By BEN KLEIN
The State Attorney General's office filed charges Thursday against Joseph R. Wees, 32, 16 Plum St., Warren, for allegedly falsely incriminating another and tampering or fabricating physical evidence while working as a confidential informant for the Warren County Drug Task Force in early 2010.
Wees allegedly gave false information to members of the task force implicating Andrew J. Lester, 27, 181 Fullerton Rd., Clarendon, of selling him a total of four ounces of cocaine on four separate occasions between Feb. 15, 2010 and March 12, 2010, according to a criminal complaint filed by Special Agent Regis M. Kelly at District Justice Laura S. Bauer's office.
A criminal complaint filed against Lester on July, 20, 2010 at District Justice Arthur Zerbe's office by Jerrold R. Falconer of the task force charged him with 10 felonies; four violations of the controlled substance, drug, device and cosmetic act and six charges of criminal use of a communication facility.
Lester was released three days later on $50,000 bail and all charges were eventually withdrawn on Oct. 13, 2010.
According to the criminal complaint filed Thursday, Wees told members of the task force that "Lester sold him cocaine or substances that appeared to be cocaine, when Andrew Lester did not in fact make those sales to Wees" (and) " in fact the actor personally packaged the counterfeit substance with no involvement from Andrew Lester."
Wees stated in an interview with Kelly and Special Agent Lee Yingling on Oct. 13, 2011 and Nov. 2, 2011 that he was requested by the task force to act as a confidential informant and purchase cocaine from Lester.
Wees "admitted that he had signed statements for the Warren County Drug Task Force describing drug sales on four occasions, identifying Andrew Lester as the seller, and that those statements were false," the complaint states.
A letter sent by Judge Mauren Skerda to the Attorney General on April 19, 2011, requested an investigation after Greene and Cassasanta presented information indicating Wees had lied.
According to Skerda's letter, after Lester was released on bail, his attorney Robert Greene and Private Investigator Eugene Cassasanta were able to establish the confidential informant, Wees, had taken the money provided to him by the task force, lied, and produced a substance that appeared to be narcotics that he then delivered to the task force.
The substanced turned out not to be narcotics.
"When evidence was presented to the Warren County District Attorney, the charges against Mr. Lester were withdrawn. When Mr. Lester's counsel inquired whether the confidential informant would be prosecuted, the District Attorney's response was that if Mr. Lester pursued a private criminal complaint, the District Attorney would reinstate criminal charges against Mr. Lester," Skerda said. "Given these circumstances, the Court is requesting that this criminal complaint and any subsequent investigation be handled by the Attorney General to represent the Commonwealth and to investigate charges and, if necessary, prosecute the defendant."
Following Skerda's request, the Attorney General's Office opened an investigation on June 23, 2011.
A preliminary hearing has been set for Wees on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at the Warren County Courthouse.