ARMY RANGERS SNARED IN STING

Three U.S. Army Rangers and another soldier were charged Friday with
drug conspiracy after agreeing to an undercover scheme that involved
the armed robbery of purported cocaine traffickers.

When three of the men --- Carlos Lopez, 30, Stefan Andre Champagne,
28, and David Ray White, 28, all staff sergeants --- were arrested
Thursday, they had an assault rifle, semi-automatic pistols, 15
magazines of ammunition, a TASER, a ski mask and a medic kit. The
soldiers, two of whom were armed, were taken by surprise and arrested
by agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives' SWAT team and Sandy Springs police officers.

The other soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Randy Spivey, a 32-year-old Ranger
instructor who has been in the Army since October 1997, was arrested Friday.

The four men were stationed at a Ranger training facility, Camp Frank
D. Merrill in Dahlonega. Lopez, White and Spivey are Rangers, and
Champagne is a medic. The men's hometowns were not available.

If convicted, all four face mandatory minimum 15-year prison
sentences --- 10 years for the drug conspiracy plus five more years
for the weapons charge.

"It is a sad day when members of one of America's most elite corps of
soldiers, the Army Rangers, are alleged to have become involved in
criminal activity," said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias. "These men were
trained to defend the people and principles of this country, not to
use their skills to steal cocaine from drug dealers at gunpoint."

In an affidavit unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, an
ATF special agent said the soldiers were targeted after the bureau
learned in November there were soldiers who wanted to rob drug
traffickers. Central to the arrest was the undercover ATF agent
posing as someone who was routinely hired by Mexican cocaine dealers
to help them protect their drug houses.

The ATF agent, Brett Turner, first met with Lopez in November. He
told Lopez he had become disenchanted with the drug ring when it had
refused to front him several kilograms of cocaine. Now, Turner said,
he wanted to rob the drug ring of at least 25 kilograms of cocaine
and needed help from people the drug dealers did not associate with
him, the affidavit said.

Earlier this month, Lopez and Champagne met with Turner and agreed to
help him rob Turner's "employer," the affidavit said. "The next step,
I explained, was for me to meet everyone who was going to
participate, so I could be sure that everything 'checked out' and
that everyone was trustworthy," Turner said in his affidavit.

On Jan. 15, all four soldiers met with Turner. Turner discussed plans
for the armed robbery and put them on notice they needed to be
well-armed, the affidavit said. At least one armed guard named "Oso"
would be at the stash house, Turner told the soldiers.

The soldiers, the affidavit said, wanted details: How were they going
to get to the drug house? How many armed guards would be there? Where
would the cocaine be hidden? Were there any obstacles that might
hinder a quick entry into the house?

"Spivey interjected that he was an expert in urban assault and that
details about the house and location of the armed personnel were
important," Turner wrote in his affidavit.

On Wednesday, Turner called Lopez and told him a shipment of cocaine
would arrive on Thursday. Lopez, White and Champagne then went to
Buckhead and spent the night in a hotel there, which had been
arranged by Turner, the affidavit said.

Shortly after noon on Thursday, Turner met with Lopez, White and
Champagne to discuss their plans. At that point, Turner asked why
Spivey wasn't there.

Lopez said Spivey was their boss and that the three Rangers could not
have taken the day off without Spivey covering for them. "Lopez
assured me that Spivey was still part of the team; he was simply
playing a different role" and would still get his share of the
cocaine, Turner said in the affidavit.

Turner told the men he needed to make a phone call. Within moments,
the Rangers had been arrested without incident, the affidavit said.

Scott Sweetow, ATF acting special agent in charge, on Friday called
the charges "an isolated incident." But he said the four "are grown
men --- all of them non-commissioned officers. They came into it
heavily armed and with their eyes wide open."

Monica Managanaro, spokeswoman for Fort Benning, the base and
training center for the Rangers, said the Army was cooperating with
the investigation