Indianapolis Cop accused in prostitution ring

[Fenway]

An Indianapolis police officer and his wife were accused Wednesday of running a prostitution ring out of their Greenwood home, and a former top criminal justice agency official was arrested and charged with patronizing a prostitute.


Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Patrolman Jeremy Lee, 30, was fired after Johnson County prosecutors filed a felony charge against him of aiding in promoting prostitution. His wife, Lori Vernon-Lee, 36, faces five felony counts of promoting prostitution.


Jerry McCory, 56, who most recently served as a Marion County sheriff's liaison at Jail II and Liberty Hall, is charged with patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor.


McCory, former director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, a Merrillville police chief and a public safety adviser to Mayor Bart Peterson, resigned from the Sheriff's Department on June 25 without explanation.


Lee was a probationary officer who joined the department in October. His arrest marks the fifth of an IMPD officer in the past 16 days.
"We're disturbed by his conduct; we're ashamed of him," IMPD Chief Michael Spears said. "The thing the public needs to know is this investigation (was made) by the members of our own agency. . . . We're going to be a stronger agency for the removal of individuals like Mr. Lee."
Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said the charges followed an IMPD investigation submitted to his office early Wednesday. He said a prostitution case involving law enforcement is unprecedented in the community south of Indianapolis.


"That's unusual anywhere," Hamner said. "But we've never seen it here."
According to a probable cause affidavit, Lori Vernon-Lee solicited women to work for her escort service and advertised their services through a local weekly newspaper. Vernon-Lee would arrange for escorts to meet with clients at the escorts' homes or in hotels, where they would perform acts ranging from massage to sexual intercourse, according to interviews with clients and escorts cited in the affidavit. Vernon-Lee would take a portion of the fee for their services.


According to an affidavit, Jeremy Lee told police he answered phones for his wife's service, acted as a bodyguard for women while they were with clients and helped collect money from the escorts while wearing his police uniform.


He said he assisted his wife with her business as far back as 1998, when she ran an escort service in New Hampshire, the affidavit says.
As part of the IMPD investigation, detectives randomly selected six names of clients who patronized Vernon-Lee's service from her log books. Among the names was McCory, whose name was listed under April 24, according to the affidavit.


McCory is accused of hiring an escort to perform oral sex. He was hired by the Sheriff's Department in December to monitor oversight and compliance in the department's work with private-facilities operators. His salary was $69,866 a year. He was not subject to disciplinary action or investigation by the Marion County department during his tenure, said Julio Fernandez, a spokesman for the department.


Since Lee had not completed probation, Spears said he could fire Lee without going through formal procedures that could include a hearing before the department's merit board.


No other police officers or public officials are suspected in the case, said Capt. Chris Boomershine of the IMPD strategic investigations branch.
Lee joins four officers facing charges filed in the past three weeks. Narcotics officer Jason S. Barber, 32, was charged last week with selling a handgun to a felon and official misconduct. He was released from jail Wednesday after a judge granted his request for reduced bond.
The previous week, narcotics officers Robert B. Long and Jason P. Edwards and patrol officer James Davis were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of marijuana. They resigned June 19.


"It's not fair to indict any other part of the Police Department other than to indict the personal decisions to commit intentional actions, which were criminal on the part of these ex-officers," Spears said in reference to the recent police arrests.


McCory turned himself in Wednesday, Hamner said, but paid his bond, which was set at $2,000. He did not return phone calls Wednesday evening seeking comment.


Vernon-Lee was arrested Wednesday and was in Johnson County Jail on Wednesday night on $40,000 bond.


Lee, who was out of town on military training in Massachusetts, received the news of the charges and the warrant in a cell phone call Wednesday afternoon.


If convicted, the Lees each could face a maximum of eight years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 apiece, Hamner said. McCory could face up to a year and a maximum $5,000 fine.


Call Star reporter Francesca Jarosz at (317) 444-6310.


Cop accused in prostitution ring | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

[4sarge]

The thing that I find weird about this is the Escort Service business was being run by him and the wife prior to him being hired by IMPD. Why didn't the background check disclose this activity prior to him being hired, very strange indeed. It listed the wifes residence in Greenwood (Johnson County) and as a probationary patrolman his residence should have been limited to Marion County. I'm outraged that he would disgrace the uniform and actually wear it for collections

[Bill of Rights]

Ah, but only the police should be trusted with firearms!

Good point about his background check, though, Sarge. This makes me wonder if in fact the background check on LTC holders and/or FFL03 holders is not more stringent than that for LEOs. Wouldn't THAT kick the antis in the arse?!

Blessings,
B

[rhino]

My only concern is, did they offer a good service and good products for a reasonable price?

[4sarge]

Originally Posted by Bill of Rights

Ah, but only the police should be trusted with firearms!

Good point about his background check, though, Sarge. This makes me wonder if in fact the background check on LTC holders and/or FFL03 holders is not more stringent than that for LEOs. Wouldn't THAT kick the antis in the arse?!
Blessings,
B

The 4 dirty narcotics officers were hired by Frank Anderson (nuff said) and on the Sheriff's Dept when the IMPD reorganization occurred. Under Good Mayor Peterson, morale, hiring and promotional standards were decimated. When the merger occurred the much smaller dept gained control of policy and most key admin positions. It is very possible that scum bag (I almost typed officer) Lee was also one of the last hires by Frank & Crew. Sadly, MCSD where Money Talks & BS Walks under Frank Anderson

PS Rhino, she probably is operating Business as Usual, after all, they will need money for court fees

[4sarge]

It would seem that EX IMPD Lee was indeed hired by Frank Anderson

IMO a good house cleaning and reorganization is required at IMPD from the Top down. Pea shakes need to go, hiring and promotional standards need to be re instituted.

Frank’s Follies

by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
There is another story of another IMPD officer getting in trouble. This story is on the heals of another IMPD officer who got in trouble and three other IMPD officers who got in trouble. And they are not to be confused with the former Public Safety Advisor turned Marion County Sheriff employee who is also in trouble.
While it is important to know that these handful of bad apples are not representative of the other 2,000 or so men and women of law enforcement who go to work everyday to protect us and keep our streets safe, they do give cops a bad name. Of course it doesn’t help that all this bad news comes at one time.
While the officers are ultimately responsible for their actions, you can’t ignore another individual who also bears some responsibility for this, Sheriff Frank Anderson. When Anderson ran IMPD, the department ended its polygraph practices, which some top officials in the department tell me could have been a deterrent to some of this behavior. Anderson was also in charge when another one of these officers was reportedly kicked out of the Police Academy and rehired under IMPD. And it was Anderson who hired Jerry McCorry.
It was Anderson’s leadership that set the atmosphere that allowed this type of behavior to grow and now Mayor Greg Ballard is cleaning up his mess and cleansing the air he left behind.

Posted on July 3rd, 2008

[Hiram2005]

Originally Posted by rhino

My only concern is, did they offer a good service and good products for a reasonable price?

CORRECT! Do they get thumbs up or thumbs down?

[Fenway]

What kind of "polygraph practices" were in place before Anderson got there?

Originally Posted by 4sarge

When Anderson ran IMPD, the department ended its polygraph practices, which some top officials in the department tell me could have been a deterrent to some of this behavior.

[4sarge]

Originally Posted by Fenway

What kind of "polygraph practices" were in place before Anderson got there?

You had the "hiring polygraph". Then certain Dept's like narcotics were subject to polygraph because of job assignment, IA could order you to be polygraphed, so pretty much everybody :rolleyesedit: at anytime

Lack of polygraph was not the total problem, it was the sleaze factor that was introduced and allowed to flourish

[Scutter01]

Originally Posted by Hiram2005

CORRECT! Do they get thumbs up or thumbs down?

Probably thumbs up and then thumbs down, and then thumbs up again. Repeat in rapid succession until the desired results are achieved.