FORMER OFFICER ORDERED TO PRISON

Fullwood Sentenced To More Than 8 Years In Drug Dealing Case; 'I Need To Be
Punished'

A federal judge sentenced former Baltimore police officer James Scott
Fullwood yesterday to more than eight years in prison for transporting and
holding cocaine for a major city drug ring.

Fullwood, 35, of White Marsh, apologized to U.S. District Judge Marvin J.
Garbis, acknowledging that he had done a "terrible thing" and vowing not to
stray from the law again.

"I'm here to be punished, and I need to be punished - I'm not denying
anything," Fullwood said during a short hearing in federal court in
Baltimore. "I've embarrassed my family and all the people I worked with."

Fullwood spent 13 years as a city officer, most recently working in the
Southeastern District. He resigned in March, two months after he was
arrested by federal authorities in a sting operation.

Court records indicate Fullwood was paid $500 for every kilogram of cocaine
he transported or held for the drug organization authorities say was
operated by William E. "Uncle Bill" Bickford Jr. of Baltimore.

Fullwood, a Dundalk High School graduate who spent six years in the Air
National Guard, had been recruited to the illegal narcotics work by Vincent
M. Magliano, authorities said. Defense attorney Donald H. Feige yesterday
described Magliano as a longtime friend of Fullwood's who led him down the
wrong path.

Feige said of Fullwood: "He's a good person. He made a mistake in his life.
But he has expressed remorse."

Federal prosecutors say Bickford's ring regularly received shipments of
between 5 and 7 kilograms from a Miami-based supplier. Court papers say the
Baltimore organization sold about $6 million worth of cocaine a year.

Fullwood was arrested across the street from the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop
on Bel Air Road in January after accepting a bag of cocaine from an
informant working for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency who had led
authorities to Fullwood.

Before Fullwood, the last significant drug case involving a city officer
was against Erick McCrary, a former Eastern District officer, who was
sentenced in May 1998 to five years in federal prison for conspiring with a
drug lord to abduct and kill a narcotics dealer.

In court yesterday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane M. Erisman said Fullwood's
conviction and sentence should help restore the public's faith in the system.

"This is truly a sad day," Erisman said. "It's a sad day for Mr. Fullwood
and his family. It's a sad day for law enforcement, and it's a sad day for
the community."

Fullwood pleaded guilty in July. He had faced a minimum sentence of 10
years, but the term was reduced because he had no criminal record and
because he cooperated with authorities after his arrest. Garbis sentenced
him to 98 months and also ordered him to perform 200 hours of community
service when he is released.

"I know this was a mistake, and it's not like you," Garbis said to Fullwood.

Bickford and three other members of his organization also have pleaded
guilty to federal drug charges. Magliano was charged earlier this month
with one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He has pleaded not guilty.