Former detective admits to evidence tampering in drug probe

SOMERVILLE, N.J. (AP) A former Somerset County detective has pleaded
guilty to evidence tampering for falsifying a police report to cover up an
illegal drug seizure.

James R. Dugan Jr., 35, a former detective in the Somerset County
Prosecutor's Office and former director of the county's police academy,
entered his plea Friday in Superior Court.

The plea ended a ninemonth probe into how former Somerset County
Prosecutor Nicholas Bissell's office handled the investigation of accused
drug dealer Isaac Wright.

Bissell was convicted of tax evasion, theft and abuse of office charges in
June 1996. Just before his sentencing in November, the former prosecutor
fled to Nevada and committed suicide when federal marshals tracked him to a
hotel.

In exchange for his plea, Dugan agreed to enter a pretrial intervention
program, similar to probation. If he completes the program successfully, he
can apply to have his criminal record erased.

Wright, a selfdescribed music industry official, was arrested in 1989 and
convicted two years later on charges of running a drugdealing ring in
Somerset, Middlesex and Passaic counties.

He was sentenced to life in prison under the state's drug kingpin statute,
with no chance of parole for 25 years, plus an array of other charges that
added 10 years to the sentence.

The state Supreme Court eventually dropped the kingpin charge, noting that
former Somerset County Superior Court Judge Michael Imbriani had not
properly explained the offense to the jury.

At a hearing last October on Wright's motion for a new trial, Wright
claimed misconduct by Bissell and his staff, alleging that detectives made
illegal searches and wiretaps in 1989 when they charged him.

At the hearing, Dugan admitted that he had not obtained a search warrant
before seizing three pounds of cocaine from a Passaic apartment during
Wright's arrest. He had not mentioned the lack of a search warrant in a
police report.

The case against Wright is scheduled to be retried in January.

Dugan declined to comment to reporters Friday. His attorney, Stephen
Altman, said Dugan pleaded guilty because he wanted to end the
investigation and avoid possibly going to prison for a more serious charge
of official misconduct.