- Operation Tarnished Shield
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Operation Tarnished Shield was a three-year sting operation by federal and state authorities to root out corruption in this Upper Cumberland Plateau city which included the arrest of two former law enforcement officers.
Several Cookeville, Tennessee citizens were arrested in August 2005 in connection with money laundering and transporting cocaine across state lines. The investigation, which targeted corruption in the city, was conducted by the FBI and Tennessee Highway Patrol over a period of three years. Several people were charged, and all subsequently plead guilty.
Troy Bell, Darrell Thomas Jones, Ronald Middlebrook, and Cookeville Sheriff's Officers Steven Bert Williamson and Reno Martin, were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine; Gregory Dale Scott and Robin Blaskis with conspiracy to commit money laundering; and Jason Blythe with transferring a firearm in violation.
The FBI had an undercover agent who posed as a member of a Chicago based drug and money laundering organization. At the start of the investigation the scheme was to defraud automobile insurance companies. Middlebrook submitted fictitious body shop invoices and the police officers submitted fake accident reports to the undercover agent; these fake reports were exchanged for money. Agents later learned law enforcement officers in the area were willing to transport drugs and drug money.
Jones and Middlebrook assisted in the transportation of the drugs and drug money as well as recruited local law enforcement officers to transport thousands of dollars believed to be proceeds of illegal drugs. Martin and Williamson transported the cocaine.
Scott, holding himself out as a deputy jailor with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, transported $50,000 in purported illegal proceeds from Nashville to Cookeville. He told undercover agents he was still an active deputy and wore his sheriff's department jacket to the meeting.
Jones introduced the undercover agent to Ron Middlebrook, the owner of Ron's Body Shop in Cookeville. Middlebrook invited the undercover agent to participate in the acquisition of a racetrack, suggesting it was ideal for laundering money. Middlebrook then offered the assistance of his sister, Blaskis, a certified public accountant who, according to Middlebrook, was experienced in laundering money and hiding income. Middlebrook and Blaskis accepted US$650,000 in illegal proceeds and laundered the money through various accounts they opened and controlled.
Martin transported $250,000 in purported illegal proceeds from Florida to Nashville, and 30 kg (66 pd) of cocaine from Nashville to Chicago for US$15,000.
Jones transported five kilograms (11 pounds) of cocaine, for which he was paid US$1,500. Williamson and Bell transported 20 kg (44 pd) of cocaine from Nashville to Chicago.
Blythe, a police officer, was charged with illegally transferring a firearm.
See also
External links
Categories:- Political corruption investigations in the United States
- FBI operations
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