Cop Watch: Dallas County Sheriff's Deputy Steals 4 Kilos of Cocaine From Dealer

You just can’t trust anyone these days.

A week ago Friday, before the bust, Standric Choice was a Dallas County Sheriff’s Deputy with 8 years seniority and a previous record of working for the county as a jail guard. He drove a Sheriff’s Department squad car, wore the uniform, and patroled South Dallas.

After the bust, on that same Friday afternoon, Choice became an inmate of the feds, wearing overalls and fabric shoes, with the prosecutors arguing he needs to stay behind bars until trial time because he’s a high flight risk.

Deputy Standric Choice is facing a possible sentence of 80 years behind bars and a $250,000 fine.

What happened?

Well, the feds are at it again — just like down in Cameron County (see the earlier post on that one) — the federal government is busy investigating corruption in Texas policing agencies, and they’re getting results.

Choice’s undoing began on a Wednesday when an informant ratted to the FBI that there was a Dallas County Sheriff’s deputy who would be “trading licks” that Friday.

Trading licks? That’s the lingo for a con game where the deputy was going to help steal cocaine from a drug dealer. Yep, sort of a twisted Robin Hood game plan.

The FBI Cons the Con

The feds instructed the informant to go ahead and set things up with Deputy Choice and Charlie Hill (rumored to be Choice’s brother-in-law). The rat allegedly told Hill that he was going to buy 4 kilograms of cocaine from the drug dealer on Friday afternoon, at the TA Truck Stop on IH 20 and Bonnie View Lane here in Dallas.

(Guess what? The “dealer” in this sting operation was really going to be a federal agent. Yes, just like on TV.)

Hill would watch the rat and the “dealer” meet at the truck stop, and Hill would call up Deputy Choice. Choice would barrel into the truck stop in his squad car, search the “dealer’s” car and “confiscate” the coke. He’d also let the “dealer” go (not sure how this would be explained away) and then Deputy Choice, Hill, and the rat would divy up the prize.

The Feds Let the Game Play Out

That Friday, the FBI let the game play out. According to the filed affidavit, the rat and the brother-in-law did their dance at the truck stop, and Deputy Choice successfully drove away with the cocaine stashed in the trunk of his squad car: the feds busted Choice as soon as he drove into the parking lot of the Sheriff’s Department.

What’s the Sheriff’s Department Saying?

Well, it’s no surprise that the Dallas County Sheriff is labelling Deputy Choice as a lone wolf. According to the Dallas Morning News, Lupe Valdez has said: “It is extremely unfortunate that one person chose to ruin his career by making bad choices …. The acts of one do not reflect the acts of many.”

Yeah, you’d think someone with the last name of CHOICE would know better.

Sources:

Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011309dnmetchoice.d2ad5.html

Dallas Criminal Lawyer Blog
http://dallaslawyer.blogspot.com/2009/01/jail-watch-drop-in-bucket-as-cameron.html