[OR] FBI CATCHES CANBY POLICE DEPT. LETTING OFFICER DEASON SLIDE

...The FBI said [Officer Deason] immediately tried to track down his alleged [steroid] supplier and left threats on his ex-wife's voice mail using his police cell phone, thanking her for ruining his career and telling her to watch her back because "I'm coming for you"... Deason's two former wives also filed multiple domestic violence complaints against Deason with Canby police or the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office between 2001 and 2005. He was not charged...

CANBY COP BOUGHT STEROIDS ON THE JOB, FBI SAYS
The Oregonian
by Maxine Bernstein
maxinebernstein@news.oregonian.com
November 15, 2008
[Excerpts] Two years ago, a neighboring police agency shared a hot tip with the Canby police chief: One of his officers had been spotted buying illegal steroids in Oregon City. An informant had no difficulty identifying Canby Officer Jason Deason. He came in uniform and rode his police motorcycle to pick up the drugs. What's more, the seller -- Brian Jackson, then a strength and conditioning coach for the much-heralded Oregon City High School girls basketball team -- told the informant he didn't worry about getting caught by the police because he was selling to the police. Canby Police Chief Greg Kroeplin didn't appear alarmed, telling the other agency's supervisors he'd heard rumors of Deason's dabbling in steroids many times but could never substantiate them. Kroeplin brushed off that tip, but the FBI didn't. Federal agents this year launched a public-corruption investigation, revealing a cozy relationship between Kroeplin and Deason in the 24-member force that allowed the officer to brazenly buy steroids while on duty and in uniform and tip off his suppliers to police inquiries, according to multiple search warrant affidavits filed in U.S. District Court. Canby police supervisors either failed to address the problem or concealed it, federal authorities allege in the court documents. The investigation also uncovered a steroid distribution network that operated in Oregon, Washington and Arizona. No charges have been filed in the Canby case... Dr. Linn Goldberg, head of OHSU's Division of Health Promotion and Sports Medicine, met with Phoenix police earlier this year to talk about steroid abuse. "You could see why a police officer might want to use them," Goldberg said. "Sometimes they have to fight hand-to-hand. They have to restrain people. ... You could see where there's an inducement." But Goldberg emphasized that not only are steroids illicit drugs, they can cause dangerous side effects. "What you don't want is a more aggressive police officer who has a gun and a Taser and a stick." Deason, 38, resigned from the Canby police force July 17, two weeks after he abruptly ended an interview with FBI agents and was placed on paid leave. The FBI said he immediately tried to track down his alleged supplier and left threats on his ex-wife's voice mail using his police cell phone, thanking her for ruining his career and telling her to watch her back because "I'm coming for you"... [Businessman William]Traverso admitted selling steroids and human growth hormone, or HGH, to Deason. He also gave federal agents an order for steroids that Deason had given him, written on Canby police stationery... Canby police had received numerous complaints about Deason and his alleged steroid use as early as 2001. Deason's two former wives also filed multiple domestic violence complaints against Deason with Canby police or the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office between 2001 and 2005. He was not charged with domestic abuse, but police directed Deason to get anger management counseling. Deason's second wife, now Andrea Lyons, told the FBI she suspected Deason was using steroids when they were dating. She increasingly feared his mood swings, violent temper and his size. In 2001, she found syringes and small plastic vials of liquid in his gym bag, along with a handwritten list of steroids and their costs. She said when she asked Deason about it, he "blew it off" and told her to throw out the paper. She kept it and later turned it over to the FBI. Lyons, who said in an interview that her family's nickname for Deason was "the tank," said she confided her suspicions to a friend that year. The friend, after getting into a confrontation with Deason in public, called Canby police Aug. 28, 2001. She reported Deason's suspected steroid use to then-Sgt. Kroeplin but said he seemed defensive, according to her notes. That year, Canby police investigated complaints about Deason's alleged steroid use, and federal authorities say that Deason was quickly "tipped off" to his department's inquiry by HIS SERGEANT AT THE TIME, KROEPLIN... Meanwhile, Traverso's neighbors grew frustrated by suspicious drug activity at Traverso's home. Their complaints to police seemed to go nowhere, said Ron Gamble, who lives next door... When Jason Deason and Andrea Lyons split up in June 2005, Deason moved in with Kroeplin. In July 2006, when the outside agency gave CHIEF KROEPLIN its two-page tip about Deason's alleged steroid purchases, Kroeplin didn't mention that Deason was his housemate. This year, a Canby detective passed tips that Deason was using steroids up the ranks and was soon demoted to officer working graveyard shift... [Full article here]