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Report due on aborted sting at governor's mansion

Probe was to find out if Strickland administration interfered with OSP.

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By Laura A. Bischoff, Columbus Bureau Updated 10:40 AM Wednesday, April 28, 2010

COLUMBUS — An Inspector General’s report, to be released Thursday, April 29, is expected to determine whether the Strickland administration interfered with a planned sting by the Ohio Highway Patrol at the governor’s mansion.

In January, prison officials learned of a plan by an inmate working at the residence to have his wife drop a “six-pack” at “Red’s House.” At the time, they didn’t know what “six-pack” referred to, but learned it was tobacco — banned by prison rules.

The sting was canceled by the patrol’s top command, including Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Cathy Collins-Taylor, a Strickland appointee.

The change in plans triggered an investigation by state Inspector General Tom Charles, hearings by the GOP-controlled Senate Criminal Justice Committee and enormous speculation as to whether Collins-Taylor canceled it for safety’s sake or to avoid the potential embarrassment of a drug bust at the governor’s house.

It’s not clear if Charles’ report will deal with issues beyond the aborted sting.

The patrol and the public safety department, which oversees the patrol, have had a series of screw-ups and conflicts that have put the Strickland administration on the defensive.

For example:

• Then-Public Safety Director Henry Guzman delayed implementing new rules for so long that thousands of illegal immigrants were able to falsely register their cars through the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

• Two troopers were disciplined for distributing a photo of one of them wearing Ku Klux Klan garb on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

• An off-duty trooper clocked at more than 140 mph on an interstate wasn’t ticketed until later.

• The patrol fired a dozen troopers caught cheating on a certification test needed to administer drunken driving tests.

Strickland eventually asked for Guzman’s resignation, along with Patrol Superintendent Richard “Butch” Collins. The governor promoted Collins-Taylor, who ran the DPS’ Ohio Investigative Unit, to replace Guzman.

The new director then picked David Dicken, a patrol captain, as the new superintendent.

Collins-Taylor and Dicken leapfrogged higher-ranking patrol brass.

Dicken was on the job a week when prison officials learned about the supposed drop at the governor’s residence.

Maj. Robert Booker and Capt. Michelle Henderson planned a sting to catch the inmates trying to smuggle contraband.

Dicken and Collins-Taylor questioned how safe it would be to allow someone to leave an unknown package at the suburban Columbus mansion while the governor was hosting a dinner party.

Collins-Taylor canceled the sting and told Booker to essentially warn the woman not to try it.

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