Mon Valley Town Fires Policeman Accused Of Drug Dealing

Posted: 9:17 am EDT September 10, 2009Updated: 9:31 am EDT September 10, 2009

MONONGAHELA, Pa. — A western Pennsylvania town has fired a veteran police officer accused of drug trafficking and described by the district attorney as an “important figure” in the area’s cocaine trade. The Monongahela City Council voted Wednesday to fire 45-year-old George Langan, a 16-year veteran of the police department.

 Langan has been charged with a variety of drug-related charges and is accused of thwarting the efforts of the Washington County drug task force by tipping off dealers and selling cocaine himself.

 Washington County District Attorney Steven Toprani calls Langan “an important figure in Monongahela’s cocaine trade.”

 Langan remains in jail on bond. His attorney Chris Blackwell did not immediately return calls for comment.

Louisiana Man Killed After Pointing Gun at Officer

 The Associated Press reported that Bernard Monroe, a 73 year old black man that was a retired power company lineman was killed on February 9, 2009 outside of his home during a family barbecue after he pointed a gun at a Homer, Louisiana Police Officer.

 Officer Tim Cox and another officer, that the Homer Police Dept. has refused to identify, were chasing  Monroe’s son, Shaun Monroe, 38, who has an arrest record for assault & battery, but no current outstanding warrants, for his alleged involvement in a drug deal that took place just a few blocks from the home of the Elder Monroe when they saw him run into his father’s house. However, Monroe’s family at the cook-out said he was sitting in a truck talking to his sister when the officers arrived at the home.

 The officers followed the suspect into the house and a few minutes later Shaun Monroe emerged from the home with the unidentified officer in pursuit. When the officer caught up to Monroe he tasered him in the front yard prompting the elder Monroe to confront the officer.

 As Monroe, with pistol in hand, advanced toward the officer in the front yard, Officer Cox, who was still in the house, fired a shot through the home’s screen door striking Monroe killing him.

 Both officers said that Monroe was shot only after he pointed a pistol at the officer in the yard, but witnesses said Monroe was holding only a bottle of water when he was shot. Marcus Frazier, a 32 year old neighbor of Monroe, said he saw one of the officers pick up a gun from a chair on the porch and place it near Monroe’s body. Frazier also said that the elder Monroe kept a gun close by at all times due to drug activity near his home.

 Shaun Monroe, despite being chased and tasered, was not charged with any wrongdoing.

 Homer Police Chief Russell Mills, whom blacks have accused of directing police harassment at them, declined to be interviewed about the incident and has hired an attorney saying he fears for his job.

 Bernard Monroe was married to his wife for more than 50 years and raised 5 children with her.

3 slain Pittsburgh officers to lie in state

By DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press – Mon Apr 6, 10:48 am ET

PITTSBURGH – The bodies of three slain Pittsburgh police officers will lie in state at a downtown municipal building, city officials announced Monday.

The viewing at the City-County Building will begin Wednesday afternoon for officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo II. A memorial service will be held Thursday at an arena on the University of Pittsburgh Campus.

Richard Poplawski, 23, was wearing a bulletproof vest when he opened fire on the officers who were responding to a domestic disturbance call Saturday, turning a quiet Pittsburgh street into a battlefield, police said.

The 911 call that brought Sciullo and Mayhle to the home where they were ambushed on Saturday, and where Kelly was later killed during a four-hour siege, was precipitated by a fight between the gunman and his mother over a dog urinating in the house.

Thursday’s memorial will also serve as the funeral service for 41-year-old Officer Eric Kelly, who will be buried immediately afterward.

Separate funeral services are set for Mayhle and Sciullo.

The argument between Margaret and Richard Poplawski escalated to the point that she threatened to kick him out and she called police to do it, according to a 12-page criminal complaint and affidavit filed late Saturday.

When Sciullo and Mayhle arrived, Margaret Poplawski opened the door and told them to come in and take her son, apparently unaware he was standing behind her with a rifle, the affidavit said. Hearing gunshots, she spun around to see her son with the gun and ran to the basement.

The mother told police her son had been stockpiling guns and ammunition “because he believed that as a result of economic collapse, the police were no longer able to protect society,” the affidavit said.

Autopsies show Sciullo, 37, died of wounds to the head and torso. Mayhle, 29, was shot in the head.

A witness awakened by two gunshots told investigators of seeing the gunman standing in the home’s front doorway and firing two to three shots into one officer who was already down. Sciullo was later found dead in the home’s living room, and Mayhle near the front stoop, police said.

Kelly, 41, was killed as he arrived to assist the first two officers. Kelly was in uniform but on his way home when he responded and was gunned down in the street.

Kelly’s radio call for help summoned other officers, including a SWAT team. The ensuing standoff included a gun battle in which police say Richard Poplawski tried to kill other officers.

Poplawski is charged with three counts of criminal homicide and nine counts of attempted homicide — one each for the eight officers who were shot at in an armored SWAT vehicle, plus a ninth who was shot in the hand as he tried to help Kelly.

A district judge arraigned Poplawski at a hospital. It was not immediately clear if Poplawski had an attorney.

 

Jury Convicts PA Trooper of Murdering His Girlfriend’s Husband

 

INDIANA, Pa. – A suspended Pennsylvania State Trooper faces life in prison after a jury convicted him in the bloody slashing death of a dentist who was divorcing the lawman’s live-in girlfriend.

The jury found Trooper Kevin Foley, 43, guilty of a single count of first-degree murder, returning the verdict at 10 p.m. Wednesday after six hours of deliberations.

Foley, of Indiana, Pa., was the last witness the jury heard, taking the stand Wednesday to say he was only joking when he told colleagues he wished for Dr. John Yelenic’s death.

Prosecutors said Foley stopped at Yelenic’s home after a hockey game and slashed him with a knife before slamming his head through a window, leaving the dentist to bleed to death in his Blairsville home on April 13, 2006

“John has his justice tonight,” said Yelenic’s cousin, Mary Ann Clark, who was crying after the verdict was read.

Yelenic, 39, was killed a day before he was to sign papers finalizing the divorce from his wife, Michele, who was living with Foley. The couple’s separation was so rancorous that Yelenic’s attorney asked a judge to issue a posthumous divorced decree — saying Yelenic would have wanted it — but the judge refused, saying she couldn’t legally end a marriage that was terminated with Yelenic’s death.

Foley’s attorney said he’ll appeal.

“We’re very disappointed with the verdict,” said defense attorney Jeffrey Monzo. “We still believe Kevin is innocent. We will press forward.”

Foley has been on unpaid suspension since his arrest in September 2007. He will be formally sentenced June 1, but the first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence without parole.

In his testimony Wednesday, Foley flatly denied killing Yelenic and explained that he was only “joking” when he told other troopers, who had testified earlier in the trial, he wished the man would die.

Asked by his other defense attorney, Richard Galloway, if he “in any manner, at any time, with any instrumentality” caused Yelenic’s death, Foley said, “No, sir, I did not.”

“Are you innocent?” Galloway asked.

“Yes, sir, I am innocent,” Foley said.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony Krastek had introduced testimony that DNA found under Yelenic’s fingernails was likely from Foley and that bloody shoe prints at the scene matched a pair Foley was known to wear at the time.

Krastek questioned Foley about testimony by other troopers who said he talked about wishing for Yelenic’s death. One trooper testified that Foley asked for his help to kill Yelenic.

Foley acknowledged that he didn’t like Yelenic, but said he was a practical joker and had made the comments in jest.

“Is it funny when you asked … that you wanted help killing John Yelenic?” Krastek said. “What’s so funny about that? Tell me the joke.”

“There isn’t any joke,” Foley replied. “It’s just my personality, my behavior.”

Foley was led from the courtroom in handcuffs and remains jailed pending his formal sentencing.

Border agents celebrate homecoming

INVASION USA

Posted: February 17, 2009
8:31 pm Eastern

 

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

 Former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean left their cells in solitary confinement to reunite with their families in El Paso, Texas, today.

“He said, ‘I love you.’ And he just embraced me,” Monica Ramos said on Fox News’ Glenn Beck television show today in the first interview following their release.

After serving two years in federal prison in solitary confinement for shooting a fleeing Mexican drug smuggler who had brought 750 pounds of marijuana into the U.S., Ramos and Compean are being released into home confinement until March 20. The news came only two weeks after the Federal Bureau of Prisons told WND they could be eligible to finish sentences at home.

The Bureau of Prisons has instructed them to wear ankle bracelets and refrain from speaking to the press until their official release date.

“It was wonderful,” Ramos said of her exciting day. “It’s gone by pretty fast, so we can only hope the next 33 days go as fast.”

Ramos said their children are “extremely excited” about seeing their father.

“They had a couple of minutes with their father, here,” she said. “It’s really overwhelming for them. They finally hugged their dad, and they know it’s real. In time, I think we’ll begin the healing process.”

She said her husband looked relieved when she first saw him in the airport.

“He just looked around, just very appreciative, looking around and just absorbing the environment that he was in.”

Patty Compean told the Glenn Beck television show that her family needed time to spend with Jose before participating in interviews.

“They’ve been in solitary confinement without any human contact except for the guards and visitors for two years,” Patty Compean told WND when she first learned of the commutation. “Things have changed. Jose’s been gone for two years. That’s a lot to take in.”

Several media personalities asked to witness the homecoming, including Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, but Patty said her family is not ready for the crowd.

“Everybody has contributed in one way or another to this,” she told WND. “Honestly, at this point, I’d love to have people there, but at the same time, I want to have that moment for us. It’s been two years.”

Ramos’s attorney, David Botsford, said the families are still waiting for a decision from the Supreme Court on the cases.

“We’ve asked the Supreme Court to review the convictions on the remaining counts that the Fifth Circuit had not set aside because it’s our goal to vindicate these gentlemen entirely and get them back on the job with law enforcement , which is what their dreams and their goals and their careers have been.” 

Beck asked why Ramos would ever consider returning to law enforcement positions when the government “sold him down the river.”

“Well, he may not trust his government, but he loves his country,” Botsford replied. “He wants to serve, as he has done with honor and distinction in the past. And that’s what his career aspirations are and hopefully we’ll get them both back to that spot if that’s what they so desire.”

In the interview with Beck, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, summarized a number of falsehoods Congress had been told about the border agents’ case.

“We were told that these two border agents went out that day to shoot an illegal, which is an absolute lie,” he said. “We were also told that they knew that the drug dealer was unarmed. That is a lie. They both believed him to be armed. But, most importantly, the U.S. attorney’s office told us … that the drug dealer didn’t bring in drugs a second time. … I figured out that was a lie, too.”

He continued, “Both these individuals were political prisoners. We want to get to the bottom of what the involvement of the Mexican government was in prosecuting these two guys. ”

Poe said he believes that there’s a real problem on both sides of the border and that this was the only case where the U.S. attorney’s office went on a “nationwide Madison Avenue PR stunt” to justify prosecution.

“It just seems like there’s a rat in the room,” Poe said. “And we want to get rid of it.”