Agent taps the sheriff’s deputy on the head.

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

A DEA undercover agent in Florida is accused of tapping a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy on the head during a DUI stop last December, the Palm Beach Post reports.

The agent apparently became frustrated during a field sobriety test.

“You’re under arrest for DUI,” PBSO deputy Patrick Zeitz said. Then, “You’re lucky I’m not charging you with something stupid like Batt-Leo.”  Batt-Leo is battery on a law-enforcement officer, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, the paper explains.

“You, as somebody who does this profession, should know better,” Zeitz said.

“You’re right,” Brendan D’Arcangelo said. “You’re right, bro.”

The DEA has refused to say whether he is still employed at the agency.

He faces four counts of DUI with damage to property or a person, first-degree misdemeanors each punishable by up to a year in jail. A plea conference is set for April 5.

The paper reports that D’Arcangelo’s pickup slammed into two vehicles stopped at a red light. No one was seriously injured.

Sean Penn and “El Chapo,” via Twitter.

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Jack Riley, the former number 2 guy at the DEA, has never been one to mince words. In this case, he’s got some strong ones for actor Sean Penn. He thinks the actor should be behind bars for interfering in the apprehension of the drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

“Oh, my God! If I could get my hands on Sean Penn!” Riley tells the N.Y. Post.  “The people he put at risk because of that stunt. He should be in jail.”

By Allan Lengel
ticklethwire.com

Federal prosecutors have a decision to make whether to go after ex-DEA agent Chad Scott again.

A mistrial was declared Monday in the trial of the former agent after jurors failed to reach a verdict.

Scott is accused in a seven-year conspiracy of stealing property and money taken during investigations, reports WVUE.

According to  NOLA.com, Scott faced two counts of falsification of government records, related to a Ford pickup truck the prosecutors said was “a gift … from a dope dealer,” three counts of obstruction of justice — related to accusations Scott induced false testimony at a hearing and trial for an alleged drug supplier, Jorge Perralta — and two counts of perjury, related to Scott’s testimony in the Perralta case.

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

A former DEA task force officer, who worked for the McAllen, Tex. police department, has pleaded guilty to providing false statements in connection with a federal conspiracy case.

On Thursday, Ricardo Ruiz Jr. agreed to plead guilty to one count of giving false statements to federal agents, in exchange government prosecutors agreed to dismiss the remaining four counts against him, including two counts of interference with commerce by threat or violence, one count of impersonating an officer, and the remaining count of making false statements to federal agents, The Monitor  reports. 

The former McAllen officer and three others originally faced conspiracy charges in connection with an incident in May 2017, when Ruiz and the others allegedly orchestrated the seizure of a 2013 Cadillac ATS from an unnamed San Juan resident, the paper reports.

By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com

A federal corruption trial began Tuesday for a former DEA agent charged with 10 criminal counts, from perjury to falsifying government records, as part of a sprawling investigation of a New Orleans-based task force.

Chad Scott, who led the task force, “betrayed his duties and abused his power by lying, cheating and manipulating so he could get what he wanted,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Duree told the jury during opening arguments, NOLA.com reports.

The task force is accused of dealing drugs, shaking down suspects and pocketing cash during raids.

Duree told the jury that Scott even “got a dope dealer to buy him a truck.”

Two members of the task force have pleaded guilty and are expected to testify against the longtime former agent during the trial.

As a result of the investigation, some drug cases were dropped or overturned.

In all, Scott was charged with 10 criminal counts, including obstruction of justice and conspiracy.

Scott faces a second trial in October on four more charges, including conspiracy and stealing property.

By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com

A former assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s St. Louis division has been found dead in jail a day after he was arrested on allegations of domestic violence.

Larry “Jay” Reavis, 51, was shaking in a cell in the St. Louis County Jail about 8:30 a.m. Friday. A little more than an hour later, he was pronounced dead, St. Louis Post Dispatch reports.

Sources said Reavis may have been experiencing alcohol withdrawal and that there were no signs of trauma or a suicide.

Police were called to the jail for a medical call at 9:41 a.m. Friday.

Jail officials declined further comment and are expected to provide more details this week.

Photo via Secret Service.

By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com

The men and women who have sworn to sacrifice their own lives to protect the president are not receiving paychecks under the government shutdown.

The 7,000 Secret Service employees, including those on protective details and uniformed officers, missed their first paycheck of the new year.

“These are the people who are closest to him and clearly put their lives on the line for him every single day,” Rick Tyler, a Republican political consultant, told Huffington Post. “He has demonstrated no empathy for them over this situation.” 

Trump has been virtually mum on the tens of thousands of federal law enforcement officials who have been forced to work without pay. They include TSA screeners and FBI, DEA, ATF and Border Patrol agents who are considered “essential” employees.

Thousands of TSA screeners have been calling in sick in protest, causing snarls and security concerns at airports.

The irony is that the shutdown over border protection could make the country more unsafe.

By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com

A former police officer accused of joining the DEA so he could protect a Puerto Rican drug cartel was ordered to stay behind bars Monday until his September trial.

DEA Agent Fernando Gomez, who worked in the Chicago field office, was arrested in December and charged with racketeering conspiracy for his alleged decade-long affiliation with the Organizacion de Narcotraficantes Unidos. The gang, which imported vast shipments of cocaine into the U.S., was accused in the indictment of participating in at least eight drug-related killings in New York and Puerto Rico.

Manhattan federal Judge Jesse Furman denied bail to Gomez, saying he was a flight risk because he lived double lives for decades, New York Post reports.

“It raises in my mind an extraordinary level of deviousness,” Furman said.

Gomez is accused of helping the gang beginning in 2006 when he was a detective with the city of Evanston.