cannabisnews.com: Officers Tipped Off in El-Amin Drug Bust!





Officers Tipped Off in El-Amin Drug Bust!
Posted by FoM on April 15, 1999 at 21:34:33 PT
Source: Sporting News
HARTFORD, Conn. Soon after arriving in Hartford Tuesday afternoon, Khalid El-Amin steered the red Audi he was driving into a vacant lot on a stretch of Garden Street known as a drug area. Unfortunately for the University of Connecticut basketball star, undercover police, tipped off by an informant, were there, too.
After watching El-Amin make a transaction, police said, they followed him for several blocks before pulling him over when he rolled through a red light. In patting down El-Amin, police said, they found five small plastic bags of marijuana -- about 5 grams in all, with a total street value of about $50 -- tucked into El-Amin's nylon warmup suit. That scenario emerged Wednesday from police documents and a high-ranking person in the department familiar with the case involving El-Amin and All-American teammate Richard Hamilton, who was not charged. Coming just two weeks after UConn's national championship win over Duke, the arrest made national news and was described by some media as the first blemish on an otherwise exemplary season. El-Amin is charged with possession of less than 4 ounces of a controlled substance and failure to obey a traffic light. His Hartford attorney, Austin J. McGuigan, had little to say Wednesday. "We're not going to respond to attacks or comments made by an unnamed police official," McGuigan said. "We will make our comments where they should be made, in court." With El-Amin scheduled for an appearance in Hartford Community Court Thursday morning, sources in the UConn athletic department said they expected a quick resolution. One scenario was that the whole case would be wrapped up Thursday, with El-Amin agreeing to do community service. It was unclear Wednesday how the 19-year-old would plead to the charges against him. There also were indications that El-Amin, Coach Jim Calhoun and perhaps Athletic Director Lew Perkins would conduct a press conference in Storrs late this afternoon. During the press conference, El-Amin would offer an apology, Calhoun would a make public admonishments and say that punishment will be handled internally. El-Amin's status for Saturday's parade could be revealed at the press conference. The car that El-Amin was driving is registered to Bruce Ingram, 55, of Greenwich. Ingram's daughter, a UConn student, is a friend of El-Amin's and let him use the car, according to Simone Ingram, Bruce Ingram's wife. There was no immediate indication that Ingram has any special tie to the UConn men's basketball program. The tip about El-Amin's trip to Hartford came to two detectives -- one from Hartford and one from Bloomfield -- working for the North Central Municipal Narcotics Task Force, which includes police from Hartford, Bloomfield, Windsor and several other area towns. After receiving the tip from a local informant, the detectives arrived at the Garden Street lot before El-Amin and Hamilton and then observed El-Amin making what appeared to be a drug transaction, police said. The dealer slipped away from a police car attempting to follow him. The detectives followed El-Amin's car to see where it might be headed next, a procedure that police described as routine in suspected drug cases. Police said El-Amin made several wrong turns and appeared to be unfamiliar with the area. When he went through a red light at the intersection of Albany Avenue and East Street, the detectives called in a marked cruiser, which pulled over El-Amin outside of 100 Vine St. Police said they had probable cause to pat down El-Amin because he was a suspect in a drug case, because he gave conflicting statements about who owned the car, and because he exhibited "intense nervousness," causing the officers to fear for their safety. While patting down El-Amin for possible weapons, an officer felt two small objects in El-Amin's pocket, which turned out to be "dime" bags of marijuana, each with a street value of $10. Police said they then found three additional dime bags on El-Amin and nothing on Hamilton. On campus Wednesday, Perkins and Jim Calhoun declined to speak about the arrest, instead issuing prepared statements to the media. Perkins' statement read: "Coach Calhoun and I have been in continuous communication since we became aware of this matter. Since this is a legal matter we must first allow that process to be completed." Meanwhile, students said they weren't judging El-Amin -- but were judging his judgment. "Most people think he was stupid being there and getting caught," sophomore Ian Byrne said. "I think he could have had better judgment." Students said they have no illusions that basketball players are different from anybody else when it comes to alcohol or marijuana use. Others said they were concerned about the example El-Amin may set for young children. "So many kids look up to him," sophomore Erika Alperin said. "He's the best on the team. And you're going to have elementary school children thinking, 'Oh, he can smoke and play basketball.' "
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Comment #2 posted by Phat Abott on April 16, 1999 at 09:25:28 PT:
The Wrong Message
So, he's going to send the wrong message to young children saying that you can be a basketball star and smoke marijuana. But if he can do that, is it (marijuana) such a bad thing then?
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Comment #1 posted by VIRGMAN on April 16, 1999 at 06:21:17 PT:
Stupid
i feel it serve's the guy right, if he is stupid enough to buy marijuana in a public place then he deserve's to get caught
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