Prosecutors
have dismissed criminal charges against the former girlfriend of a
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office detective who was fired two years ago amid a
probe of their alleged ties to illegal drugs. But while she escaped
prosecution, Candy Brown, 36, of Terrytown, forfeited $198,840 in a settlement
with Jefferson Parish prosecutors who sued her alleging that $300,000 and a
2004 BMW that detectives seized during the June 2010 investigation were the
ill-gotten gains of narcotics sales that led to her arrest.
Brown faced trial in
the 24th Judicial District Court in Gretna on charges of cocaine possession and
marijuana possession, after deputies found seven grams of cocaine and $208,000
in her Northbrook Drive home. The deputies were investigating a domestic
complaint she alleged against her then-boyfriend, John Carroll,
a sergeant and robbery detective who often stayed at her house.
Her attorney Bernard
Bagert Jr., said Tuesday the criminal case lacked evidence. "There were no
facts to support a criminal case, and our investigation demonstrated
that," he said. "There was never, ever any remote chance that she
would be convicted criminally."
The state attorney
general's office, which inherited the case after the Jefferson Parish district
attorney's office recused itself, dismissed the criminal charges in April.
"There was insufficient evidence to prove ownership of the drugs beyond a
reasonable doubt," Amanda Larkins, communications director for the
attorney general's office, said Tuesday. "The drugs were found in a spare
bedroom that was frequented by many people."
In addition to
Brown's domestic abuse complaint, detectives also investigated allegations that
Carroll strong-armed a couple into paying Brown $200 for cocaine she shared
with them during a night out. That couple denied the claims and said they
turned over $200 because they feared Carroll, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell
Normand said at the time.
The Sheriff's Office
fired Carroll, ending a 17-year law enforcement career, and booked him with
conspiracy to distribute drugs in addition to domestic abuse battery and simple
criminal damage he allegedly caused to her home. But citing insufficient
evidence, prosecutors refused to pursue the cases. Carroll now owns a private
investigations company.
Detectives also
seized Brown's BMW and almost $300,000 in cash, which included $90,000 in a
bank safe-deposit box and the rest in her home. She sued the Sheriff's Office
to have her property returned shortly after. The Jefferson Parish district
attorney's office filed a forfeiture petition in the 24th Judicial District Court
in August 2010, in an attempt to take the money and car.
Both sides settled in
April, in which she got her BMW and $100,000. The Sheriff's Office, district
attorney's office and the court kept $198,840, according to the consent
judgment.
Bagert characterized
it as a settlement under a state law he doesn't like and said Brown got the
cash from the sale of community property in her divorce from a man convicted of
narcotics charges. "She's a fine person," Bagert said. "She's a
hard worker."
Jefferson Parish's
First Assistant District Attorney Steve Wimberly said the civil forfeiture law
does not require prosecutors to prove a crime took place. In this case, they
alleged the money was proceeds from illegal drug activity.
"That's what we
had to prove," Wimberly said. "The success of one (case) is not
dependent on the success of the other."
Rather than fight it,
Brown agreed to settle, records show. "I don't like the fact that the DAs
do this," Bagert said.