Gary Dourdan will avoid jail after pleading guilty to cocaine and ecstasy possession

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" star Gary Dourdan says, "Obviously, I am embarrassed to find myself in this situation and I am profoundly grateful to everyone for their support."
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" star Gary Dourdan will avoid jail after pleading guilty to cocaine and ecstasy possession on Wednesday.The actor was arraigned in a California court after facing three felony counts for possession of a controlled substance, following his arrest on suspicion of possessing heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and prescription drugs last month.Charges of heroin possession have been dismissed and Dourdan has been instructed to complete a 16-class drug program, after which all remaining charges will be dropped.The 41-year-old was apprehended by police in Palm Springs, California after he was found asleep in his incorrectly parked car early on April 28. Cops then searched his vehicle, and arrested the actor on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance.Dourdan posted $5,000 bail and was released following the incident.And he is relieved he will not be spending time behind bars.

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Sonisa confessed to police that she sold drugs across Asia for a South African man and in Thailand she has several famous Thai celebrity clientèle.

Several weeks ago, police from the Thailand Crime Suppression Division arrested Sonisa, a 19 year old former bar waitress in Patpong (Thailand’s infamous red light district) for possession of 78.6 grams of cocaine. Sonisa confessed to police that she sold drugs across Asia for a South African man and in Thailand she has several famous Thai celebrity clientèle. They range from a famous Thai model to a currently popular pra’ek and a male socialite. The young woman provided an abbreviation of the pra’ek’s name, which happens to be Puri’s abbreviated name. Now, the Thai media suspect that Puri brought drugs from this woman and is addicted to cocaine.

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Lorenzo Sirignano headed a 17-strong gang involved in smuggling, storing, distributing and supplying the Class A drug.

Lorenzo Sirignano targeted vulnerable people to do his dirty work for him and threatened them with violence if they did not follow orders.Sirignano, 51, was the mastermind behind the biggest drugs ring to be smashed in Sussex.He put up the money to pay for high purity cocaine to be smuggled from Brazil and Ghana in 2006 and 2007.
Sirignano headed a 17-strong gang involved in smuggling, storing, distributing and supplying the Class A drug.He is believed to have personally made at least £2 million before he was arrested in February last year.Detectives believe he made even more from cocaine smuggled into the country undetected.Undercover police bugged his cars and listened in as he drove around Brighton and Hove with other members of his drugs gang.In one chilling conversation he is overheard threatening to shoot or petrol bomb Robert Paige after they fell out and Paige quit the gang in fear.Sirignano and nine members of the drugs ring have so far been sentenced to a total of 100 years behind bars.Seven others will be sentenced at Hove Crown Court today.Judge Paul Tain told Sirignano: "The picture of you is one of a powerful Mr Big of the drugs world with links in Ghana, Brazil, London and locally.
"You were well versed in countersurveillance methods and the manipulation of others.
"You distanced yourself from the offences by getting others to take the risks and to do your dirty work."You were the organiser and controller behind these conspiracies and it is obvious that you were prepared to use the threat of serious violence to achieve your criminal objectives."Sirignano lived in a large detached house in Ferndale Road, Burgess Hill, and ran a property management business.But his drugs empire was based at a tatty semi-detached house in Carlisle Road, Hove, where police found cocaine and amphetamines hidden in garages and in a van. Sirignano used drug addicts, tenants or employees to do his drugs work for him.They included 64-year-old grandmother Patricia Edwards, from Lewes, who was caught trying to smuggle 3kg of cocaine from Brazil for Sirignano.She had no previous convictions but was desperate for money and allowed Sirignano to persuade her to become a drugs mule, making three trips to Brazil. Edwards is now serving four years in a jail in Sao Paulo for attempting to smuggle cocaine.Detectives smashed the drugs ring when they arrested Sirignano and his lackeys as they waited at Heathrow for 10kg of cocaine worth £1.3 million to arrive from Ghana on February 19 last year.Undercover officers had spent months following Sirignano and listening in to his conversations as part of Operation Nash.Anthony Glass, QC, prosecuting, said Sirignano's bugged conversations showed he was a professional drugs dealer. Detectives eavesdropped as he told one dealer: "I got me bloke from Ghana. We are trying to send someone over and collect 15 keys (kilograms), some shiny block."Drugs mules Gary Waterman, 41, of Bengairn Avenue, Brighton, and Dean Swaysland, 28, of Southall Avenue, Brighton, were arrested as they got off the flight from Ghana at Heathrow.Their minder Michael Mensa-Bonsu, 42, of Ashley Court, Hove, was also arrested as he disembarked behind themWaterman was jailed yesterday for seven and a half years and Swaysland for eight and a half years.Mensa-Bonsu, who has previous convictions for smuggling drugs in France and Switzerland, was jailed for 16 years.Crack cocaine addict Karen Colvin, 48, of Tilgate Close, Brighton, and drugs mule Adrian Hughes, 23, of Carlisle Road, Hove, were arrested as they waited with Sirignano in his car at Heathrow.
Colvin was one of Sirignano's tenants and was married to Darren Waterman who is already in prison for smuggling cocaine from France.Waterman, 43, of Albert Road, Brighton, will be sentenced today for transferring more than £46,000 to Brazil for Sirignano.Colvin recruited his brother Gary Waterman to make the drugs run to Ghana with Swaysland and was at Heathrow to identify him to Sirignano.Colvin also transferred more than £58,000 of Sirignano's money to Brazil, Ghana and Canada to pay for cocaine.She was jailed for 12 years.She got her son Marlon Colvin, 20, snared in the investigation by getting him to use his passport to transfer just under £2,000 to Ghana for her.A jury found him not guilty of money laundering last week after he said he was just doing a favour for his mother and had no idea the cash was to be used to buy cocaine.Robert Paige, 51, of Sackville Road, Hove, was was jailed for ten years for conspiracy to smuggle drugs and conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Michael Back, 49, of Carlisle Road, Hove, was given ten years for conspiracy to supply the Class A drug.Adrian Hughes, 23, who shared a flat with Back in Carlisle Road, was one of the vulnerable people targeted and groomed by Sirignano.He was jailed for two years for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and conspiracy to supply cocaine.Sami Zarifa, 47, of Sussex Heights, Brighton, and Denis Mema, 22, of Montpelier Road, Hove, were given five years each for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
All the defendants had pleaded guilty to their roles in the cocaine conspiracy.Sussex Police welcomed the stiff sentences.Det Chief Supt Kevin Moore, head of Sussex CID, said: "Operation Nash was the highest profile case in recent years. It highlights perfectly the importance of policing an area at the very top of the tree when it comes to serious and organised crime."Det Insp Jez Graves, who led Operation Nash, said: "The sentences should act as a deterrent for others who plan to become involved in trafficking drugs into our communities."

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Heroin addict pricked an LAPD officer with a syringe

Heroin addict who pricked an LAPD officer with a syringe following an extended vehicle chase and needed to be subdued by a Taser was transferred from a hospital to jail today, police said.The suspect was on heroin when he crashed a van into several parked vehicles in Venice, then struggled with two LAPD officers, pricking one with a syringe, before they stunned him with a Taser and arrested him, police said.The 44-year-old, whose name has not been released, was arrested on suspicion of possession of heroin and resisting arrest, Los Angeles police Officer Ana Aguirre said.Three other officers were treated for minor injuries, Aguirre said. The officer who was pricked will undergo additional blood testing, she said.The crash near Strongs Drive and Washington Boulevard was reported around 10:10 p.m. Tuesday, said Officer Sara Faden of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Section.A sergeant with the LAPD’s Pacific Station told an RMG News camera crew that a patrolling officer saw a white van traveling north on Strongs Drive, crossing Washington Boulevard and slamming into several parked vehicles. The officer called for backup, the sergeant said.With officers closing in, the man in the damaged van tried to drive away from the wreckage and would not cooperate with police, the sergeant said.Police subdued the man by shocking him with a Taser twice on his back, then took him into custody, the officer told RMG.He was transported to a hospital with facial injuries and bleeding to the head—both apparently suffered when the van crashed,

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Lil Wayne entered a not guilty plea on charges of multiple drug possession charges

Lil Wayne appeared in an Arizona courtroom on Tuesday (May 6) to answer to several drug charges, stemming from an arrest in January.As he has maintained since that arrest, the rapper (real name: Dwayne Carter) entered a not guilty plea on charges of multiple drug possession charges -- three being felonies -- and a misconduct involving weapons charge.He is scheduled to appear in court on May 19.Weezy was arrested at in late January, following a search of his tour bus during a routine stop at a Border Patrol checkpoint just outside of Yuma, Arizona.
During the stop, DEA found numerous narcotics -- including 105 grams of marijuana, 29 grams of cocaine and 41 grams of ecstasy -- and a 40-caliber pistol registered to the rapper.Wayne's legal team filed a motion in March asking for a lesser drug charge, claiming the amount of cocaine (29 grams) was incorrect. They claim that the rapper had fewer than eight grams of coke.He was subsequently arrested, along with two others, and booked into the Yuma County Sheriff's Department.A day after his arrest, he posted $10,000 bond and is currently free pending the outcome of his case.

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mugshot of Lindsay Lohan who has been in and out of rehab after two arrests last year on drunken driving and cocaine charges,

Lindsay Lohan is not exactly toasting her latest public appearance.
A mugshot of the 21-year-old actress, who has been in and out of rehab after two arrests last year on drunken driving and cocaine charges, was prominently featured Friday in an advertisement attacking legislation for devices that measure a driver's blood alcohol level before their vehicle can start.
The full-page black-and-white ad appeared in USA Today on Friday and was paid for by the American Beverage Institute, a trade group that supports the interests of the alcohol industry. The ad reads "Ignition interlocks are a good idea for" above Lohan's mug shot from her July 24, 2007 arrest and "But a bad idea for us" above smaller photos of people drinking.
"The reason that we used Lindsay Lohan is because she's had multiple DUIs that have been high profile," American Beverage Institute managing director Sarah Longwell told The Associated Press. "We needed to create the distinction for the public what someone with multiple DUIs looked like versus a low blood-alcohol-level first-time offender."
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Lawmakers in several states have passed bills that would require drunken driving offenders to pay for and install an ignition interlock system. Under many such laws, the interlock requirement extends to first-time offenders driving while "highly intoxicated" - or with a blood alcohol level of 0.15 percent or higher.
The ad suggested that ignition interlocks were fine for "hard-core" drunk drivers, but suggested they would bring an end to champagne toasts at weddings, wine at dinner and ballgame beers.
"USA Today is idiotic to run such an irresponsible advertisement suggesting that drinking and driving is some kind of American 'tradition' we should protect," Lohan's lawyer Blair Berk said in a statement. "Not identifying that this ad was paid for by the liquor and restaurant industries is profoundly reckless.
"Drunk white businessmen, drunk housewives out for girls night out and drunk wedding parties should be kept off the roads of America," Berk continued. "Lindsay Lohan fully endorses ignition interlock devices, which have been well-proven to save lives."
The American Beverage Institute stood by its use of Lohan's image.
"People magazine, Smoking Gun and a lot of people have republished this mug shot," said Longwell. "It was publicly accessible. We're not using it for any kind of commercial gain. So we're well within our rights to use it."
Reached for comment about Berk's statement, USA Today spokesman Ed Cassidy issued the following statement: "Advocacy advertising is a big part of what we do. Our pages function as forum for competing views."

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Tim Montgomery is scheduled to appear in federal court Monday for a bond hearing on charges of heroin distribution

Former 100-metre world-record holder Tim Montgomery is scheduled to appear in federal court Monday for a bond hearing on charges of heroin distribution.
Montgomery, 33, was arrested Wednesday on charges of dealing more than 100 grams of heroin in Virginia over the past year.The former track star was taken by U.S. marshals to the Portsmouth city jail on Wednesday night, where he will stay until his scheduled hearing on Monday.Montgomery declined an interview request after his arrest but in a story published Friday in The Virginian-Pilot, he told the Norfolk-based paper that he knew nothing of the accusations and that his arrest was a surprise.The legal woes aren't the first for Montgomery, who is scheduled for sentencing on May 16 in connection with a New York-based charge.Montgomery has admitted that he helped his former coach, Olympic champion Steve Riddick, and others cash $1.7 million US in stolen and counterfeit cheques. He pleaded guilty in that case and faces up to 46 months in prison. Riddick is currently serving a five-year prison term.Montgomery's former companion, gold medallist Marion Jones, began her six-month sentence in a U.S. federal prison near Dallas in early March after being convicted of lying to investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs and about her role in the cheque fraud scam.Montgomery was banned from track for two years for doping and he retired in December 2005.In addition to the ban, all of his performances after March 31, 2001, were wiped from the books — eliminating his world record of 9.78 seconds in the 100-metre dash in September 2002.Montgomery will still retain his silver medal in the 400 relay at the 1996 Olympics and his gold medal from the 400 relay at the 2000 Olympics.

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Brian Wright is being chased for £45million in profits from his billion-pound cocaine smuggling operation,

Brian Wright is being chased for £45million in profits from his billion-pound cocaine smuggling operation, a court heard.The 61-year-old godfather — who was known as The Milkman because he always delivered — is serving 30 years in jail after being convicted last year. In 2004 he was said to be worth £600m and prosecutors have this week been trying to claw back the proceeds of his crimes at Woolwich Crown Court.But Wright, who had a house in Frimley, claims he has no assets left. He is refusing to attend the hearing despite being brought from Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire to the high-security Belmarsh jail in south London.His barrister Jerome Lynch QC told the court: “His position is he has nothing and no matter how much he says it, that will not be accepted.“Everything he paid for was paid for in cash and rented.“The approach the Crown has taken is so unrealistic that it is pointless engaging and he takes the view that it almost doesn’t matter.
“He is nearly 62 years of age, and is serving 30 years. He will not see the light of day.“One can understand a man of his age taking that approach when it is likely he will die in jail.”Mr Lynch said Wright’s wife died last year and added: “Is it really supposed that this man who allowed his wife to die in a rented apartment in Spain is the holder of £45million?’But Wright is refusing to give evidence in court to back up his claims he has no money left.“He has no intention of going into the witness box to give any further evidence other than that which he gave in the trial,” said Mr Lynch.
Brian Wright led a double life as a notorious horse-racing punter and a major league gangster before his arrest in Spain 2005.He rubbed shoulders with royalty, boasted a celebrity lifestyle.He laundered his drug money by making huge wagers on horse racing.Wright, married for 43 years, even boasted of meeting singer Frank Sinatra and film star Clint Eastwood.His wealth afforded him a house in Frimley, his rented luxury apartment in Chelsea Harbour, and a £2m villa — named El Lechero, the Spanish for The Milkman — in Spain.He had a box at the Royal Ascot race meeting for 14 years and was a member of the exclusive clubs Tramps and Annabels in London.
Wright was finally nailed by a Customs and Excise operation which began after a boat named Sea Mist was boarded by Irish Police at Cork Harbour on September 29, 1996.
Officers found 1,230lb of cocaine — valued at more than £50m — hidden in the dumb waiter of the yacht.The shipment was meant to have been smuggled into the UK and stored at a safe house in Lymington, Hampshire, but the gang fled the property after hearing of the arrest of the crew.Left at the house was Brian Wright’s Channel 4 Racing Diary containing contact numbers for other members of his cartel, as well as dozens of famous names in horse racing and TV. In 1997, police began bugging Wright’s exclusive riverside flat in Chelsea Harbour and following him and his friends, including right-hand man Kevin Hanley.The next year, as three more shipments successfully arrived in the UK via Poole, Dorset, and Salcombe, Devon, Wright was arrested over horse-fixing allegations.
He was released on bail and in December 1998 he left the UK for Spain after having a heart bypass operation.But on February 12, 1999, Wright’s son Brian Anthony Wright and son-in-law Paul Shannon were among 15 people arrested in connection with the smuggling investigation. Five days after his son’s arrest, Wright Snr paid £20,000 through his daughter Joanne for a private jet to take him and jockey Declan Murphy to Northern Cyprus.Because the territory had no extradition treaty with the UK, he was effectively safe from arrest until he moved on to Spain in 2002.
It was only in the spring of 2005 that Wright Snr was arrested in Marbella and flown back to Britain to face trial.The same year, police arrested Hanley’s girlfriend Anni Rowland for laundering drug money and found nearly £70,000 at her home in Great Burford, Oxfordshire.
Wright, whose last known address was in Cadiz, Spain, denied one count of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of a controlled substance and one count of conspiracy to supply drugs.
His only previous conviction is for dishonesty, obtaining property by deception, in the late 1970s.
Wright Jnr, now 40, of Ridgemount, Weybridge, Surrey, was found guilty of drugs importation and jailed for 16 years.
Paul Shannon, now 42, of Lockier Walk, Wembley, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply and jailed for five years.
The hearing continues.

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Passive Alert Narcotics Detection Animal (PANDA) scans people for the presence of drugs such as heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines.

If the dog thinks a person is carrying drugs they will sit next to them. Officers then have a power to search that person to look for drugs. One of the PANDA dogs scanned people waiting in queues for nightclubs and bars on Friday night.
Although there were no arrests made on this occasion it sent out a warning to revellers that police would be carrying out regular operations throughout the summer. Every weekend police put on additional patrols to meet the needs of Newcastle's popular social scene.City centre officers work closely with licensees and door staff every day of the week in an attempt to curtail disorder and the use of drugs. This operation was the first of a series of PANDA dog patrols which will continue throughout the summer.It's aimed at reinforcing the good work already being done by door supervisors who randomly search customers as a condition of entry into pubs and clubs. Over the past four months, more than 100 people have been arrested as a result of spot checks on entry by door supervisors and drugs including cocaine, heroin and amphetamine have been seized.
Neighbourhood Sergeant Claire Lawson said: "People who come to Newcastle just want to enjoy themselves and our job is to make sure they do just that.
"However, we won't tolerate the small percentage who bring drugs into the city centre, or whose bad behaviour starts to impact on other people's enjoyment, and the PANDA dog is one of many pro-active tactics we use. "We'd like to reassure people we are listening to their concerns and will continue to do all we can to tackle this issue so the city centre remains a safe and vibrant place for everyone to enjoy an evening out." The city centre becomes a popular venue during the summer for stag and hen parties, and also birthday celebrations. Sgt Lawson added: "It can be on these occasions when people may try drugs for the first time and it's those people we will catch out during these operations. Don't celebrate your birthday with a conviction.
"The city centre also has a successful Pubwatch scheme - where premises work together to share information instantly - which is supported by door staff.
"It demonstrates that by working closely with our partners and the community we can continue to be successful in reducing crime and disorder in Newcastle."

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Police recorded 217 visitors to the house, including regular visits by 20 known heroin users.

Dealers’ homes were targeted in police swoops after months of intelligence gathering by police.Nine targets were arrested and suspected drugs were seized in Operation Pembroke last September.Now, after the suspects have been dealt with by the courts over the past few months, police have revealed how their arrests have brought a drop in crime.The figures were given by Chester-le-Street community Insp Paul Anderson as he welcomed the last of the sentences handed out to people arrested during the operation.He said: “Since Operation Pembroke we have seen a sharp drop in crimes such as shoplifting, purse thefts and street robberies.“We believe most of these crimes were connected to the supply of drugs in the town.“In one incident an elderly woman suffered a broken arm during a robbery.”Insp Anderson said in August last year, before the raids, there were 352 crimes reported in the whole district, compared to 294 in October – a month after the arrests.In January this year there were 302 reported crimes, compared to 401 in January last year.
Eight people admitted being concerned with the supply of the Class A drug heroin, while a ninth admitted offering the drug.Sentences ranged from a nine-month suspended jail term to six years imprisonment.Durham Crown Court was told in February that Malcolm Pentland, 28, had allowed his house in the town’s Tuart Street to become a safe haven for drug taking and dealing.He was jailed for six years.
During Operation Pembroke, police recorded 217 visitors to the house, including regular visits by 20 known heroin users.
Undercover officers made 15 separate test purchases and were supplied £10 wraps of heroin.Last week Darren Turnbull, 23, of Arthur Street, High Handenhold, near Pelton, was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years with 100 hours of unpaid work.Kevin Watson, 48, of John Street, Beamish, was sentenced to serve 12 months, in addition to 138 days left from his last sentence.Richard Kaye, 25, of Windsor Terrace, Great Lumley, Chester-le-Street, was jailed for 12 months.
Insp Anderson said: “I am pleased with the sentences which have been handed out to criminals.“We are not resting on our laurels and want to reassure the community that we will act on all information that we receive.”

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killing of Richard Petty over a mere £80 sheds a harsh light on the perils of Teesside’s drugs underworld

killing of Richard Petty over a mere £80 sheds a harsh light on the perils of Teesside’s drugs underworld, even at its lower levels. CCTV captured the murderers’ movements with chilling precision. Into the lift, up to the seventh floor, back down, then out - in four minutes.
CCTV captured the murderers’ movements with chilling precision. Into the lift, up to the seventh floor, back down, then out - in four minutes.“They had at the most 90 seconds in that flat,” says Detective Inspector Andy Greenwood, above, from Cleveland Police’s murder investigation team, who retraced their steps at the Melsonby Court flats.Mark ‘Peo’ Pearson and Joe Tingle were hardly sophisticated drugs kingpins living in high-rolling opulence.As heroin users themselves, they had advanced up the food chain to using at least one “lieutenant” to sell drugs for them and share the profits.But their savage execution of Richard Petty in his Billingham home between 2.36 and 2.40pm on March 25 was every bit as vicious and ruthlessly efficient as any gangland ‘hit’.With heroin and half a bottle of vodka inside him, Pearson walked silently into the living room and spoke to Mr Petty.Without giving him a chance to reply, Pearson was seen swiping and lunging at him with a large kitchen knife, twice thrusting the blade into his body up to the hilt.Richard Petty was left lying on his back, dying in a pool of blood with seven stab wounds, one into the heart.“It was a totally unprovoked attack on a man who was sitting in the living room of his flat, unprotected,” says Det Insp Greenwood.

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Adam Greener was armed with a silver revolver when he got into a woman’s car at the junction of Roman Road and Rockliffe Road in Linthorpe

Adam Greener was armed with a silver revolver when he got into a woman’s car at the junction of Roman Road and Rockliffe Road in Linthorpe and said, “Drive or I’ll shoot you.”Under the influence of drugs, he tried to snatch the driver’s handbag from the passenger seat of the Peugeot 206, which was stationary in traffic.Greener, 20, of Westbourne Road, Middlesbrough, admitted two charges at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.He pleaded guilty to attempting to rob 46-year-old mum Kay Cotton, from the Eston area, of her handbag on January 15, and possessing a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to commit robbery.Prosecutor Ian West said: “She describes going back to her car after going to the shop.“A man, the defendant, gets into the passenger seat of the car. He says, ‘Drive.’“When she doesn’t immediately do that, he produces this weapon and says, ‘Drive or I’ll shoot you.’“The defendant accepts what Mrs Cotton says he said when he got into the car.”The hooded raider fled empty-handed, while Mrs Cotton got out of the car and was shaken but not injured.She was taken into a nearby shop and given a cup of tea to calm her nerves until police arrived and sealed off the area in Roman Road.Greener had been accused of attempted kidnap, but the Crown are no longer proceeding with that charge because of his guilty pleas.He had no previous serious crimes which would classify him as a dangerous offender.But if it is discovered that he had a prohibited weapon, he could face a minimum sentence of five years in prison.It has still not been confirmed for certain whether the weapon, found in Mrs Cotton’s car, was an imitation or real firearm.“There were apparently bullets in the chambers of this revolver, but the barrel was blocked at the bridge,” Mr West told the court yesterday.It is not certain whether it could be adapted to fire a lethal missile, he added. Experts are to be consulted, and there may be a court hearing to decide the issue.
Peter Sabiston, defending, said Greener was under the influence of Class C drugs at the time.
The judge, Recorder Michael Slater, adjourned sentencing until April 11 for reports to be prepared on Greener, who was remanded in custody. The attack was described as an “isolated incident”.
But it prompted Cleveland Police to urge drivers to take extra care when stationary in built-up areas, to lock doors while travelling, sound horns if in danger and not to leave bags on seats or in footwells.

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