The real question here is: Is Ex-U.S. Atty. Greg White being a stand up guy or simply covering up for the mistakes his office made?
By John Caniglia
Cleveland Plain Dealer Reporter
CLEVELAND, Ohio — In a rare move, former U.S. Attorney Greg White took the witness stand Monday, July 13, defending the credibility of indicted federal drug agent Lee Lucas.
White, now a U.S. magistrate, said federal prosecutors feared Lucas, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, worked too many cases too quickly and failed to document his work properly. But White stressed that his office never worried about Lucas’ truthfulness, as defense attorneys contend.
“The consensus was that he was trying to do too much, too fast,” White said.
A prosecutor in White’s office, Ronald Bakeman, agreed: “[Lucas] was running at 150 mph.”
The hearing offered a glimpse into how White ran the federal office and handled a controversial agent who snagged major drug dealers while fighting credibility issues.
In May, Lucas was charged in an 18-count indictment involving a 2005 drug probe in Mansfield. The indictment says Lucas oversaw informant Jerrell Bray as he made 15 undercover sales over two months. But 13 of the deals were bogus, leading to trumped-up charges against 17 people. Bray lied and misidentified drug dealers. Lucas, the indictment says, concealed information about Bray from prosecutors and lied at trials.
