Ex-deputy: Wade took equipment
Sheriff said drug lab made money, Duhon tells jury
September 2, 1988
By Margaret Toal
Staff writer
SHERMAN - James Wade, while sheriff of Orange County, gave a deputy marijuana and told him about being involved in a methamphetamine laboratory operation, former deputy Donald Duhon testified Thursday.
Duhon, 30, also said he and Wade had a "very close" relationship and that Wade arranged for him to get an apartment, with Wade keeping a key.
Some evenings at the apartment "James Wade would be there. He'd have supper cooked," Duhon testified.
Wade, 43 is on trial for a 10-count federal indictment that includes conspiracy to make and sell drugs and embezzlement from the county's drug investigation fund.
Duhon testified that Wade introduced him to Donnie flowers and told him about a methamphetamine laboratory operation he had operation he had with Flowers.
Flowers, 27, is named in the indictment as one of three unindicted co-conspirators.
Wade described the lab as a good way to make money, Duhon told the jury.
Duhon said Wade once took a large piece of glass lab equipment in a cardboard box through the sheriff's department offices to the back of his Dodge Ram Charger.
Wade told Duhon to tell anyone who asked about the box that they were going to give it to a school, Duhon testified.
Then, with Wade driving his vehicle, the two of them went to the U. S. Customs office to pick up the anti-drug literature and "Just Say No" buttons that Duhon used in his work as crime prevention officer, Duhon said.
After picking up the items they delivered the lab equipment to flowers on an isolated dirt road in the Vidor area, Duhon said.
Duhon also testified that Flowers gave him some methamphetamine one time, with Wade present, at the parking lot of a vacant restaurant.
Duhon told the jury about how he met Wade and became a deputy. He previously had been a respiratory therapist.
His first meeting with Wade was in 1980, when Wade, working as a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, stopped him for speeding, Duhon said.
The next time he saw Wade was in November or December of 1986 when he was feeding the ducks at Claiborne West Park off interstate 10, Duhon testified.
Then, about two weeks later, Duhon was driving on a farm road when Wade, in the Ram Charger, used his flashing lights to stop him, Duhon said.
During that conversation, Wade mentioned that he could get Duhon a job, Duhon said.
He testified that he did not take the standard pre-employment test at the sheriff's department. He also said Wade vouched for him to be excused from taking a drug detection test at a physical examination after he told Wade he smoked marijuana.
He was hired at the department Jan. 27, 1987, as a jailer but did not work as a jailer, and was promoted to deputy about two weeks later, he said.
"I spent a lot of time with the sheriff running errands," Duhon said.
He said he became crime prevention officer, organizing neighborhood crime watch programs, speaking to school groups and working as department spokesman with the news media.
His relationship with Wade cooled after a few months when he told Wade he needed a bit of privacy in his apartment, he said.
Wade replied to his request by saying "That's .... fine. This is the last time your going to see James Wade at this .... place," Duhon told the jury.
On cross examination from defense attorney Jeff Kearney, Duhon often contradicted his testimony about some of the dates and locations of events.
Duhon resigned from the department in January after the FBI investigation of Wade began, he said.
He testified that eh did not report Wade's involvement with drugs to other authorities because he was scared.
"I was afraid if I ever said anything, I would end up in the bottom of the Sabine River," he told the jury.
U. S. District Judge Howell Cobb excused the jury for the Labor Day holiday until Tuesday morning.
Cobb and attorneys in the trial are scheduled to meet this afternoon in Beaumont to take a deposition from a witness.
Back
