Former Cop Sentenced On Federal Obstruction Charge

CARTERSVILLE, GA — A former Cartersville police officer has been sentenced for tipping off drug traffickers that the FBI was wiretapping their phones as part of its investigation.

Bryson-Taylor Wayne Banks, a Calhoun resident, will serve one year and six months in federal prison, which will be followed by three years on probation. The sentence comes two months after Banks pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful notification of electronic surveillance.

“The defendant chose to protect a network of drug dealers and attempted to cover up his illegal conduct by sabotaging an FBI investigation,” said U.S. Attorney BJay Pak. “When those who are sworn to protect the public violate their oath, they will be prosecuted for their misconduct.”

According to prosecutors, in 2015, Banks, who was also a member of the Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force, was investigating drug traffickers operating in the Cartersville area, including Tomas Pineda Mendoza, using a female confidential source to obtain information about the network. In cultivating his relationship with the woman, Banks improperly gave her information from law enforcement databases and illegally sent her a picture of another cooperating source.

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The FBI was also conducting a separate investigation of Georgia state prison inmate, Francisco Palacios Baras, AKA “Shorty,” who was using contraband cell phones to coordinate meth transactions outside of the prison. Using a court-authorized wiretap on two of Shorty’s cell phones, the FBI learned that Mendoza was one of Shorty’s associates, and that Mendoza was scheduled to pick up two kilograms of methamphetamine. The FBI also learned that the confidential source had been storing drugs for Mendoza, and the federal agency planned to arrest Mendoza after he picked up the drugs, and to search the woman's home.

On the morning of the planned arrest, in the interest of sharing information and coordinating operations with fellow law enforcement agencies, an FBI agent told Banks about the wiretap investigation and the plan to arrest Mendoza and search the source's house. The feds did not know at the time that Banks had been providing the woman with confidential information that allowed the drug traffickers to identify federal agents and other cooperating sources.

Banks, knowing that Mendoza was about to be arrested and that the woman's house may contain drugs and evidence of the information he had illegally been providing to her, contacted his source and instructed her to tell Mendoza to not pick up drugs that day because the FBI planned to arrest him. Banks also told the woman that the FBI knew about Mendoza because they were wiretapping Shorty’s phones.

Mendoza did not pick up the drugs as planned, but was intercepted over the wiretap calling Shorty and telling him that “one of the girls” had warned Mendoza not to pick up the drugs. Mendoza said that he had identified the agents watching his apartment, as “the girl” had warned, and that law enforcement was listening to Shorty’s phones. Following this, Shorty stopped using the phones being wiretapped by the FBI.

With the arrest plan compromised, the surveillance team identified, and the wiretap exposed, the FBI agents had to take precautions for agents' personal safety and try to rebuild the investigation. However, the renewed investigation was ultimately successful, resulting in Shorty and Mendoza being arrested and sentenced to 9 years, seven months, and 10 years, 10 months imprisonment, respectively, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Cartersville police spokesperson Lt. Mike Bettikofer previously said when the agency became aware of the allegations against Banks, it initiated an internal investigation. Within two weeks, Banks was terminated for issues related to conduct.

David LeValley, special agent in charge of the FBI Atlanta Field Office, said Banks not only violated the trust of the community he served, he also undermined the FBI's investigation and "put law enforcement officers in imminent danger."

“By choosing to align himself with drug dealers he has earned a sentence that will allow him to spend more time with them in prison," he added.

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