Former Police Commander Allegedly Taped Selling Meth

Norman Wielsch Drug Deal Caught On Tape: Former Police Commander Allegedly Taped Selling Meth
The Huffington Post by Robin Wilkey - March 23, 2012

NBC Bay Area obtained a video that appears to show former police commander Norman Wielsch and private investigator Christopher Butler engaged in an illegal drug deal. According to NBC, the video allegedly shows Wielsch and Butler selling what prosecutors said was a pound of methamphetamine stolen from a police evidence locker to government informant Carl Marino. The video, released publicly on Thursday, was taken using a video camera concealed inside the informant's keychain. Wielsch and Butler were both indicted by a federal grand jury on corruption and drug charges last year. Both pleaded not guilty, but the release of this video is what some are calling the "smoking gun." According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Marino gave Wielsch and Butler $9,800 in marked bills (which are allegedly counted in the video) in exchange for the stolen methamphetamine. The exchange allegedly took place on February 15, 2011, and Wielsch and Butler were arrested the next morning. Marino detailed the experience to NBC Bay Area: "I'd never videotaped him [Wielsch] and I'm using equipment that he is very familiar with. I mean it's from his own department," said Marino to NBC. "If he realizes I'm doing that I just know it's not going to be good for me." Over the past year, the much-publicized story of Butler and Wielsch has continued to shock the community, as the details of alleged corruption have unfolded. Last week, a woman who managed an undercover brothel in Pleasant Hill alleged that Wielsch protected her organization from police intervention in exchange for cash payments. When asked about the recently released video, Butler's lawyer William Gagen told the Chronicle, "The evidence is what it is. I've got nothing to say to put a positive spin on it." Watch NBC's video about the released footage below. Then take a look at the raw footage, courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle: CLICK HERE TO SEE NBC's VIDEO