Last week, the City of Raleigh settled a federal civil rights lawsuit for $2 million that was filed in April on behalf of 15 plaintiffs—all or mostly Black men—who were framed on drug trafficking charges.
In a nutshell, Raleigh police detective Omar Abduallah—once named RPD officer of the year in 2013—was using a confidential informant he had previously arrested (and against whom drug charges were dropped) to allegedly target and arrest local men for drug trafficking.
Between December 2019 and May 2020, 15 men were arrested for selling drugs to the confidential informant, Dennis Leon Williams, Jr., nicknamed Asprin. RPD gave Williams marked cash to use to buy drugs; Williams hid bags of “heroin” on his person that turned out to be brown sugar and manipulated a body camera he was supposed to wear during the drug deals. Williams was indicted in August for obstruction of justice.
The federal lawsuit alleged that Abdullah, who managed and paid Williams, conspired to target Black men.
The 15 men charged in the fake heroin scheme spent a collective two and a half years in jail, losing jobs and missing out on time with their families and children before charges against them were eventually dropped.
Abduallah looks to face no repercussions from any of this. Wake County DA Lorrin Freeman say there’s no evidence he knew the drugs were fake (the lawsuit alleges otherwise).
While the plaintiffs will each receive an individualized settlement, they also sent a letter to Freeman and Raleigh police chief Estella Patterson demanding several policy changes they say will prevent this from happening again, including:
– ending use of paid confidential informants;
– testing for controlled substances within 24 hours of seizure;
– recording interactions between RPD officers and paid confidential informants;
– delaying bringing charges against anyone until drugs are confirmed and officers review vide from the sale transaction;
– arrest warrants approved by a police supervisor and assistant district attorney before arrests are made;
– review of all cases involving Abdullah;
– require prosecutors to disclose information that brings officers’ credibility into question and
– audit/inspect undercover funds and operations.
Freeman told the N&O she doesn’t think testing drugs as quickly as the plaintiffs are asking is realistic, though she did modify a testing policy within the DA’s office to require notification of the drug division when evidence is seen as questionable. She said Wake is one of the fastest counties in the state at testing drugs, spending millions on a crime lab to get results back in a month.
Damon Chetson, a Raleigh lawyer who is challenging Freeman for her DA seat, called for a full investigation into the matter and into Abdullah.
In a statement, Chetson said the wrongful incarceration of the 15 men was “totally preventable.”
“Sadly, this has been a recurring theme in Wake County,” Chetson wrote. “The Wake County District Attorney’s office and Raleigh Police Department must operate with a culture of transparency and honesty to ensure a situation like this never happens again.”
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