TARNISHED BY THE BADGE

Terrence Boyle, the federal District Court judge who has demonstrated
his toughness during sentencing of former lawmen exposed by Operation
Tarnished Badge, last week showed a softer side.

Boyle, again kicking aside sentencing recommendations from the U.S.
Attorney's Office, released two Robeson County men who had been in
federal prison for their alleged involvement in the cocaine business
and for firearms violations. We use alleged to underscore a point, and
not as protection from a libel lawsuit: According to Boyle, there is
now doubt whether the two men -- Eugene Strickland and Mickey
Strickland --are guilty of any crimes.

Both men were sent to prison in 1999 -- Eugene Strickland was sentenced
to life, and Mickey Strickland to 21 years. As a reward for the
Stricklands providing information that certainly pushed along the
Tarnished Badge investigation, and probably broadened it, prosecutors
had recommended to Boyle that the sentence for each Strickland be
slashed by about one third.

Boyle, the same judge who had insisted on tougher sentences for lawmen
than had been recommended by prosecutors, instead decided to slash the
Stricklands' sentences to "time served," and both men are now free.

In making his decision, Boyle pointed out that former Deputies C.T.
Strickland, Steve Lovin, Roger Taylor and Kevin Meares all testified
against the Stricklands, and since Strickland, Lovin, Taylor and
Meares have all pleaded guilty to charges brought by Tarnished Badge,
their testimony was no longer trustworthy.

There are reportedly as many as 10 more family members of the
Stricklands who could seek similar consideration from the court system.

We fear when this ball gets rolling, it will be all downhill. Robeson
County District Attorney Johnson Britt has said that he has already
had to dismiss hundreds of cases, almost exclusively involving drugs,
because he lacked confidence in the evidence gathered by now tainted
lawmen.

But, like the Stricklands, there are also those who have been sent to
prison based on evidence gathered by those lawmen. So the ripple of
Tarnished Badge could swell into a tsunami.

There is no question that if the prison doors swing open, out will
walk some who are guilty of menacing Robeson County -- and the
likelihood is they will do so again, because that is what criminals
do. That becomes another tragedy of Operation Tarnished Badge, and
what happens when good cops go bad.