Entrapped

Most of the cocaine used for reverse stings in South Florida comes from the DEA or FBI. At any given time, Callari said in court, Hollywood police have about 20 kilograms at their disposal.

In his meeting with police, Mackey explained to the detectives that Curry had discussed drugs and "had numerous individuals looking to purchase large-scale amounts of cocaine powder," Murray said in court. Murray also claimed that he was unaware that Mackey had pursued a romantic relationship with Curry. "She was an employee at an eyeglass place," Murray said, "and he went in there to purchase some eyeglasses and engaged in conversation with the defendant."

How much Hollywood police knew about Mackey and his prior relationship with Curry is crucial. When asked in court whether he had verified Mackey's claims of working for the DEA and police in Washington, D.C., Murray said he talked to one official but could not recall the agency. "I'm pretty sure it was a detective in Orlando," he said vaguely. Had Detective Murray known that Mackey was romantically rejected by the mark, he might have realized the sting operation was improper. If he didn't know of the liaison, it's clear that he failed to properly vet his confidential informant.

Prior to any conversations taped by Hollywood police, Mackey had asked Curry if she could help him sell cocaine. She said she would talk to her brother, Bousfield. On July 6 at 10:12 p.m., Mackey called Curry and handed the phone to Detective Murray, who posed as a drug dealer named Jay.

The pair arranged to meet two days later. Curry didn't know she'd be performing in front of a camera.

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On July 8 at 12:30 p.m., Murray set the stage for his drug sting. He parked his red, two-door Ford Explorer outside the Oakwood Plaza Pearle Vision. From another unmarked police car, an officer trained a video camera on the SUV. Leon Mackey, dressed in a tight, light-blue shirt and jeans shorts that extended just past his knees, wore a police wire strapped to his body. He walked inside the optical store to fetch Valarie Curry.

Nearly an hour later, Mackey reappeared. Behind him walked Curry, dressed in a lightweight white blazer and white pants. The police camera panned across the parking lot as the informant and his target made their way to the Explorer. Curry sat down in the passenger seat. Mackey waited anxiously outside.

Murray, a tall man with sandy blond hair and a full beard wearing a light-blue Sears mechanics shirt, sat in the Explorer's driver's seat. "It's busy in there?" he asked, posing as Jay.

"Saturday is crazy," Curry answered. "Everybody wants glasses on Saturday. I had a whole big family. The kids, the mother -- everybody needed glasses."

What Murray says next is inaudible, but he clearly introduces drugs into the conversation. Curry brings up Bousfield, who she said sells drugs. "That's my brother's area," she says. "Everything's all right. For me, I ain't no trafficker. I used to traffic drugs a lot in the '80s... I know what's going on. But I haven't been around in so long."

Curry was boasting. She now claims that Mackey had prepped her on what to say. "I was just talking shit, to tell you the truth," she says. "Talking shit for him to feel comfortable. 'You have to make him feel like you know what you're doing.' That's what Leon told me."

The videotape continues. "I'm getting ready to drop a half [kilo] off to somebody else," Murray says, showing Curry a plastic bag filled with white powder. "That's beautiful, huh?"

"That's nice," Curry responds. "Yeah, man, that's all I used to do, Freeport, Nassau. Man, we had a customer who was working with us, and he used to let us go straight through [security]."

"Oh, I wish I would have known you a long time ago..."

"OK, well, he got my number," Curry says, referring to Mackey. "You can get my number. I'm working here 12 to 5..."

"Maybe I'll come get some glasses," Murray says jokingly.

But it wasn't glasses that Murray wanted. It was Curry. Twelve days later, on Thursday, July 20, 2000, the final taped phone call came at 11:20 p.m. Curry looked at her cell phone and recognized the number. It was Jay.

The two arranged to meet an hour later in the parking lot at the TGI Friday's in Oakwood Plaza. Curry would buy a two-ounce sample for $600. If it was good, she'd become the go-between for Murray and her brother.

At midnight, Curry pulled up in her sister's 1995 Toyota Camry. Two spots over was the red Ford Explorer. Curry walked over and saw Jay in the passenger seat. He stepped out of the vehicle.

"Where's Leon [Mackey]?" Curry asked.

"He had to make a run," she remembered Jay replying.

Curry gave the detective the $600. He handed her a small bag. The deal was done. She walked back to her car, placed the bag in the back seat, and headed toward the bar, where two of her friends were waiting to have drinks.