5TH MEMBER OF RENEGADE LAW UNIT PLEADS GUILTY

TAMPA - A Prosecutor Says A Federal Investigation Continues Into An Elite
Manatee County Sheriff's Unit

Christopher Wilson became the fifth member of an elite unit within the
Manatee County Sheriffs Office to plead guilty to planting evidence, and
authorities say their investigation is not yet finished.

U.S. Magistrate Thomas Wilson accepted the plea Friday about a month after
Christopher Wilson signed a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Wilson, 32, pleaded guilty to five charges, including violating civil
rights and possessing and distributing crack cocaine. He could be sentenced
to as much as 71 years in prison.

Wilson and his co-defendants belonged to a high-profile Manatee County
sheriffs unit the Delta Task Force, that was created to combat a growing
crack cocaine problem.

But according to investigators, Some Of its members became renegades and
used their authority to frame innocent civilians so they could extort money
or property from them.

The unit has been the target of a lengthy federal corruption probe, and
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey DelFuoco said Friday, this is an ongoing
investigation."

Wilson pleaded guilty specifically to Planting crack cocaine in 1997 on a
motorist named Scott Shepard. Then Wilson and other deputies falsely
arrested Shepard for possessing crack so they could confiscate his Ford
Mustang, Wilson's plea agreement says. Shepard was wrongly convicted and
eventually sentenced to probation.

Wilson also admitted in the plea agreement to planting crack in the hotel
room of an innocent woman named Sarah Smith. She too was falsely convicted
and over time lost custody of her 1-year-old daughter. Smith has since
regained custody and is suing the deputies who arrested her.

Along with the four other Delta unit members, sixth deputy has pleaded
guilty in the case, too. All the others are serving prison time.

Wilson is expected to be sentenced by February.