Trooper Says Election Delayed Sherry Johnston Alaska Drug Case

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: WP/AP

WASILLA, Alaska -- The mother of Bristol Palin's boyfriend sent text messages discussing drug transactions less than a month after the young woman's mother, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was nominated as the Republican vice presidential candidate, according to court documents filed this week.

An affidavit from an Alaska state trooper, filed Monday, states that Sherry L. Johnston referred in her messages to two police informants to "coffee" as a code for the drug OxyContin.

Johnston, 42, was arrested on felony drug charges last week after state troopers served a search warrant at her Wasilla home. She allegedly sold OxyContin tablets to the informants on three occasions this fall, the affidavit states. Police said two of the meetings were recorded by a hidden camera and a microphone....

Authorities say the case against Sherry Johnston began in the second week of September, when drug investigators intercepted a package containing 179 OxyContin pills. That led to the arrest of the suspects, who agreed to be informants....

The trooper's affidavit indicates that Sarah Palin's candidacy factored into the investigation, with state officials delaying execution of a search warrant until this month, when Johnston was "no longer under the protection or surveillance of the Secret Service."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/25/AR2008122500930.html?hpid=sec-politics

[uppityperson]

1. k&r for you betcha

[B o d i]

2. I can see the moon from my house!

Does that mean I'm qualified to be an astronaut? :shrug:

[DeepModem Mom]

3. LOL! Welcome to DU, B o d i!

[tclambert]

12. I can see Heaven from my backyard,

does that mean I'm qualified to be . . .

[Bette Noir]

4. Interesting.

They delayed tha arrest because of Secret Service involvement?

So the Secret Service protects drug dealers, nowadays? Or is it only when the drug dealers are prospective in-laws of possible occupants of the White House?

[Historic NY]

5. thats what I was thinking...they were her minders.

[Lasher]

8. Johnston was under SS protection?

Johnston isn't even related to Palin. Did an army of SS swoop in to bodyguard the whole town of Walissa?

[Hubert Flottz]

9. If it has anything to do with the GOP it was probably the...

Waffen-"SS" guarding them. Or the republick-'um guards...

[Lasher]

13. This thread makes you wonder what exactly the SS protects against.

If you hadn't been wondering that already.

[No Elephants]

10. "under the protection OR SURVEILLANCE of the Secret Service." wtf? Is it really that hard to

tell the difference between protection and surveillance?

[rainbow4321]

16. Weird thing is...as soon as the article hit the Anchorage paper

The whole SS part of the report was "retracted" and called "incorrect".

Said that the only time any SS would have been around Johnston was if/when SHE was around Palin.
The initial article in the Wasilla newspaper about the "new details" was on the newspaper's website Tuesday with a bunch of references to the report and the SS aspect of it. By Wednesday night (at like 11 pm--can you say holiday news dump?) the Anchorage Daily News website finally had the "new details" update but repeatedly had officials denying the SS comments..saying "that part of the report was incorrect".

So was the SS information not true or was it true and NOT meant to be made public/part of the released report, causing officials to backpeddle?

[awoke_in_2003]

6. k&r. Nt

[dysfunctional press]

7. how long would it have been delayed if they had won the election?

permanently? :shrug:

[No Elephants]

11. No, not permanently, silly! Only until an asteroid the size of Texas hit Earth.

[DallasNE]

14. So Johnston Was Dealing Drugs

Under the watchful eye of the Secret Service. Somebody needs to ask the Secret Service about this arrangement as it appears that they may have interfered with an ongoing police investigation. That should have some implications, political and otherwise.

[Hugin]

15. This would explain Limp's strong support for the Moosenator.

Also, I submit that it was the RWNM protecting Johnston and not necessarily the Secret Service.

[specimenfred1984]

17. Fascist politicos kept their crimes hidden? Doesn't sound like a democracy

because the U.S. isn't and hasn't been for a number of years. America is a criminal nation, we have torture camps, invade countries for the hell of it, spy on our own citizens, rig elections, have religious bigots and hypocrites at the White House, price rig everything including energy, steal 100s of billions from gov't, etc...

You name the crime, the U.S. is heavily involved in it.

[kskiska]

18. I perused the Nat'l Enquirer while in line today

There's an article that claims that Sarah Palin is afraid her daughter Bristol may be entangled in this case. She spent lots of time with Levi and his family and most likely knew what was going on and was possibly a party to it all.

[DeepModem Mom]

19. That sounds like a possibility, kskiska. nt

[RamboLiberal]

20. There was a rumor that Bristol was quite the party animal

and in to drinking and perhaps drugs. H'mmm boyfriend's mom is a dealer. Wonder if Levi was as well???

[rainbow4321]

21. Hmmm...guess we will know if they speed up the wedding plans

Spousal immunity, you betcha...Levi and Bristol would not be able to testify about what they may know about each other's involvement??
And...there were some rumors back in September that they were already married. Claiming any spousal immunity on Bristol's/Levi's part NOW would send that from rumor to truth..good luck to Palin explaining that away.

And Levi's mother could still spill the beans on anything Bristol may have done.

[tinymontgomery]

22. So can Palin pardon her so

she keeps her mouth shut about her kid and her kids future husband out of it? And if the kids are involved didn't they go to the white house? And if they did visit the white house that would mean the * supports druggies.

[Devon_P]

23. Sherry Johnston.........

Sherry Johnston, Bristol Palin’s future mother-in-law got slapped with six felony drug counts Thursday after a lengthy undercover state police investigation. There may be no more paydays for Sherry Johnston, a recent arrestee by the Alaska Highway Patrol, who busted her for trying to get some extra cash by dealing in narcotics. Normal drug felons tend to not get a lot of press, but she is the definite exception to the rule. It isn't so much what she did, as who she is, and she is the mother of Bristol Palin's fiancé. Bristol made headlines for her pregnancy at only 17, out of wedlock, and the fact that her mother is both governor of Alaska, and was the Vice Presidential candidate for the Republican party in the presidential race of 2008. Sarah Palin, Bristol's mom, got a lot of media attention herself, and this just adds to the circus. You can read more in the article posted on the <a title ="Bristol Palin's mother in law arrested, payday for drug felon" rev= "vote-for" href="http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2008/12/19/bristol-palin-mother-in-law-arrested-payday-for-drug-felon/">payday loan</a> blog at personalmoneystore.com.

[DeepModem Mom]

24. Hi, Devon_P! Welcome to DU!