JUDGE SWITCH DELAYS TARNISHED BADGE SENTENCE

RALEIGH - James Allen Black was set to be sentenced Tuesday as part
of Operation Tarnished Badge, the four-year investigation into
corruption within the Robeson County Sheriff's Office.

But the sentencing was postponed when Black decided that he would
rather have his case heard by the same judge who is handling all of
the others charged in the investigation.

Black, a Robeson County man involved in drug trafficking, pleaded
guilty in August to conspiring with former deputies Patrick Ferguson
and Vincent Sinclair to kidnap two alleged drug dealers from Virginia
and to using a gun during the crime. He also pleaded guilty to
conspiring with others to cocaine and marijuana charges.

Black's lawyer, Robert Cooper, said he received a government motion
Monday afternoon that agreed to lessen Black's sentence because he
had provided substantial information that contributed to Sinclair's
decision to accept a plea agreement.

Black also provided the State Bureau of Investigation with
information about drug trafficking, according to the government's motion.

Because of his cooperation, the motion says, the government agreed to
reduce his sentence for the two primary counts from a maximum of more
than 21 years to fewer than 14 years.

But before the sentence could be imposed, U.S. District Court Judge
James Dever III asked Black's lawyer if he was certain he wanted to
accept the sentencing under these circumstances.

Black initially said he wanted to go ahead with sentencing, but
reconsidered after SBI Agent Mark Francisco told Dever that the cases
of about 14 others charged through Operation Tarnished Badge are
being heard by U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle.

Nine former deputies have entered into plea agreements in exchange
for their testimony against former deputies C.T. Strickland, Roger
Taylor and Steve Lovin.

The indictments against Strickland, Taylor and Lovin form the
cornerstone of the investigation. They are a facing, among other
charges, accusations of arson, beating up drug dealers and stealing
money from drug stops along Interstate 95.

Francisco said the charges against Black and his co-conspirators -
including former deputies Sinclair and Ferguson - were handled
separately from the others involved in Operation Tarnished Badge.

But Dever questioned whether Boyle would have a better idea of
sentencing since he has handled all the other Tarnished Badge cases.

Francisco said Boyle has agreed to postpone sentencing for the former
deputies until after the trial for Strickland, Taylor and Lovin.

That trial is scheduled for March, but Francisco told Dever that it
will likely be delayed. Plea accords

Ferguson, Sinclair and Black have entered plea agreements
acknowledging their involvement in the kidnapping of two Virginia men
on Feb. 27, 2004.

Prosecutors say Sinclair and Ferguson learned that the Virginia men
were about to buy $450,000 worth of drugs.

They kidnapped the men, thinking the drugs were concealed in their
van, records show. The men escaped at a gas station in Selma. One of
them was shot in the leg.

Prosecutors won't say how many drug dealers Sinclair and Ferguson
robbed, but they hint that it was many.

Sinclair had worked for the Sheriff's Office for 10 years before he
was charged in 2005 with kidnapping the Virginia men.

Ferguson worked for the Sheriff's Office for nearly 10 years, much of
that time in the Juvenile Division under current Sheriff Ken Sealey.