CONVICTED COP REMAINS FREE

Former detective Wyatt Henderson will remain a free man despite being convicted of pistol-whipping a teenager then lying to his supervisors and the FBI.  He received seven years in prison.

But Henderson, 45, isn't going to prison anytime soon.

U.S.  District Judge Anne C.  Conway has delayed Henderson's surrender date again.  This time, indefinitely.

Conway has been unsatisfied with the Bureau of Prison's decision to send Henderson to a medium-security prison in Coleman, in Central Florida.  The judge wants the 6-foot, 5-inch, 250-pound former officer placed in a minimum-security prison in Eglin, in the Florida Panhandle.  She had given Henderson until Aug.  9 to surrender.

But a decision Conway made this week postpones his surrender indefinitely, granting the defense's motion for release pending the appeal.

U.S.  Attorney Douglas Molloy wrote in an argument that the U.S.  Bail Reform Act mandates that those who committed "crimes of violence" should be detained pending appeal.

Molloy did not want to comment Thursday.

The defense argued that Henderson does not pose a threat to the public and he is not a flight risk.  Molloy, however, has argued that the government does not want those convicted of violent offenses housed in the same place -- Eglin -- where there are high-ranking military officers.

Henderson was convicted on several charges stemming from a May 2002 incident in which he pistol-whipped a teenaged drug suspect during a marijuana deal at the Port Charlotte Beach Complex.  Then, Henderson lied to his superiors and the FBI about the pistol-whipping.

After being convicted, Henderson received a little more than seven years in prison followed by two years of probation.

Supporters of Henderson claim he is a "decorated police officer with a virtually blemish-less record," wrote Herbert Hoelter, director of National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, an organization which helps families and defendants adjust to prison life.

"Virtually blemish-less" may be an understatement.

Henderson took education incentive money he didn't earn.  He fired a weapon inside the Charlotte County Sheriff's narcotics office.  And he repeatedly lied about accolades he didn't receive.

Henderson purchased a bogus college degree purporting to be from Florida State University.  For $599, he bought the degree from a Web site that gave him a pocket-sized degree plus a "real one," which had the wrong type, wrong commencement date and wrong names of FSU officials.  With the fake degree, Henderson took $1,300 in education incentive money that made his salary $43,304 -- more than most corporals.

Henderson resigned three days after being compelled to answer questions about the diploma.  He could have been arrested on a first-degree misdemeanor for the bogus degree.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement was sent a notice indicating that Henderson resigned while under investigation for what would constitute a "moral character violation."

After being questioned once for buying a degree online, Henderson did it again.

Henderson paid $6,000 to another Internet company for two degrees from St.  Regis University, an Africa-based online firm.

"I wanted to prove to myself I could get a real college degree," Henderson said during a cross-examination about buying more degrees online, instead of actually enrolling in a college.

In addition, Henderson claimed to have earned a number of accolades including Walton County Sheriff's "Deputy of the Year" in 1993 and 1994 and Florida Highway Patrol "Trooper of the Year 1983 ( second quarter )," according to his personnel file at the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.  Officials from the Walton County Sheriff's Office and Florida Highway Patrol disputed this as well.

At the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, officials suspended Henderson for two days after he fired a plastic "training bullet" into a wall inside the office.

It is unknown if, when or where Henderson will serve the seven-year prison sentence.