FOUR CONVICTED IN BIG POT STING

Four Atlanta-area men got a combined 55 years to serve in prison for
trying to buy 100 pounds of marijuana from undercover Hall County drug
agents. The last of the four defendants was sentenced to 15 years in
prison Friday in Hall County Superior Court for the May 2005 drug
deal, in which they sought to pay an undercover officer with the Hall
County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad $60,000 for the drugs.

Kevin Joseph Green, 32, of Atlanta, was convicted by a jury of
criminal attempt to traffic in marijuana and possession of a gun
during the commission of a crime.

A co-defendant, Russell Robinson, 27, of Monroe, was convicted of
similar offenses in Hall County Superior Court on Tuesday, Assistant
District Attorney John Wilbanks said. Robinson also received a 15-year
prison sentence.

Clarence Heard, 28, of Lithonia, pleaded guilty in November and
received a 10-year prison sentence. Kali Antoine McDowell, 28, of
Stone Mountain, was convicted by a jury in November and got a 15-year
prison sentence.

Wilbanks said the undercover officers set up the "reverse sting"
through the help of a cooperating witness. The defendants arrived at
the Food Lion shopping center at College Square and Frontage Road on
May 12, 2005. All four men, who arrived in two cars, were carrying
loaded semiautomatic handguns, Wilbanks said.

An undercover officer showed the men some packaged marijuana and the
defendants handed over the cash. Drug agents then converged on the
foursome. Heard tried to flee but was captured just outside the
parking lot, Wilbanks said.

District Attorney Lee Darragh said in a statement Friday, "This
office, in conjunction with the sheriff's office and other law
enforcement agencies, will continue to aggressively pursue drug
dealers who put people in the vicinity of their transactions at risk."