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http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/state/15533338.htm

Posted on Sat, Sep. 16, 2006

Jackson Mayor Melton indicted
AG Hood will offer plea deal

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JACKSON - Mayor Frank Melton, who has been accused of being too heavy-handed in fighting crime, was indicted Friday on charges he directed young people to use sledgehammers to smash up a home where he suspected drugs were being used.

The felony charges included malicious mischief, home burglary and carrying a gun on school property. Prosecutors said convictions on all charges would carry up to 50 years in prison, and Melton, 57, would have to resign.

Two police officers who served as Melton's bodyguards, Detectives Marcus Wright and Michael Recio, also were indicted. All three were released after posting bail.

Their surrender came a day after Hinds County prosecutors announced that a grand jury would review allegations stemming from the destruction of a duplex on Aug. 26 and a fight in a nightclub the same night. None of the indictments handed down Friday were related to the nightclub fight.

Both Wright and Recio were reassigned within the Police Department, according to a statement released late Friday on Chief Shirlene Anderson's letterhead.

Melton's attorney, former Jackson Mayor Dale Danks, said Melton was trying to rid Jackson of crime. Danks said damage was done to a "drug house."

"Maybe better judgment could've been used but the charges that have been made against Mayor Melton are an extreme and excessive reaction," Danks said.

Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin has said his department investigated allegations that Melton directed a group of young people to knock out walls of a duplex with sledgehammers, and that the mayor and his entourage then attacked a club manager.

Evans Welch, 45, who lived in the wrecked duplex, was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Some City Council members said Melton should resign.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, who helped present evidence to the grand jury, said his office will offer Melton a plea deal. Hood wouldn't release details of the deal but told reporters, "If we're able to resolve it by resignation and a plea, that would be the best thing."

Melton is a blunt-spoken former television executive who used to post billboards with pictures of people he said were drug dealers. He served as director of the state drug enforcement agency from December 2002 to January 2005. He also has said he has mentored several young men who aren't related to him, including allowing some to live in his home in a wealthy neighborhood. His wife is a physician with a practice in Tyler, Texas.

Melton was elected Jackson mayor in July 2005 on a tough-on-crime platform. He has drawn national attention for his unconventional leadership style, including participating in police raids and roadblocks.

The American Civil Liberties Union last month accused Melton, who is black, of civil rights violations, including racial profiling. The city is nearly 71 percent black.

The past several months, Melton has cruised the streets of Jackson in a recreational vehicle that's outfitted as the Police Department's mobile command center, usually taking along an entourage that includes young men who are not law-enforcement officers.

Melton also has been seen carrying firearms in public, although he is not a sworn law officer.

As conditions of his bail, Melton is forbidden to carry weapons or to supervise minors who aren't related to him. He also is banned from using any law enforcement vehicle, including the mobile command center.

Hood said he hopes for a quick resolution to Melton's case so the city can try to resolve its crime problems.

"The good Lord makes things happen for a reason," Hood said. "Maybe this is the point where the city of Jackson has kind of hit bottom."