AUGUSTA - A veteran Augusta narcotics officer and a former member of the Richmond County sheriff's crime suppression unit have been accused of conspiring to distribute crack cocaine. <br>
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Ralph Tyrone Williams, 36, pleaded innocent Tuesday in U.S. District Court to drug trafficking charges handed down by a federal grand jury in Savannah. <br>
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The grand jury indicted Williams and Joseph Ellick, 34, who worked for the sheriff's office from 1994 to 2001 and now lives in Florida, on charges of cocaine conspiracy and attempt to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, including setting up drug dealers in order to steal their drugs. <br>
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The indictment accused Williams and Ellick of conspiring from 1997 through August 2000 to possess and distribute more than 50 grams of crack. <br>
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``There are bad apples in every bunch,'' Sheriff Ronnie Strength said at a news conference Tuesday. ``We will weed them out as soon as we know of anything. Realistically, these things do happen, especially with agencies as large as ours.'' <br>
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Williams faces a second charge of conspiring with drug dealer Joe Nathan Green, 33, who was twice convicted of drug charges in South Carolina and is facing life sentences on a new federal conviction. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Jan. 25. <br>
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The indictment also alleged that Williams violated the Hobbs Act by extorting money from drug dealers by providing information on narcotics investigations in exchange for payments.
