FORMER ROBESON COUNTY DEPUTY PLEADS GUILTY

RALEIGH -- Former Robeson County deputy Vincent Sinclair admitted in
court Monday that he waited for a drug dealer to leave a card game in
2003, then duct taped the man's mouth, took him into the woods and
beat him. Afterward, Sinclair called the man's girlfriend and had her
drop off 2 kilograms of cocaine and $150,000 at a predetermined
location. Sinclair then split the money with the four men who helped
him, including another former deputy, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Sinclair, who is 44, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a
three-count bill of criminal information. The charges include the
kidnapping of two Virginia men in 2004. He faces a maximum sentence
of two life prison terms and fines exceeding $2million.

Sinclair admitted that in February 2004, he and four other men
traveled to Virginia and kidnapped two alleged drug dealers at
gunpoint while they stopped to refuel their van.

Sinclair thought the men were carrying about $450,000. Sinclair and
one of the men with him wore police badges, according to a statement
from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Former Robeson County deputy Patrick Ferguson pleaded guilty in
August to the Virginia kidnappings. Elisabeth Regan, a spokeswoman
for the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined to comment on whether
Ferguson was involved in the beating of the drug dealer in 2003.

Sinclair, Ferguson and the others ordered the men to get into their
van and drove them to a gas station in Selma, N.C., where the men
escaped. One of them was shot in the leg. Sinclair and the others
fled without any money. The statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office
said Sinclair agreed to plead guilty in exchange for his testimony
against others involved in corruption within the Robeson County
Sheriff's Office.

Sinclair, who is from Red Springs, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. He
faces a sentence of between five and 40 years in prison, a $2 million
fine and four years of supervised release on that charge, according
to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy
to commit kidnapping, a crime punishable by a maximum of life in
prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition, Sinclair pleaded guilty to
use of a firearm during a violent crime, which is punishable by
between five years and life in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing
will come later.

Sinclair was fired after his arrest in May 2005. He had worked with
the Sheriff's Office for about 10 years.

The State Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service
have led a four-year investigation into corruption within the Robeson
County Sheriff's Office. The investigation, called Operation
Tarnished Badge, has led to 11 convictions, including conspiracy to
commit money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the government,
conspiracy to commit satellite piracy, conspiracy to commit
kidnapping, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and the
use of a firearm during a violent crime. The investigation continues.