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Snitches Get Riches:  Paid Informants Make A Career Off Snitching (BiggerThanMusic.Com)

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FBI Uses Best Buy Geek Squad As Informants I Fortune

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Saturday March 24, 2012

PITTSFIELD

The circumstances of the recent arrest of the in dividual who allegedly committed four armed robberies in Pittsfield, is an example of how law enforcement officials still try to solve crimes the old-fashioned way. They use informants. Accord ing to the March 18 story in this newspaper, the Egremont police chief was told by a confidential informant that this individual was responsible for those robberies and that she was allegedly planning another one in Egremont. But such knowledge of whodunit is not tantamount to a later court conviction of the perpetrator.

When I was at the FBI Aca demy, the instructors stressed the development of informants as one of the best criminal investigative tools to de velop information and solve crimes. The circumstances of the arrest as reported in The Eagle is typical of the various scenarios discussed in those classes at the Academy and used in the field by law en forcement officials. As an agent, I have also been in volved in these situations. When I worked on theft from interstate shipment cases, this is how we typically solved those crimes. Informants would identify the thieves. But knowing whodunit was only part of the investigation. We had to develop evidence ad missible in court. In the theft cases, the thieves invariably had to transport stolen goods to a drop for storage or sale.

Informants would give us details of the use of the car or truck for this purpose. We would then contact the Chi cago Police Department to stop the individual's car or truck for a traffic infraction in a manner that would hold up in court and allow them to legally search the vehicle. Un der these circumstances the police would find the stolen property, arrest the driver and turn the case over to us. The end result would be a case for a federal prosecutor for either the theft itself or for receiving stolen property with evidence of a traffic stop, a legally justified search of the vehicle, and the presence of stolen property in the vehicle which ap peared on a list of stolen pro perty previously furnished to the police. All this without disclosing the involvement of an informant.

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In the Pittsfield robbery case, the Egremont police chief reportedly disclosed to the press that she learned the identity of the alleged armed robber [who has pled not guilty to all four counts brought by pro secutors] from a confidential informant. Then on the very next day, the chief and one of her officers made the traffic stop in that town. This public disclosure, unlike the non-disclosure in the interstate theft case example, is a red flag for a defense lawyer of the possibility of a pretext traffic stop to search the car in question. In other words, this has the appearance of not being just a coincidental traffic stop. If a judge in a later court action finds that there was either no legal justification for the stop or the search of the car, any evidence obtained as a result of that stop -- the reported black clothes, the paint spray gun in the car, and the handgun reportedly found later in Pittsfield -- could be ruled inadmissible in a criminal trial. In which event, according to what has been reported about this incident, the only remaining evidence would be the car stopped in Egremont which Pittsfield Police Captain Pat rick F. Barry reportedly said he believed was used in one of the robberies. A not so strong circumstantial case at best.

All of the above is based on what has been reported about the circumstances of the arrest and subsequent searches and items found. I do not know whether there is other unreported evidence. My interest in this case is partly to inform the public that despite many of the fictional police techniques they watch on television criminal shows to solve crimes, the use of in formants remains a real, ma jor pervasive law enforcement tool because it continues to solve criminal cases.

My other reason is to re mind the public that underlying all criminal prosecutions in this country is the prosecutor's burden of proving the charges against a defendant, and not whether a defendant is guilty or innocent of the crime. Assuming that we know who the Pittsfield armed robber is based solely on her identification by the Egremont police chief's confidential informant, the county district attorney must still prove it in court with admissible evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. The public would better understand criminal trials if the plea a defendant is required to make (guilty or not guilty) was changed to "prove it."

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In the Pittsfield robbery case, based on what has been reported, there are several scenarios. If a judge should find that the traffic stop was a pretext to conduct an unreasonable search and seizure of the paint spray gun, black clothing, and the later found handgun, then all these items would be excluded from use against the defendant. What then would the prosecutor use to prove the charges? Would the informant be used as a witness and would he or she be credible to a jury?

Despite their usefulness to law enforcement, there is public disdain for these Ju das-like individuals because of the treachery and betrayal that name bespeaks. That is one of the reasons these individuals are rarely used as witnesses. The other obvious reason is that their loss of usefulness to law enforcement once their identities are disclosed.

Robert "Frank" Jakubowicz, a regular Eagle contributor, is also a former assistant district attorney.

If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.

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Saturday March 24, 2012 PITTSFIELD The circumstances of the recent arrest of the in dividual who allegedly committed four armed robberies in Pittsfield, is an example of how law enforcement officials still try to solve crimes the old-fashioned way. They use informants.

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WILBRAHAM - A police informant claimed to investigators that 17-year-old James C. Shewchuk had been "giving away heroin" and telling people that it was crushed Percocet, court documents show.

Police began investigating Shewchuk, the son of a Springfield police officer, during the week of May 2.

Over the course of the next 10 days, investigators watched as informants twice bought drugs in front of the family home, and on May 13, officers from the regional narcotics task force raided the house and arrested the teen.

It was his father, James L. Shewchuk, who answered the door that morning when officers, armed with a warrant, arrived to search the home. The elder Shewchuk, a member of the Springfield Police Department since 1983, faces no charges in connection with the case and has declined comment.

The probe began after investigators received information which alleged the younger Shewchuk had been selling marijuana, Percocet and heroin from his family's home. Details of the investigation are contained in documents filed in Palmer District Court.

No heroin was discovered inside the Shewchuk home during the raid, but stashes of marijuana, cash and equipment used to smoke and prepare pot for sale were found.

Police, aided by a drug-sniffing dog, found three bags of marijuana and more than $900 in cash inside a safe in a closet in the younger Shewchuk's bedroom. A large water bong - a device used to smoke marijuana - was also found in the closet along with a pill bottle of marijuana seeds in a sweatshirt, according to the complaint prepared by Wilbraham police officer Sean Baldwin.

The informants cooperated with investigators in trying to set up sales of heroin and marijuana, according to the reports.
Elsewhere in the teenager's bedroom, the complaint states, police found a notebook on a dresser with instructions for growing marijuana, a pint of Smirnoff vodka and five cell phones.

Another upstairs bedroom yielded a backpack with a digital scale, another cell phone, a bag of marijuana and a pipe inside. Other marijuana and drug-related paraphernalia were found in a second-floor bathroom and in the property's pool house, according to the complaint.

James C. Shewchuk faces charges of distribution of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and distribution of Percocet (a Class B drug), according to the complaint. Court documents identify him as a student at the Twain School, which is part of the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative in West Springfield.

The suspect denied the charges at his arraignment; he was released with conditions that he undergo screening for drugs and alcohol while awaiting prosecution.

One informant reported being present when Shewchuk sold a bag of marijuana and heroin to a friend in front of Shewchuk's home, according to the reports on file in the district court.

That "friend" also became an informant and told police that he had recently received a small bag of powdery substance, which he had been told was crushed Percocet. The informant reported having snorted the powder and being told later that it was heroin, which was originally purchased from Shewchuk, the police document states. The informant claimed Shewchuk stated it was Percocet at the time of the sale, according to the police reports.

The informants cooperated with investigators in trying to set up sales of heroin and marijuana, according to the reports. One arranged to buy marijuana, but reported that Shewchuk claimed he did not have any heroin or Percocet for sale.

The informant "stated that he/she believed that Shewchuk was lying and that he was not selling the heroin at this time due to issues that had occurred at Minnechaug Regional High School," according to the complaint.

Wilbraham Police Capt. Roger Tucker said Friday the incident involving Minnechaug described in the complaint was not drug-related. Tucker said that while he believes Shewchuk is a former Minnechaug student, there is no evidence that he ever brought drugs into the school.

Investigators oversaw two "controlled buys" outside the Shewchuk home, according to the reports. A "controlled buy" typically involves the purchase of drugs using marked money and observed by police so it can be documented as evidence for trial.

In one such buy, according to the report filed with the court, officers observed as the two informants parked their vehicle in front of the Shewchuk home. The suspect, identified by Baldwin in the report as Shewchuk, then came out, entered the vehicle and remained inside for 60 to 90 seconds. Afterward, the informants told police that they had purchased a bag of marijuana for $60, according to the report.

During a second purchase conducted as part of the investigation, the informants bought marijuana and two Oxycodone pills.

On the basis of the drug purchases and other information, Baldwin sought a search warrant for the home on May 11, and officers arrived shortly before 8 a.m. on May 13.

As described in the police report, Baldwin knocked on the door and rang the doorbell numerous times. After a short time the homeowner, James L. Shewchuk, answered the door and when advised about the warrant, the elder Shewchuk led police to his son's second-floor bedroom. The younger Shewchuk was on his bed, according to the report.

James L. Shewchuk's status as a police officer is not affected by the investigation regarding his son and his home, according to Springfield Police Sgt. John M. Delaney. "It involves his adult son," said Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet.

Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni did not return repeated telephone calls seeking comment.
Application for Criminal Complaint against James Shewchuk
Anne S. MeKenzie, executive director of the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative, declined this week to discuss Shewchuk or confirm if he is currently enrolled there. Twain is an alternative high school, which currently has 17 students.

McKenzie said the staff at Twain does keep a watchful eye out for signs that students may be abusing drugs. "We have a lot of staff, we have very few students, (and) we take all kinds of precautions," she said.

Multiple queries, made by telephone and email, to Minnechaug school officials seeking comment on the case and whether it raises concern about the potential for drug use among students at the high school were not returned.

Minnechaug serves the towns of Wilbraham and Hampden.

This is not the first time that the elder Shewchuk has been in the public eye.

In 2004, Shewchuk was among five white officers placed on administrative leave pending a probe into allegations made by a black school principal that they assaulted him while he was having a diabetic attack in his car at a gasoline station in a South End neighborhood.

The Police Commission went on to find no probable cause to pursue disciplinary action against the five officers. Two years later, the city paid a $180,000 out-of-court settlement to the principal, Douglas G. Greer.

In 1995, the Police Commission cleared three police officers, including Shewchuk, of charges stemming from a party for a white patrolman who fatally shot a black motorist. The incident raised concern in the community, and the Western Massachusetts Order of Black Law Enforcement Officers complained that it was white officers celebrating the death of a black civilian and an investigation was launched.

Some black leaders contended the event was a racist gathering, that a ham was presented to the returning patrolman during the party and that such a gift was a Southern tradition for whites who killed blacks. Those allegations never were corroborated.

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Informants helped build drug case against James Shewchuk, 17, son of Springfield cop

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WILBRAHAM - A police informant claimed to investigators that 17-year-old James C. Shewchuk had been "giving away heroin" and telling people that it was crushed Percocet, court documents show. Police began investigating Shewchuk, the son of a Springfield police officer, during the week of May 2.

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Police can solve the case and save the day

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Police can solve the case and save the day

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Cuts down time and monetary costs of investigation

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Cuts down time and monetary costs of investigation

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Informants can potentially have the cases against them dismissed

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Informants can potentially have the cases against them dismissed

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Informants can potentially have a lessened sentencing

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Informants can potentially have a lessened sentencing

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This information might be unobtainable by other means

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This information might be unobtainable by other means