Felon in cocaine, corruption sting hired by agency for troubled kidsRead more:
http://http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/felon-in-cocaine-corruption-sting-hired-by-agency-for-troubled/article_c89e23f7-d7a3-50c0-8c74-6eeae1423c4e.html#ixzz1kDGVsoayCarol Ann Alaimo Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2012 12:00 am Disgraced former military recruiter Darius Perry would still be behind bars had his fate been up to his Tucson sentencing judge.
Instead, Perry - the man who touched off a cocaine-and-corruption sting that took down scores of local troops - left prison last year under a plea deal and was hired two weeks later by a state-licensed agency that counsels troubled kids.
Mary's Mission and Development Center of Sierra Vista violated state law by hiring Perry fresh out of federal custody to work at its branch clinic in Mesa, state regulators say.
William Lacey Jr., a long-retired Army officer who runs Mary's Mission, told the Arizona Daily Star he didn't know about Perry's past. A recent state probe found Mary's Mission did not require Perry to provide a fingerprint clearance card, as Arizona law demands.
Perry didn't exactly hide his criminal record. A few months back, he wrote a newsletter article for another Mesa nonprofit that mentioned he'd spent years in federal custody.
Two weeks ago the state forced Mary's Mission to fire Perry and confirm in writing it had done so. By the time he was fired, he'd worked there for a year.
"It is not OK for a convicted felon to be working in a behavioral-health program that services children," said Barb Lang, office chief for Arizona's Office of Behavioral Health Licensing.
Lang's office also oversees two group homes for troubled youths that Mary's Mission runs in the Sierra Vista area. Until the illegal hiring, all three sites were in good standing with the state.
Perry, 47, agreed via email Wednesday to an interview with the Star, but he didn't reply to three messages left at the number he provided.
"COMPLETELY CORRUPT"
Described by his judge as "completely corrupt," Perry drew a five-year sentence in 2007 and remains on probation for his role in the FBI sting known as Operation Lively Green.
Using his skills as an Army National Guard recruiter, he persuaded dozens of local troops to join him in running drugs for money while wearing military uniforms to try to evade detection. Some went on to recruit others.
Perry himself took part in six drug runs in 2002. He moved 181 kilograms (about 400 pounds) of cocaine - more than anyone else - and took $52,000 in bribes.
It was Perry who prompted the FBI to set up the sting, when an undercover agent saw him sell cocaine from the trunk of his recruiting vehicle.
"DUTIES UNCLEAR"
By the time the sting ended, more than 60 defendants had pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribe-taking and other offenses.
They included 10 Tucson military recruiters, 11 National Guard soldiers from the Valencia Road armory and 12 airmen from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, along with prison guards, a police dispatcher and a port inspector.
"You're lucky I accepted your plea agreement," U.S. District Court Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson told Perry the day he was sentenced.
Without it, she said, "I would not have hesitated to give you a much longer period of incarceration."
Lang, of the state licensing agency, said her office got involved last month when a potential client of Mary's Mission in Mesa learned of Perry's past and filed a complaint. The person asked to remain anonymous, Lang said.
An inspector was dispatched the next day and found Perry on the payroll.
"His duties were unclear," said Lang. But no matter what he was doing, he shouldn't have been there.
Arizona law says anyone with a record like Perry's "is prohibited from working in any capacity in a children's behavioral-health program that requires or allows contact with children."
Mary's Mission's website says the Mesa clinic offers individual, group and family counseling, addiction programs and supervised visitation in child-custody disputes.
A news item about Mary's Mission, carried by some media in Mesa last year, described Perry as a "counselor" with the organization. The networking site LinkedIn describes him as "training and development coordinator."
Lang recently sent Mary's Mission legal notice of its violation of state law. Upon receipt, the nonprofit has 14 days to agree with the notice or dispute it, which would force a final ruling from the regulator's deputy director.
If the state prevails, penalties may follow. They could range from a license downgrade to thousands of dollars in fines.
MISCONDUCT
The man shown in state records as clinical director of the site where Perry worked is a Southern Arizona therapist currently banned from practicing.
Willis J. Beasley's professional counseling license was suspended last April by a different state regulator, the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. That board substantiated two complaints about Beasley's ethics and competence at a counseling practice he ran for a decade in Sierra Vista before closing it in 2010.
Despite his suspended license, state regulators said there's no legal reason Beasley couldn't work for Mary's Mission as clinical director, an administrative role.
Six months or so before his license was pulled, Beasley's name showed up on state records as clinical director of Mary's Mission in Mesa.
Lacey, the CEO, last week denied a link between his agency and Beasley. He said they hadn't had ties in four years.
Sixteen months ago, though, Lacey signed a license application for the Mesa site that listed Beasley as its clinical director, records show. Asked to explain that discrepancy, Lacey said he couldn't comment on the advice of his lawyer.
Beasley, reached at his Sierra Vista home, had a different recollection from Lacey. He said he worked at the Mesa clinic for about six months in 2010 and resigned at the end of that year. He said he was gone by the time Perry showed up and had no role in the felon's hiring.
Beasley's failings as a therapist both involved children, records show.
In 2008 he failed to remain neutral while treating three kids at the center of a custody battle, the board found. He testified for the father that the mother had "mental problems" though he barely knew her or her kids, the board determined.
In 2010, Beasley failed to notify Child Protective Services, as required by law, when a girl in a different custody case told him of "possible abuse by (her) father," the board found.
Beasley agreed to take follow-up training in ethics, record-keeping and how to properly handle high-conflict families.
IRS "GLITCH"
IRS records for 2009 - the most recent year the nonprofit's tax data is available online - show Mary's Mission had total income of $1.6 million from "gifts, grants, contributions and membership fees."
Lacey's pay topped $224,000 - more than that of Tucson's city manager.
Lacey told the Star his pay really isn't that high. The figure was inflated due to a "glitch in the paperwork," and is being fixed, he said.
Lacey refused to share his actual salary and seemed unaware of IRS rules requiring public disclosure of executive pay at nonprofit agencies.
"We are a nonprofit," he said. "We are not supposed to disclose that."
Contact reporter Carol Ann Alaimo at
[email protected] or at 573-4138.
