Attorney Says Drug Suspect Was Framed

The man police say is the biggest supplier of crack cocaine ever caught in Spokane kept his dope on ice, a federal jury was told Monday.

Darryl Jackson, 31, was arrested Oct. 19 by police and federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents who found 2 pounds of crack worth $170,000 hidden in a refrigerator.

“He kept it hidden in the freezer compartment” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Skibbie told the jury in opening statements.

“Yes, that it a lot of crack cocaine,” defense attorney Gary Penar responded, “but it didn’t belong to my client.”

Jackson, who police say is a gang member from Compton, Calif., is charged with conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

If convicted, he faces a mandatory 10 years in prison.

The defense attorney said Jackson was framed as a result of “abusive police tactics” and deal-making with co-defendants, who were “encouraged to change their stories.”

The prosecution’s case against Jackson will be built around the testimony of Jackson’s former girlfriend, Angie Brasch, whom he impregnated, Penar told the jury.

Brasch, 20, struck a plea bargain, as did her new boyfriend, co-defendant Steven Brown. Both will testify against Jackson.

“There is Darryl, in the middle of this (love) triangle, if you will,” Penar told the jury.

Jackson’s arrest came after a police informer had bought crack on three days in October from Brown.

Brown, 25, a convicted felon, later expressed a willingness to trade crack cocaine for a 9mm handgun, Skibbie told the jury.

After Brown bought the gun in a sting at Francis and Wall, police followed Brasch to the Heatherwood Apartments at N6616 Addison.

There, they watched her go into an an apartment and return to a car, where police seized 4.5 grams of crack on the seat, Skibbie said.

When police went to the apartment, occupant Tracy Nowacki allowed them to search the unit, and they found the two pounds of crack. They also found $8,600 in cash in the apartment, where Jackson occasionally stayed, the prosecutor said.

Penar said the defense will have an expert testify that the cocaine found in the car didn’t match the type found in the apartment freezer.

He also told the jury that in exchange for her cooperation, Tracy Nowacki never was charged by police for the crack found in her apartment.