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Former grand juror arrested by FBI (subscription required)
FBI agents arrested a former grand juror yesterday on a charge that she warned her ex-boyfriend that he had been indicted in a major Camden drug case, allowing him to elude authorities for more than two months.
Tallena K. Chesney of Gloucester Township served on the federal grand jury that indicted members of a drug organization headed by her former boyfriend, Darnell "Big Lips" Tuten.
On the day that the sealed 32-count indictment was handed up, in March 2003, Chesney met with Tuten in a Camden park to warn him of his imminent arrest, according to court documents.
Tuten cleaned out his Deptford apartment and disappeared before federal agents could arrest him. Authorities had to conduct a massive fu
gitive search before Tuten was arrested nine weeks later in Pine Hill.
Prosecutors did not know about the relationship between Chesney and Tuten when she was seated on the grand jury in federal court in Camden.
Kevin Smith, the assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the drug organization, said the charge against Chesney is "incredibly rare and incredibly serious." He said he did not know of a similar case against a grand juror in New Jersey.
Chesney "put the investigating officers and arresting officers in such substantial danger that, thankfully, no one was hurt," Smith said. "Luckily, the defendant chose to flee other than to take different measures."
Chesney, 28, was arrested yesterday in Superior Court in Atlantic County, where she was appearing on burglary charges, Smith said. She was charged in federal court with obstruction of justice. Chesney faces up to 10 years if convicted.
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Putting an ignoran
t negress on a "grand jury" strikes me as a contradiction in terms.
Former grand juror arrested by FBI (subscription required)
FBI agents arrested a former grand juror yesterday on a charge that she warned her ex-boyfriend that he had been indicted in a major Camden drug case, allowing him to elude authorities for more than two months.
Tallena K. Chesney of Gloucester Township served on the federal grand jury that indicted members of a drug organization headed by her former boyfriend, Darnell "Big Lips" Tuten.
On the day that the sealed 32-count indictment was handed up, in March 2003, Chesney met with Tuten in a Camden park to warn him of his imminent arrest, according to court documents.
Tuten cleaned out his Deptford apartment and disappeared before federal agents could arrest him. Authorities had to conduct a massive fu
gitive search before Tuten was arrested nine weeks later in Pine Hill.
Prosecutors did not know about the relationship between Chesney and Tuten when she was seated on the grand jury in federal court in Camden.
Kevin Smith, the assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the drug organization, said the charge against Chesney is "incredibly rare and incredibly serious." He said he did not know of a similar case against a grand juror in New Jersey.
Chesney "put the investigating officers and arresting officers in such substantial danger that, thankfully, no one was hurt," Smith said. "Luckily, the defendant chose to flee other than to take different measures."
Chesney, 28, was arrested yesterday in Superior Court in Atlantic County, where she was appearing on burglary charges, Smith said. She was charged in federal court with obstruction of justice. Chesney faces up to 10 years if convicted.
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Putting an ignoran
t negress on a "grand jury" strikes me as a contradiction in terms.