Drug sweep nets probation officer and her Crips boyfriend
More than a dozen people have been arrested in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys on federal narcotics-trafficking charges. Authorities seize four kilograms of cocaine, and one kilogram of crack.
A Los Angeles County probation officer and her boyfriend, a high-ranking member of a Crips Pomona street gang, have been arrested along with a dozen other gang associates on federal narcotics-trafficking charges, authorities said today.
County Probation Officer Crystal Dillard was arrested last month along with her boyfriend Jerron Johnson, 27, following a yearlong investigation, authorities said. Dillard is suspected of participating in multiple crack cocaine transactions, including one in which she was accompanied by a young child.
The narcotics investigation stemmed in part from an investigation into Dillard and her relationship with Johns, a known gang member with several felony drug convictions going back to 2000.
Dillard and Johns, of San Bernardino, are both in federal custody. Two other defendants are in state facilities and 10 other associates were arrested this morning in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys during a multi-agency operation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pomona police, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Several defendants remain at large, including Raymond "Ray Dog" King, 37, a man authorities allege is a gang leader and a main supplier of crack cocaine in the Pomona area.
A 17-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury accuses 23 defendants of participating in a drug ring that trafficked in cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana. The indictment documents a series of transactions involving kilogram-quantities of cocaine.
Twice in April 2007, Dillard allegedly delivered crack cocaine, once dropping it off under a car at a Vons market parking lot in Upland and then in a trash can at a Chevron station in Claremont, according to court documents. The drugs were then retrieved by Johns and sold to a confidential informant, the documents stated.
During an April 27, 2007 drug drop at the Chevron, Dillard had a child in her car, the court record states. In May 2007, Johns made another drug deal in Dillard's car, officials allege.
Johns, who is also known as "Japs," was arrested on Jan. 30 following various drug transactions when he allegedly sold nearly one kilogram of crack cocaine to confidential informants who were working with investigators, according to court documents.
