Several citizens voiced disapproval of the budget, citing mismanagement of school funds and administrative overflow as a factor in the budget crisis.

“I challenge you to walk a day in (an administrator’s) shoes,” Kellerhals and board member Jane Everett responded to citizens’ doubts of efficiency and ability.

State cuts

The FY06 budget will be tight, school officials said, but Catoosa County schools can cope through a combination of monetary reserves and increased funding.

One reason for the budget shortfall, many officials believe, is that Georgia schools no longer receive funds from the state lottery for computers.

According to education officials, the gross majority of lottery funds are allocated to fund pre-kindergarten and HOPE scholarship programs, and not K-12 education.

In addition, so-called “austerity reductions” have been put in place by the state, which have resulted in a loss of over $7 million for county schools in the past four years.

This year alone, the county lost over $2 million due to such cuts.

In the past, local school officials have reduced the number of both full-time and substitute teachers; cut programs such as elementary Spanish; reduced employee benefits; and delayed technological upgrades in an effort to alleviate the strains of a tight budget.

Growth

According to the FY06 budget, a total of $47.5 million will be allocated specifically for classroom instruction.

This figure incorporates the additional $2.2 million associated with the hiring of 36 new teachers in the system.

Many of these positions are associated with the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), as 23 new special education teachers will be hired into the school system. Other positions are a direct result of the residential growth in Catoosa County and the approximately 10,000 students now enrolled.

The average teacher salary in Catoosa County is about $45,000, Kellerhals said.

Construction monies — previously a large portion of the budget — will be reduced as a result of the completion of Heritage Middle, the board noted.

Kellerhals responded to doubts about the completion date of the new facility.

“It will be ready,” she said.

She said that the school cafeteria should be ready by August 4, and the gym will be the last area to be completed.

Board members also heard a presentation from the Chattanooga architectural firm selected to design the county’s third high school, Derthick, Henley and Wilkerson.

The award-winning firm has designed numerous buildings in Hamilton County, including the seven buildings at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Chattanooga Convention Center, Brown Academy and Nolan Elementary.

Operating costs for Catoosa County schools have increased with the hike in energy prices, Catoosa County Schools Energy Manager Mitchell Gravitt explained.

He expressed a desire to work with the firm to develop an energy and cost-efficient facility.

Fuel prices have more than doubled and the cost of natural gas, electricity and water has risen by more than thirty percent, Gravitt said. This increase totals approximately $350,000.

Ringgold woman indicted for distributing child pornography

07/05/05
Staff Report


David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and Gregory Jones, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announce that a federal grand jury has returned a two-count indictment against Angela Yvonne Culbreth, 39, of Ringgold. According to Nahmias the indictment was filed late Tuesday.

Count One of the indictment charges that on August 11, 2004, Culbreth knowingly transported in interstate commerce by means of a computer connected to the Internet, approximately twenty images of child pornography, those being video clips of various lengths showing adults engaging in sexually explicit conduct with prepubescent children, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252A(a)(1).

Count Two charges that beginning on an unknown date no earlier than January 2004, and continuing to about September 15, 2004, Culbreth knowingly received around 300 images of child pornography, those being digital images or video clips of various lengths showing adults engaging in sexually explicit conduct with prepubescent children that had been mailed, shipped and transported in interstate commerce by means of a computer connected to the Internet, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252A(a)(2)(A).

Nahmias said, "This case demonstrates that women as well as men support and promote the market for child pornography, which is based on the sexual assault and exploitation of innocent children. We will seek to bring the full measure of justice against all those who participate in the child porn industry."

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The case is being investigated by Special Agents of the FBI and members of the FBI's Safe Child Task Force, which investigates child pornography and child exploitation violations.

Assistant United States Attorney William G. Traynor is prosecuting the case.

County property taxes are going up

Commissioners plan for one-mill increase

07/07/05
Randall Franks



.. Catoosa property owners will see as much as a one-mill tax increase.

Following three days of meetings with county and city officials, Catoosa County Board of Commissioners came to the conclusion that an increase is the only way to maintain services to residents.

According to Catoosa County Chief Financial Officer Carl Henson, the one-mill hike will provide $1.384 million in revenues.

The preliminary general fund summary for fiscal year 2005-06 projects revenues just below $18.5 million — $1.6 million below expected expenses.

Commissioner Jim Emberson said July 6 at the Colonnade that a millage increase is needed to provide services.

“We have additional requests by constitutional officers. We have maintenance and road department; they are in a pathetic situation,” he said. “ They can’t even keep the roads mowed. We’ve cut (the budget) until we can’t cut anymore.

“We have only had a half-mill increase in the last ten years,” Emberson said. “We are one of the lowest counties in state as far as county millage is concerned. “The people must understand that school taxes are different than what it takes to run the government. There will be a lot of opposition to (the increase).”

Commissioner Ron Gracy said some increase is necessary.

“I appreciate the presentations given (by constitutional officers and department representatives),” he said. “I thank them for bringing the problems we have to the forefront. My fellow commissioners listened and we’ll try to adjust millage as low as possible.”

The tax hike is included in the 2005-06 budget which commissioners are now reviewing. The county will advertise its intent to increase the millage rate in The Catoosa County News beginning July 13 and hold three public hearings July 21 at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and July 28 at 10 a.m. before commissioners adopt the final budget that day.

Henson said the county must advertise its maximum expected increase (one mill) but can reduce it from that figure during the hearing process.

Chairman Bill Clark said he wants to try to cut the increase as much as possible during the budget process.

“What is eating us alive is the drug program is a failure,” he said. “We are trying to stop the supply. We have to stop the demand. Until we as a community decide to see drug addiction as a medical problem instead of a legal problem it is going to eat us alive. That is the reason for the one mill increase.”

During the budget meetings, many local officials and department heads spoke with commissioners about their organizations’ needs, including: Sheriff Phil Summers, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert “Buzz” Franklin, Tax Commissioner Sandra Self, Catoosa County Elections Officer Ann Cain, Fort Oglethorpe City Council, Ringgold City Council, Catoosa County Recreation Department, the Colonnade, Magistrate Judge Donald “Sonny” Caldwell.

Sheriff Summers requested slightly more than $900,000 in additional funds to meet a variety of needs. Those requests included: four additional patrolmen, two narcotics detectives, and one additional school resource officer, security personnel and equipment to serve the Catoosa County Courthouse.

“One of the main concerns I have in Catoosa County is an increase in crime,” he said July 5. “A lot of it has to do with increase in calls for service. The population has increased. We’ve increased about 8,000 people in last five-six years and we’ve increased no patrol officers but it is definitely becoming a tremendous burden on us trying to respond, react and answer the calls

“We have held an average six minute response time for over 10 years, that has now increased in the last two years to just under 10 minutes,” he said. “Many times we find other officers are tied up on (other) calls when the calls come in.

He said the increase in meth use, production, and trafficking is also a major burden on resources. The sheriff said he expects the number of meth labs seized in the county to reach 70 this year.

According to the Sheriff, in last five years there has been an increase of 40 percent in murders, 45 percent in rape, 31 percent in robbery, 24 percent in burglaries, 24 percent in thefts, 24 percent in motor vehicle thefts, and 33 percent in domestic violence. Traffic complaints are up 52 percent, he said.

By working with Carl Henson this week, the Sheriff and Henson developed ways that some of the needs may be met using SPLOST, special-purpose local-option sales tax, and by staggering employment of personnel so all costs will not come during this fiscal year.

The sheriff said July 7 this effort will save the county about $475,000 in this fiscal year while still meeting the goals.

“I don’t want to see a tax increase but I don’t want to see a reduction in services,” he said. “If we don’t pay little by little today we will pay huge in the future.”

District Attorney Buzz Franklin said he needs three assistant district attorneys, two victim-witness workers, two investigators and three administrative staff to meet the growing demands to prosecute criminals in Catoosa County and the other three counties his office serves.

“Our staff needs to be increased,” he said. “We’ve had increase in crimes of all types. Methamphetamine has taken a toll on our office.”

He said that his staff is to the point that if it had to spin one more plate in the air the entire bunch could come falling down around them.

He said Catoosa contributes 34 percent of his department’s budget but use most of the resources due to the county's growing population. He said Catoosa needs to contribute $245,281 more to his budget for a total of $565,573.

“The problem is that Catoosa County… is pretty much driving the train caseload wise,” he said. "If it does not step up to the plate and deal with the problem of getting more staff we can’t realistically expect the other counties to do so. I am asking you to do what has to be done to provide more staff, otherwise we need to get some judgements on what laws we do not want to see enforced.”

Franklin said his office, which covers Catoosa, Walker, Dade, and Chattooga is working with four sheriff’s departments, three state patrol offices and multiple police departments.

Commissioners will review the budget and could make changes over the next few weeks until they adopt it on July 28.

Attorney: Informant’s mistakes taint federal meth sting

Federal prosecutor: Claims will be addressed in court


07/07/05
Leslie Marshall

RINGGOLD — An attorney claims a police informant used in Operation Meth Merchant has tainted the federal drug sting because he misidentified suspects.

“The informant ... was utilized ... throughout Operation Meth Merchant,” said Ken Poston in a prepared statement to media.

According to police records, the informant was used to make a vast majority of cases in the sweeping investigation last month, which led to dozens of arrests across northwest Georgia.

“It is time for the United States government to do the right thing and acknowledge the inadequacies of the purported eyewitness identifications made by this undercover informant, without concern of what this admission may do to other cases in Operation Meth Merchant,” Poston said in the statement.

“The government should investigate the promises made to this informant as an incentive for his reckless identification of suspects,” he said.

David E. Nahmias, U.S. Attorney for Georgia’s Northern District, declined Thursday to comment in detail on the allegations.

"We consider all such claims carefully, but we will address them with defense counsel and in court," Nahmias said.

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Details of mistaken identities

Poston said one of his clients, Malvika Patel of Cleveland, Tenn., who is accused of selling meth-making ingredients to an informant during Operation Meth Merchant, was picking up one of her children at a LaPetie Academy in Cleveland, Tenn., nearly an hour away when the alleged sale took place.

“Mrs. Patel regularly picked him (Veeren Patel) up at our school at approximately 2 p.m. every day,” said Faye Cooper, a LaPetie employee of 17 years, in a written statement. “Our computer records indicate that on the day in question she was here picking him up.”

“It would have been impossible for her to have been in both places,” Poston said.

The illegal transaction is alleged to have occurred at Tobacco for Less, a convenience store on LaFayette Road in Fort Oglethorpe, on April 22, 2004.

“She had never even been to the Fort Oglethorpe convenience store where she is now accused of working as a cashier and accused of knowingly selling the components of methamphetamine with the intentions of helping the informant manufacture the illegal substance,” Poston said.

Catoosa County Sheriff Phil Summers said he could make no specific comments about Poston’s claims.

"This is being handled by the federal law enforcement, by the U.S. Attorney’s office, and I'm not really privileged to what is going on in the investigation,” Summers said. “I couldn't really make a comment because I don't really know anything about it.

"I assume that if Mr. Poston feels that he has an issue, he will file that claim and it will be thoroughly investigated and of course handled by the U.S. Attorney's office in federal court,” Summers said.

“It's very unusual for an attorney to go to the news media to fight his battles,” he added. “I would think the appropriate place would be in the court system, and that is where we plan on handling our cases — through the court system and not through the news media."

Dhiren Patel, an officer for Saishree Inc, the corporation under which Tobacco for Less operates, said in a sworn statement that Malvika was never employed at the store and that he had never seen her at the store.

Poston said he has filed for a dismissal of the charges against his client.

“There is so much reasonable doubt on this case I cannot imagine it going forward,” he said. “We are making a demand of the government to release this indictment at whatever the cost to their other cases because there is nothing more important than an innocent person being spared the ridicule and the fear of what she is facing right now.

“We decided, after giving the government reasonable time … we needed these hard questions asked on a more open level,” he said.

Poston also said that that the same informant, apparently a white male, “made an even more glaring mistake” by misidentifying Malvika’s husband, Chirag, as the man who sold him meth-making ingredients on Dec. 21, 2004, at Tobacco for Less.

“Chirag Patel was in India attending a relative’s wedding on the date carefully noted by the government that the informant claims he dealt with Mr. Patel,” Poston said. “Mr. Patel’s passport proves his exit and re-entry dates. He was in India.”

Chirag Patel was not officially arrested during Operation Meth Merchant, an 18-month federal investigation that culminated on June 3 with 49 arrests at convenience stores in five northwest Georgia counties, including Walker, Catoosa, Dade, Whitfield and Floyd.

While Chirag was at the Whitfield County jail trying to have his wife released, authorities handcuffed him for 30-40 minutes, he said.

“After 40 minutes they released me and said ‘you are not the person we are looking for,’” Chirag said.

Malvika Patel was in jail from Friday, June 3, to late Monday, June 6. “I told my children that I was on a business trip. I couldn’t tell them about jail,” Malvika said.

“I cried in front of (police), telling them my wife had never been to that store,” Chirag said.

Chirag owns three convenience stores, two in Tennessee and one in Cumming, Ga., none of which were involved in Operation Meth Merchant.

“When the police came to pick her up, I explained to them I have enough convenience stores, so why would she work for someone else?” Chirag said.

Dhiren Patel is not related to Chirag or Malvika, Poston said. Patel is a common Indian surname.

Prosecutors say the suspects, who either owned or worked at the stores, sold meth-making ingredients to the informants after being told how the ingredients were to be used. It is a federal felony to knowingly sell products intended for manufacturing meth.

Some lawyers have charged that Operation Meth Merchant is a clear case of ethnic profiling. Of the 49 people arrested, 43 were of Indian descent.

Other misidentifications possible?

Poston said the informant might have made other misidentifications.

“A possible and likely motive for the government continuing to prosecute (Malvika Chirag Patel) with such weak and questionable identification issues is that to admit the informant was in error in this case would conceivably bring into question and jeopardize other purported identifications made by the same informant-witness, in this and other indicted cases,” Poston said.

Besides Operation Meth Merchant, the informant has been used in a number of cases in Georgia and Tennessee, according to police records. The informant, who was paid, has been convicted in the past on charges of theft and forgery.

According to police records, the investigation used more than a dozen informants, including a number with criminal drug backgrounds.

The attorney said the informant was given two chances to identify the person he made the drug sale with at Tobacco for Less. On both occasions, he mistakenly said Malvika Patel was the seller, Poston said.

He said the informant identified his client in a procedure commonly called “show-up,” in which “a single photo of a single individual is shown to an eyewitness.”

“The photo was not carefully arrayed among photos of other Indian women, nor was it placed among photos of any other women of any race or culture,” Poston said.

“An entire science has evolved concerning the danger of this procedure,” he said. “It is … well established that a witness has a harder time accurately identifying a person not of his own race or culture.”