Dallas County Sheriff's Deputy Arrested on Drug Charges
By SCOTT FRIEDMAN
Updated 1:03 AM CST, Tue, Jan 13, 2009
A Dallas County sheriff's deputy is accused of "trading licks," a street term for stealing drugs from a drug supplier.
Standric Choice, a 15-year veteran of the Dallas County Sheriff's Department, was arrested along with his brother-in-law, Charlie Lee Hill, and another man, Terry Kemone Anderson.
According to federal prosecutors, agents of the Internal Revenue Service's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force received a tip from an informant that indicated Choice and Hill were distributing narcotics.
Agents devised a sting operation at a South Dallas truck stop. Prosecutors said Choice arrived in his marked Dallas sheriff's car and pretended to arrest the confidential informant and seize the drugs in a scheme to steal the drugs from the supplier.
Investigators said they followed Choice from the truck stop. They said he later met Hill and Anderson in a deserted area on Cleveland Road.
Hill and Anderson were later stopped by DeSoto police. Investigators said officers found two kilograms of cocaine on the front passenger seat floorboard of their vehicle.
Choice returned to the Dallas County Sheriff's Department, where he was taken into custody.
Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez said Choice did not have a history of disciplinary problems. He began working in the patrol division 18 months ago after years of working at the jail and on other department assignments, she said.
"I want to make it very clear that this department will not tolerate this kind of behavior," she said.
She said the public should not judge the entire department by one person's actions.
"It is extremely unfortunate that one person chose to end his career by making bad choices," Valdez said.
Choice, Hill and Anderson appeared in federal court in Dallas on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney.
Scott Palmer, Choice's attorney, said his client planned to plead not guilty.
"He's never touched a drug in his life, and he's never been in trouble," Palmer said, according to the Associated Press.
First Published: Jan 12, 2009 1:11 PM CST
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