February 3, 2008 - Plain Dealer (OH) Struggles Await 15 Men Freed In Tainted Mansfield Drug Case By John Caniglia

Return to Drug War News: Don't Miss Archive

Mansfield - They returned to the city where they were betrayed, feeling bitter and filled with hatred for the man who put them in prison.

In the past 10 days, a group of men have left prisons across the country and headed back to Mansfield.

They were convicted in a massive drug conspiracy that collapsed Jan. 25 when a federal judge dismissed 15 cases.

Each spent 2 1/2 years behind bars because of an informant's pyramid of lies. They call the time in prison "wasted years." As they struggle to mend their lives, their elation at being released is slowly giving way to the fear that they are marked men, easy targets for police who want to send them back.

Federal prosecutors who worked to convict them were forced to ask for their release. The prosecutors said the informant, Jerrell Bray, who worked closely with DEA agent Lee Lucas, lied so much that they had no choice but to drop the cases against the men - most of whom had pleaded guilty.

In all, charges against 23 of 26 people were thrown out.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating how the case could have gone so wrong. A federal grand jury has begun hearing testimony.

Living With Anger, Frustration

Back home in Mansfield last week, some of the men squirmed upon hearing Bray's name. They said they had considered him annoying before they were arrested because he pestered them about buying drugs.

The men said they have grown to hate Bray for lying about them during the investigation.

"There was no transaction with me and Bray," yelped Charles Mathews, 24, who was sentenced to more than five years in prison.

"Nothing. I didn't like him from the first time I saw him.

"Being in prison for something that I didn't do ate away at me."

Some jokingly called Bray "police" before the arrests because they believed that he was a snitch. Who else would spend so much time annoying people and hanging around in places where he wasn't wanted?

Bray was so offended that he got into fights over being called a rat, but he kept hanging around.

"If there's one regret, it's the people I associated with," said Jerry Moton, referring to Bray. "I learned my lesson."

Moton, 30, was sentenced to three years in prison. He pleaded guilty to drug charges because he feared spending decades in prison if he went to trial and lost.

Dwayne Nabors watched Bray sidle up to his car-detailing business, Platinum Status, on Park Avenue West and spend hours talking about buying and selling cars.

Nabors' bitterness goes beyond Bray and to the government that used him to get convictions.

He remembers seeing investigators park in a nearby car dealership to watch his shop, and he wants answers as to why he was set up.

"I used to say, 'Let them watch. There's nothing here,' " Nabors, 35, said last week in an interview near the parking lot of his old business.

It was Nabors' first visit since he was arrested. He looked at the shell of the building that once handled business from car dealers across the city, and he groaned.

Defense attorneys said the DEA and Mansfield authorities targeted the men because they drove expensive cars with booming stereos and expensive custom rims. The men's families said police needed Bray to get inside the group, and they sent him to Nabors.

"This is how they implicated me," he said. "This business is what started it."

Many times, Bray used "stand-ins" -- friends who delivered Bray's cocaine to a meeting with Lucas, the DEA agent. The stand-ins would sell the drugs to Lucas, and Bray would later identify the stand-ins as other people, court records show.

Robert Harris was one of Bray's stand-ins. He unwittingly met with Lucas and Bray at a home in Mansfield in October 2005 and counted money Bray handed him from a drug sale. Instead of accusing Harris of being part of the deal, Bray said Danny Brown sold the cocaine. Brown was acquitted at trial.

Later, Bray turned on Harris, who was charged with dealing drugs, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison.

"I have to start all over now," Harris said.

But where?

Trying To Find Their Footing Again

Few of the men said they want to make their roots in Mansfield. Some worry about finding good jobs to support their children. All of them fear being arrested again.

Many want to leave. Nabors is looking at possibilities in Columbus or Atlanta.

Moton was working for American Express in Columbus before his arrest, and he said he would love to return but fears the time in prison, even unjustly, tarnishes his resume.

"They have to leave," said Moton's father, Jerry Sr.

"Mansfield is too small of a town. The police want to send them back."

Within hours of being released from prison, Nolan Lovett received a painful welcome home by an officer who wanted to know what the 22-year-old was doing standing in front of a friend's house.

"What's up, Nolan?" the officer smirked.

Lovett was stunned: "I'm out less than a day, and my name is already on the police scanner."

Last week, Lovett refused to leave his mother's car before he covered his head with a large hooded sweatshirt. His eyes shift constantly.

Mansfield Mayor Donald Culliver, Police Chief Philip Messer and Richland County Sheriff J. Steve Sheldon did not return repeated messages left at their offices last week.

Lovett, Mathews and Harris -- the youngest men shipped to prison -- are struggling. Lovett and Mathews wrote to each other in prison about their case. Lovett, 22, said they would be released soon; Mathews, 24, said it was impossible.

Today, they depend on their parents -- for rides, for clothes, for spending money.

"They're so far behind the ball that they don't even know what they're facing," said Danielle Carter, Lovett's mother. "They were charged with federal drug conspiracy. You can't make that go away real fast."

For the latest drug war news, visit our friends and allies below

We are careful not to duplicate the efforts of other organizations, and as a grassroots coalition of prisoners and social reformers, our resources (time and money) are limited. The vast expertise and scope of the various drug reform organizations will enable you to stay informed on the ever-changing, many-faceted aspects of the movement. Our colleagues in reform also give the latest drug war news. Please check their websites often.

The Drug Policy Alliance

Drug Reform Coordination Network

Drug Sense and The Media Awareness Project