FBI: Wilson Officer treid to sell info

OFF THE WIRE
Federal authorities arrested a Wilson County police officer they say tried to sell information about a federal drug investigation to a target of that investigation in exchange for $100,000 and a Range Rover.

Wilson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy John Patrick Edwards, 38, of Mt. Juliet, was familiar with the federal drug investigation because he had been a member of the FBI’s regional drug task force and was working with the federal authorities on the case.But in March, Edwards got into trouble when he was arrested on an unrelated theft charge involving his wife and another woman. After that arrest, he lost his job on the task force and was suspended without pay from the sheriff’s department, officials say.
Without those jobs, the 15-year-veteran of the sheriff’s department was hurting for money, according to federal documents.
That’s when he approached a business partner that he knew had a friend who knew a target of the drug investigation. Edwards told the business partner he would sell information about the investigation in exchange for $100,000. He allegedly offered to hand over the identities of lead investigators, the name of a “snitch” assisting investigators and information obtained during the course of a federal wiretap that could help the target “lessen the blow” and spend less time in prison than others in the case.
Edwards is charged with one count of attempting to obstruct, influence and impede any official proceeding. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years and a maximum fine of $250,000.
“I didn’t do it,” a shackled Edwards said to a reporter Tuesday afternoon as he left an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge E. Clifton Knowles.

Federal documents tell a different story.

The criminal filings allege the business partner contacted the friend and told him what Edwards was willing to do for the target of the investigation. But the friend instead called the FBI and agreed to be a confidential informant against the business partner.
The business partner and the friend met on April 8 at a Ruby Tuesday. The FBI recorded the meeting. During the discussion, the business partner provided details of the federal drug investigation, including the identity of the “snitch,” and accepted an initial payment of $15,000 from the friend.
The business partner and the friend met at Ruby Tuesday again on April 11 to exchange the $100,000 requested by Edwards. The business partner asked the friend to go to a Cracker Barrel restaurant. The business partner then asked the friend to get in the business partner’s vehicle, and they drove to Elm Hill Marina.
At the marina, the friend who was working with the FBI showed the business partner that he had $100,000 for Edwards. The friend exited the vehicle to go in the restaurant at the marina, but the business partner stayed behind, fearful that a white van may have been following them.
Moments later, FBI agents swooped in and held the business partner for questioning. The business partner ultimately agreed to become the FBI’s second confidential source and allowed agents to record subsequent phone calls and conversations with Edwards.
The next day, April 12, the business partner met Edwards at BidMor Auction, a business Edwards owns in Mt. Juliet. Edwards was nervous. He would not speak out loud. He typed a message on his phone stating his concern that the business partner “was out late last night and did not return” his calls. In another typed message, Edwards told the business partner to leave the $15,000 the partner had gotten from the April 8 meeting. That money was later deposited in BidMor business accounts, records show.
The two met again on Monday of this week at Edwards’ home. Edwards again exercised caution. Edwards instructed the business partner to meet him in the corner of a tool shed. Outside was a caged German shepherd and a fire. Edwards wrote messages to the business partner on pieces of paper and then went outside to burn the papers in the fire.
Edwards told the business partner to get the $100,000 and also said, “I want my truck,” a reference to a Range Rover that he also hoped to receive in exchange for information on the federal criminal investigation.
Agents arrested Edwards on Tuesday after the drug investigation at the heart of the alleged conspiracy was partially unsealed by a federal judge. These individuals — Zeeshan Khalid Syed, a South Nashville car dealer; Maurice Ferguson, CEO of Nashville-based hip-hop label Felonious Records Music Group; Mario Gonzales; Daniel Medina; Aldo Villareal; Rodney Thomas Reed; Lizandro Barrios; and Jose Armando DeLaFuente-Cortinas — have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana.
It is not clear which of the men Edwards offered to help, only that it was someone he knew to have “a lot of money.” According to the drug charges, Syed coordinated the importation of drugs from Mexico and their distribution in Nashville.
“The United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will always take aggressive action to uncover wrongdoing by the very people entrusted with protecting our communities,” Jerry Martin, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said in a news release. “We will continue to vigorously pursue those whose malicious actions tarnish the professional reputation and efforts of hardworking and honorable police officers.”
Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe said Edwards has since been fired from the department. Edwards was the ranking member in its narcotics division and had served as a sworn federal agent since 2008, Ashe said.
Edwards will remain in custody at least until a preliminary hearing on Friday.At that time Knowles will consider federal prosecutors’ request that Edwards remain jailed until a trial.

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