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OXFORD — In April 2024, Chaka Gaines was a sergeant with the Greenville Police Department and honored as supervisor of the month. This week, during a three-day trial, attorneys probed his interactions with a longtime Greenville drug dealer and allegations that he attempted to assist drug trafficking.
On Wednesday, a jury found him not guilty after less than two hours of deliberation.
“God is good,” Gaines said as he left the courtroom after the verdict. He embraced tearful supporters and thanked his attorney, Bridgette Morgan.
Gaines was accused of attempting to facilitate the transportation and distribution of 25 kilos of cocaine. The U.S. government had to prove that he intended to help with drug trafficking and made a significant step toward doing so. Prosecutors claimed Gaines intended to escort a truck bearing illegal narcotics from the eastern end of Greenville to the western side in his patrol vehicle.
The sting operation that ensnared Gaines was part of a federal crackdown on alleged law enforcement-assisted drug trafficking in the Mississippi Delta. In all, 14 law enforcement officers were charged in six indictments. Six of them have already pleaded guilty. Two additional trials of former law enforcement officers in the Mississippi Delta are scheduled for this summer.
Morgan referred to the government’s case against Gaines as a “disgusting example of injustice” and “clickbait” in her opening argument on Monday. She referred to the prosecutor’s proof as “fake evidence appearing real” in her closing argument.
She argued the government’s case sounded more real than it was. There was no cocaine used in the alleged drug run. The Mexican drug cartel member was an undercover FBI agent, she reminded jurors.
And there was no proof that Gaines ever interacted with him, Morgan said.
The drug run that Gaines was accused of attempting to aid and abet was part of a sting operation that federal prosecutors set up with the help of Fred Hood, a local drug dealer turned government informant. Morgan argued there was no clear agreement between Gaines and Hood to help transport cocaine or other illegal narcotics.
Robert J. Mims, the lead federal prosecutor, argued that drug deals don’t always entail formal agreements. He called on Justin Niedzwecki, the FBI special agent on the case, to explain to the jury that drug dealers and corrupt law enforcement officers routinely communicate in code. Hood echoed that point when he testified later.
The bulk of the evidence was recorded interactions between Gaines and Hood, in which prosecutors argued that code words for illegal narcotics were used. Federal agents recorded video of the alleged drug run from a plane.
“The government has shown they cannot be trusted,” Morgan said in her closing statement. “‘Should have known better’ is different than intentionally transporting 25 kilos of cocaine for the Mexican drug cartel.”
Prosecutors presented recordings of a conversation between Gaines and Hood in which the two discussed if all the “amps” had been picked up on the night of the alleged drug run. On the day that Gaines took $5,000 in cash from Hood at a Double Quick gas station, Gaines remarked that he would be comfortable to “f— around” again, but he didn’t want anybody else to know about it.
In a January 2023 in-person interaction, which prosecutors presented to the jury, Hood referred to transporting materials between Atlanta and Texas, and requiring Gaines’ help. Morgan brought up that he later said: “I don’t f— around like that.”
She also argued that the evidence didn’t prove Gaines’s intent to help on a drug run.
Morgan showed four instances, over the course of two interactions, when Gaines seemed to question what the two were discussing. Morgan also demonstrated that Hood was persistent in his outreach efforts and was being coached by an FBI agent on what to say to Gaines.
Days and weeks passed between some of the interactions. Nearly a month passed between the alleged drug run and the alleged bribe payment. Gaines sent Hood’s calls to voicemail on several occasions.
Prosecutors also argued that Gaines conducted countersurveillance on the night of the alleged drug run by pulling ahead of the truck bearing Hood and, supposedly, drugs, and falling behind at times. Morgan contended that Gaines left the alleged drug run early to answer a work call, not immediately accepting a payment.
The evidence in the case included four videos of interactions between Gaines and Hood, which prosecutors hoped would demonstrate Gaines’s intent to escort illegal drugs. Three additional calls were included in evidence as well as text exchanges, and a video recorded interview between Gaines and an FBI agent on the morning of his arrest in October.
All four witnesses in the case were government agents. Hood agreed to testify against Gaines to help out with drug charges, which stemmed from a 2021 arrest. Witnesses Special Agent Justin Niedzwecki, FBI Special Agent Lawrence Carroll and an undercover federal investigator, who testified in closed court, all helped on the case.
Senior U.S. District Court Judge of the Northern District of Mississippi Michael P. Mills also dismissed the second count of the indictment, which charged Gaines with using a firearm as part of his role in the alleged drug run, because there was insufficient evidence he had a gun.
Mills also took issue with some of the language of the indictment, particularly the mention of the Mexican drug cartel and that the word “birds” was used as code for 25 kilos of cocaine. Both, he said, were not relevant to the facts of Gaines’ case and were used more for “flamboyance.”
Prosecutors argued Gaines used other code words like “amps” and “sound system,” and not specifically “birds.”
In his closing arguments, Mims pleaded with the jury to consider the implications of acquitting Gaines, who he frequently referred to as a “dirty cop,” drawing objections from Morgan.
“No one can get justice, when you can’t trust the police,” Mims said
He could not immediately be reached for comment after the verdict.
