FORMER CHIEF TO SERVE JAIL TIME IN THEFT OF TOWN FUNDS

A former Elizabethtown police chief pleaded no contest Tuesday to
embezzlement by a public official and agreed to repay a portion of the
money he is accused of taking during his tenure.

Michael Royston, police chief for 13 years, will serve 60 days in the
Brunswick County jail beginning Oct. 1 as part of a five-year supervised
probation, according to a news release from the town.

Local and state investigators say Mr. Royston may have embezzled more than
$300,000 during a 10-year period.

"It's uncertain as to the exact amount that he took," said Rex Gore,
district attorney for Brunswick, Bladen and Columbus counties. "He has
agreed to pay back $100,000."

Suspicion about money unaccounted for arose in May 2000, when Town Manager
David Smitherman began reviewing the town budget for the coming fiscal
year. The number and amount of Mr. Royston's requests for funds for
undercover drug operations during the past several years did not match.

The investigation was forwarded to the District Attorney's Office and the
State Bureau of Investigation.

Mr. Royston's original sentence was to serve 16 to 20 months in prison. The
sentence was suspended on the condition that he complete the jail sentence
and probation and that he repay the town.

"It's hard to imagine where that much money went, but it was over a long
period," Mr. Gore said. "It was probably spent on family and lifestyle."

Mr. Royston resigned from the department Dec. 31, 1999, and lives in Gaston
County. After Mr. Royston completes his jail sentence, his probation will
be transferred to Gaston County, where he will serve six months of
intensive probation.

No further charges or arrests are expected from the investigation, Mr. Gore
said.

"We think this handles the situation," he said.