San Gabriel Valley : DEA Agent Asked Judge for Rehearing on Son’s Sentence

In a letter to a Santa Anita Municipal Court judge, a former head of internal affairs for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration asked that special consideration be taken in his son’s misdemeanor arson case, records show.

Johnny Phelps, who now works for the DEA out of Austin, Texas, wrote to Judge Carol Elswick, asking that she consider hearing his son’s case again after she sentenced the 21-year-old to 45 days in jail.

Phelp’s son, Steven Phelps, had disappeared from school in Austin almost two weeks before he was arrested in Arcadia on Nov. 21 for setting fire to a tree in a gas station parking lot.

The letter was written on plain paper but faxed with an official Department of Justice DEA cover sheet. The cover sheet read, “Not a DEA matter.” But in the letter, Johnny Phelps mentions that he is a “30-year veteran of law enforcement” and that he “made arrangements with Mr. Robert Bender, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administrator to meet Steven upon his release.”

Phelps said he was not trying to use his position to influence the judge.

Judge Elswick did not rehear the case. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department released Steven Phelps after a week, “as is customary,” Elswick said.