KY constables falsely arrested undercover FBI agent in corruption case, prosecutor says
Two Kentucky constables allegedly falsely arrested an undercover FBI agent helping investigate them on suspicions of stealing money confiscated in drug cases.
Information about the incident, in a court document from prosecutors, provides more detail about the case against Pulaski County constables Michael “Wally” Wallace and Gary E. Baldock.
The two are charged in federal court with conspiring to violate the rights of people through bogus searches and seizures of property.
The investigation focused on allegations that the two planted drugs on people to arrest them, improperly searched or arrested people, and stole money they’d seized during investigations, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason D. Parman said in a memorandum.
Wallace and Baldock have pleaded not guilty.
People the two arrested provided information to the FBI, but the agency also did an undercover operation to see if Wallace and Baldock would break the law, the court record indicates.
That event took place last September.
Wallace had a tip line where people could provide information on suspected crimes.
The FBI called in an anonymous tip with information on the location of the undercover agent, who was in the parking lot of the Somerset Mall, and a description of his vehicle.
The tip said the man was a possible drug dealer, according to the court memo.
Federal agents watched from near the vehicle as Wallace and Baldock approached, and also did surveillance from an airplane.
The constables took the agent out of the vehicle and searched and handcuffed him. He had a key to a local motel and some cash, but no drugs, according to the memo.
Wallace then walked around the vehicle with his drug-sniffing dog.
Wallace claimed the dog indicated the presence of drugs, but the aerial surveillance showed the dog simply circled the vehicle, the memo said.
Wallace called a Burnside police officer to come to the mall and check whether the agent was impaired. That officer did a field sobriety test and told Wallace and Baldock the agent showed no sign of being intoxicated, according to the prosecution memo.
Still, the constables searched the vehicle. When they didn’t find drugs, they took the agent to the motel while Wallace asked a judge to issue a search warrant.
Wallace allegedly said the informant who called the tip line provided the suspect’s room number; that he saw a car approach the agent’s vehicle at the mall and then quickly leave; and that he saw a change in the agent’s behavior before getting him out of the vehicle and handcuffing him.
All those things were false, Parman said in the memo.
When the search of the motel room turned up no drugs, Baldock called the Burnside police officer and asked what a citation needed to say to properly arrest someone for public intoxication, according to the memo.
Baldock wrote a citation charging the agent with that offense. The agent was taken to jail and his vehicle and cash were seized.
When the FBI arranged to get the agent out of jail, someone — presumably an associate at the jail — notified Wallace.
He then called FBI agents to ask if he was being investigated, Parman said in the memo.
Wallace’s attorney, Robert E. Norfleet, said the details in the prosecution memo are the government’s version. Wallace has a different one.
Wallace vehemently asserts he is innocent and looks forward to clearing his name by presenting truthful witnesses and evidence and revealing the real motive for the “fabricated allegations” against him, Norfleet said.
“While the government may attempt to change charges, change theories, make disingenuous arguments, and apply pressure to Mr. Wallace, the fact that Mr. Wallace asserts he is innocent will not change,” Norfleet said.
Wallace and Baldock were charged in a sealed indictment in late February, and FBI special-tactics teams went to arrest them at their homes early on March 6.
The FBI arrested Wallace without incident, but Baldock shot at agents, who fired back. One agent was shot in the hand and arm and Baldock was shot in the chest.
Baldock’s attorney, Andrew M. Stephens, said in a court document that Baldock says FBI agents did not properly identify themselves before breaking down the front and back doors of his house.
Some neighbors in Baldock’s subdivision told his sons, Chad and Brad Baldock, that they didn’t hear an agent using a bullhorn to notify Baldock about the presence of agents outside the house until after shots were fired, Stephens said.
Stephens suggested agents were too aggressive and that Baldock thought someone was breaking in. He called 911 twice during the incident.
However, Parman said in a memo that agents turned on the emergency lights on their vehicles when they arrived at Baldock’s house.
The agents used a loudspeaker to announce they were there, called out Baldock’s name several times, said they had an arrest warrant for him and repeatedly told him to come to the door, according to the document.
When Baldock didn’t respond to commands to answer the door, FBI agents knocked down the front and back doors, but didn’t go in.
An agent at the back door saw a hand on a pistol in a holster. The person wearing the gun, later identified as Baldock, was in a “defensive posture” behind a wall, the memo said.
Agents identified themselves and ordered Baldock to drop the gun, but he shot at them. An agent shot back and Baldock stopped shooting.
However, as agents continued to identify themselves and order Baldock to surrender, he shot again, hitting one agent.
FBI agents never went inside before Baldock started shooting, according to the prosecution memo.
After the agent was hit, the FBI sent a robot with a camera into the house. It showed Baldock “maintaining an aggressive posture with his weapon over his bed,” the memo said.
However, agents ultimately convinced Baldock to come to the front door.
Neighbors told authorities they saw the FBI outside Baldock’s house and heard agents identify themselves, repeatedly call Baldock’s name and order him to come out before any shots were fired, according to the prosecutor.
Chad Baldock also told the FBI that his father had told him three days earlier he knew he’d been indicted and was scared, though he later changed his story, saying his father knew he’d been indicted but hadn’t told the son about it directly, according to the prosecution memo.
In either case, if Baldock knew he’d been indicted, he can’t claim “shock and confusion” to explain shooting at the agents, Parman said.
Attorneys presented information about the investigation and Baldock’s arrest in arguing about whether he should be released from custody pending trial.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Hanly A. Ingram on Monday turned down release for Baldock.
Wallace was released the day the two were arrested.
The civil rights charge against them carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Baldock also is charged with attempted murder of a federal agent and using a gun in a crime of violence. He faces a potential life sentence on the gun charge.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
