Sugar Ditch Lawmen

By Jerome Hudson

And Joseph Hall, a twenty-one year old police officer, who took a career in law enforcement after graduating from high school-he tried to support his family without succumbing to corruption that he faced each day on the job.

The drug dealers were protected by cops, in a small town that becomes the richest town in the world; They’re busy getting rich, gambling, drug trafficking, destroying case files and they want Hall to get on their band wagon-or fired. For Hall, eight years in law enforcement have come down to this: a solo war for his life and job against a corrupted Sheriff, his colleagues with a badge/gun and a drug king pin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 22, 2008
• ISBN: 9781669807339

Jerome Hudson

Jerome Hudson is the Entertainment Editor for Breitbart.com.

Book preview

Copyright © 2008 by Jerome Hudson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 01/13/2022

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Moving Back to the Delta

Chapter 2 Out for the Summer

Chapter 3 Waiting on a Call from Chuck

Chapter 4 A Grown Man Now

Chapter 5 His Life Begins

Chapter 6 Becoming a Policeman

Chapter 7 Career Begins as a Law Enforcement Officer

Chapter 8 Suspended

Chapter 9 A Confidential Informant is Killed

Chapter 10 Burglary in Progress

Chapter 11 Bank Alarm

Chapter 12 Will You Drop the Drug Charges

Chapter 13 Relieved of Duty

Chapter 14 Hired the Wrong Legal Counsel

Chapter 15 Fired

Chapter 16 Undercover Agent

Chapter 17 Head of Narcotics

Chapter 18 Organized Drug Task Force

Chapter 19 The First Sign of Corruption

Chapter 20 Memo After Memo

Chapter 21 Where is the Case File?

Chapter 22 Wearing a Uniform Again

Chapter 23 Back at Work

Chapter 24 What’s Your Problem?

Chapter 25 Needed in the Courtroom

Chapter 26 Back from Vacation

Chapter 27 Unsolved Murder Scene...

Chapter 28 Chief Sykes Arrested...

Chapter 29 Looking for a Second-in-Command...

Chapter 30 Melvin Bills Comes to the County...

Chapter 31 Former Director Melvin Bills Comes to Talley County...

Chapter 32 Sheriff Pettis arrested...

Chapter 33 The Sheriff’s Resignation...

Chapter 34 Interim Sheriff Appointed...

Chapter 35 Administration Changes...

Chapter 36 Chop Shop...

Chapter 37 Chop Shop... Search Warrant

Chapter 38 Chop Shop... Interviews

Chapter 39 The Next Morning a Candidate is Killed...

Chapter 40 The Next Morning...

Chapter 41 New Sheriff is Elected...

Chapter 42 Sheriff Edwards’ First Staff Meeting...

Chapter 43 Sheriff Edwards Second Meeting...

Chapter 44 Sheriff Edwards Continues Second Meeting...

Chapter 45 Sheriff Edwards’ Rumors...

Chapter 46 Agent Hall Continued to Fight Crime...

Chapter 47 Biggest Drug Bust in Talley County History...

Chapter 48 Sheriff Edwards Goes after Lt. Hall

Chapter 49 Sheriff Edwards Relieves Lt. Hall of Duty

About the Author

Special thanks to: Attorney Deborah Godwin, Betsy Bartlett

McKinney, Bobby F. Martin, Jr., to the late Sheriff David M. Bryan,

Commander Jason Crestman, Deputy Chief Henry Purnell, Kary

Ellington, J.W. Hudson, Melvin Burgess Sr., Mark Richard and FedEx

Express Corporate Security who together inspired me to live;

Acknowledgments

V ery special thanks go out to many who aided in this effort, both directly and indirectly. First and foremost my deep gratitude goes to GOD, who is the head of my life and who has made all things possible for me in this world. And to my special friend Kysha, my children Kyaira Alexis, Keeyairika, Arielle, and La’Brandon; this book is dedicated to my mother, Mrs. Bettie Jean Hudson; my father, Roosevelt Hudson Jr.; my grandparents the late Charles Lee, Jeanette Lee, and Roosevelt Hudson Sr.; my grandmother, Mary Emma Hudson; my Aunt Vera Hudson; my Godparents, Dennis Cage, Mary Cage; my brother, Tyrone Hudson; my sisters, Carolyn McMullan, Theresa Hudson, Kimberly Hudson, Shelia Cage, Jackie Cage, Felicia Redd Cage, and Denise Cage. Also, thanks Ly Granger, Leonard Granger, Jeff Fondron, Pop Jackson, Sarah Jackson, Faye Earl Austin, Leflore County Supervisor Otis Abron, Bernard Tolbert, Mr. Child Rice, Mrs. Donzella Rice, Colonel Charles R. (Chuck) Rice, Florence Rice, Valerie Rice, Patricia Allen, Vanessa Thompson, Gregory Allen, Barbara Gill, Katherine Smith and to all my aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews; to the late Sue Abron, Elder C. W. Watson, Mrs. Hannah Bea Funches, Mrs. Mary Ray and Willie Lee Jackson Sr., who all together inspired me to live my life in a positive and useful manner; Finally, this book is a heartfelt tribute to all the dedicated law enforcement professionals who have passed on—who labored with due diligence and put their lives on the line day and night to serve and protect the citizens of the United States of America within their respective jurisdiction, and to every person in the field of Law Enforcement Criminal Corrections in Tunica County, Mississippi who stood by me and shared in the struggle against the peddlers of the narcotics poisons which continue tear at the social fabric of our society.

I owe a debt of gratitude to FedEx Express which is the best company in the world, Dr. Roney Strong Sr., New Independence M. B. Church, Holmes Chapel M.B. Church, Alvin Calhoun, Dr. Natasha Billups, Harold Muhammad, Rev. Nathaniel Smtih, Climmons Jones, Shelia Williams and Ann Williams whom all believed in this book from the beginning and made many constructive suggestions during the course of editing it; To all of these people, my deepest thanks. Any errors or omission in this work are my own responsibility. The credit deserves to be shared with all who helped me.

Sugar-Ditch Lawmen

. . . And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.

Colossians 3: 23

"If you are going to make a difference, you might as well make it a positive one.

—Cal Ripken Jr

Don’t think so much about who is for or against you, rather give all your care, that GOD is with you in everything you do.

—Thomas A. Kempis

Chapter 1

Moving Back to the Delta

J oseph Hall use to wonder why his parents decided to move from the big city of Chicago to the Southern part of Mississippi, to live out in the Country. They moved on an old dusty gravel road with no street lights in sight.

Hall was the oldest of four children, born at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois to his parents on January 16, 1972. He attended preschool on the Westside of Chicago. A year after his baby brother was born in 1977, Hall’s mother and father decided that they needed to raise their children in the South. They both decided to move them to the Delta area of Southern Mississippi. Hall’s family settled in Slaughter, a small country town where his parents were born and raised before moving to Illinois; both want to find better jobs at that time even though in the South at that time the only work without an education was plantation work: chopping and picking cotton, and they didn’t want that. He didn’t blame them for moving, but he did blame them for moving back to that old Hick Town. Hall’s parents got married in 1968, left Mississippi and they found a job in Illinois. Several years later, a beautiful boy was born; him, then his brother. Life was very exciting to them in Illinois; now he knew why they move them back. Most of his relatives were living there in the South; especially both sets of his grandparents. Under the circumstances, he believed that they made the right choice. Trusting babysitters in the big city was a key factor for his father. They packed their things and loaded them on a U-Haul truck and headed back to the South. Hall would never forget that long drive, sitting in the middle seat of the U-Haul, between his two uncles smoking cigarettes like a

Choo-choo train; both took turns and rested each other while one slept during driving the trip. Hall believed his mama’s idea of moving, was to move them to a neighborhood which she thought might be safer for his siblings. In several hours of the road trip to the South was over. Their furniture was stored in storage. Hall’s parents did not look back to moving back to Illinois. There in the South, his family lived with his mother parents until they could find work. Hall then was enrolled into a fairly new built school, what was known as the Scott Baker Junior High School. During that time the school system had very good professional teachers that cared about the students in that small town. They cared so much, when you screwed up! They would beat your butt and then reported to your parents. Most of the teachers, taught Hall’s parents. But unfortunately, the school didn’t have enough students living in the Slaughter’s area to keep the Scott Baker Junior High School’s door open. Local white politicians didn’t really care and closed down the fairly new build school. Now the change has come, the dropout rate went up in the community. Some of the blacks’ students were frustrated about the closing; so they decided to drop-out and hang out on the corners and the others decided to work on the farms. That was part of the plan of the politicians that served on the board that voted to close the school.

A small town with the majority poor blacks living in the rural area; most of them did not own their land or homes. All plantation land was owned by the white farmers and they needed cotton choppers, tractor drivers, maids; etc on their farms. Most of the black at that time lived on their plantation in their ragged houses. So they had no choice but to work for them with no educational background and obey the white farmers command. If the blacks failed to work or obey orders they would have to move off the plantation and live else where. The white politicians was afraid to keep the Scott Baker School open, because they knew most blacks would have gotten their education, left the South and went to find jobs elsewhere or ran for political office to make economy better for that local community. Politicians began to destroy the Scott Baker School building immediately; as a result of local political haggling, Hall’s parents then enrolled him into the T.D. Flowers Elementary School, located about twelve miles outside of Slaughter. During that time frame, Hall’s father took a job with the Road Department in the County and his mother found work at a Motor Car Industry; the family came from a religious background so they needed to find a church home. They found a small Baptist Church to attend-that set along a road outside on a Country Road; about five miles away from their home.

Hill Chapel Baptist Church, the pastor there was the late Charles Taylor known as Elder C.T. Taylor. Back in the late 60’s this church was used as a grammar school for the poor blacks. The Halls joined. Father became a deacon and mother sung in the choir and was a bible class teacher. Hall grew to love his pastor, Elder Taylor was a guy that knew how to reach out to the kids, he only attended grammar school; but the Lord gave him the wisdom and knowledge how to do things. He would pray and go to sleep at night and in his sleep the Lord would reveal to him how something should be done. Elder Taylor was anointed by God. He cared about people in general; he cared about the youth in the community and the ones that attended his church. He first started preaching the gospel in 1949 at the age of 23. In 1950, he was employed at the U.S. Gypsum Corporation. His boss wanted him to work on Sunday; but he refused to work on Sunday, because he felt that he had to preach the gospel. His bicycle was his only means of travel at that time; stepping out on faith, he quit his job and began riding his bicycle in the community from house to house asking for donations to start a broadcasting network; He wanted to get the gospel out to the sick and shut-in people, who were not able to go to church. Elder Taylor gathered enough donations, to get the radio broadcast started. His close friend James Redid, a disc jockey, suggested to him to name the broadcast LET’S HAVE CHURCH! Elder Taylor agreed and it was so named. His dream of having a gospel radio station, now live on and is still being heard every Sunday morning after 57 years;

Hall was eight years old at the time, and he noticed that the small church was ragged and barely standing, but he enjoyed going because during Youth Sunday School, several students was paid $2 for doing a good job that Sunday, by an old lady known as Mrs. Bea. She was another woman that spared the rod on the kids in the community. Hall remembered when she passed away. During church or funeral services the crowd was so large; folks had to stand outside in the weather.

Hall’s grandparents lived in grinding poverty in rural Slaughter. He remembered the ill-insulated house where he was staying in, it wooding siding rife with holes, offered only cursory resistance to the summer heat and winter cold. Hall can vividly recall how his grandparents’ chickens and turkeys would descend through the gaping holes in the floor boards inside the house in order to get outside. His grandparents would raise eggs from chicken and turkey for meals. His grandfather was a pro, when it came to raising hogs.

Hall couldn’t wait for New Year’s Day; his grandfather would kill hogs that day every year.

Amenities were meager, to say the very least they had an outhouse as they used for the bathroom, water had to be heated manually on a wooden heater and his family routinely bathed in what they called a wash-pan. Hall was relegated to going to school dressed in the same clothes three days in a row. After school he was expected to return home and complete whatever chores his parents had assigned him. Only then could he eat his modest meal and afterward do his homework.

Several months passed by and Hall’s parents were able to afford to purchase land within the city limit of Slaughter, in that community the local folks called it the RED LINE. It was unknown to Hall, why they called the community this name. Thereafter, they were able to build a house. While construction was ongoing on their new house, Hall continued to enjoy staying with his grandparents. Hall’s grandmother would always have rice and a hotdog waiting for him to eat when got off the bus from school.

Hall would look at his Big Mama that’s what he called her; as a respectable beautiful woman. She would say to him, Hall, one day I would like for you to grow up and be a respectable young man. I want all my grandchildren to do well in life. Do you understand me? Hall’s eyes lit up. Yes madam."

Hall just stared at her with that weird looking wig on her head and while she pointed her walking cane at him, I mean it! Hall replied again, Okay, Big Mama.

And his grandfather sitting across from them in his rocking chair, Woman, what are you talking about? That boy doesn’t understand what you are talking about!

Look, Grandmother said as she grunted. He does understand!

Grandfather replied, Baby, I guess he do, the way he is looking at you with that wig sitting on your head twisted, he is learning how to be respectful now. Because, I would have told you to fix it. She just looked at him and laughed.

Grandfather said, Hall, listen to your grandmother, she is right, I want what’s best for you and the rest of yawl. The chances you have coming in the future, I want live to see it, but you grow up and be the best you can be in life. Yes sir. Hall said.

The next morning, Hall’s grandmother had a doctor’s appointment. She was in fairly good health to be her age at seventy eight. Several days later, Hall remembers his grandmother coming home sick from the doctor. He noticed from that day forward she was sick day after day. She wasn’t very talkative, lying in her hospital bed at home, with tubes running from her nose, mouth and arms. Hall dreads seeing his grandmother lay there and suffer from her sickness.

Finally, the time had come for Hall and his parents to move into their new house. Hall’s mother and her siblings had to rotate spending nights at his grandmother’s house to take care of his grandmother. Early one morning, the telephone rang. Hall was just getting ready for school and his mother answered the phone. Hall’s mother began to talk on the phone and he knew from the conversation his mother was having, she was talking to his aunt. For a moment his mom was speechless; not saying anything but was still holding the phone to her ear. Hall noticed at that point his mother’s face became sadden and wet with tears. And he sat quietly and watched his mom hang the phone up. She immediately turned to his father and said, Momma . . . has gotten worst, we need to go to her house.

Hall dressed and ready for school knew he was going to miss school and go with them to see his grandmother. Mom, he said. Can, I go too? His mom looked at him and replied, No, Hall you are going to school!

Hall with that disappointed