Former Texas drug cop Barry Cooper, now a legalization activist and online entrepreneur, was arrested at the state's capitol building on July 2, 2010, on charges of making false reports to a peace officer, a Class B misdemeanor.
His wife was arrested days earlier by the Texas Rangers on a warrant from Odessa, where he'd set up a fake marijuana grow house and baited police to raid it while he filmed them for a reality show project. The charges were dropped by a prosecutor, who claimed Cooper's actions did not amount to a violation of the law.
He's since landed a movie deal and filed a lawsuit, but still faced a child custody battle that resulted from police allegations after a raid on his home by the Williamson County Sheriff's Department. Other charges were initially disputed, but a plea deal was later arranged that let him avoid jail and only pay a small fine.
--Stephen C. Webster
This video was published July 3, 2010.
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