DRUG TRAFFICKING IN DURHAM ALLEGED

DURHAM - A former Durham County sheriff's deputy, fired after he was
charged in October for running cocaine out of a nightclub he owned,
pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal drug trafficking charges.
Michael Paul Owens, 34, is charged with distributing 500 grams or
more of cocaine and using La Zona Sports Bar & Billiards, 2825 N.
Roxboro St., as headquarters for the sale. Owens posted a $50,000
bond Thursday and was released. His next court hearing will be next
month in U.S. District Court in Greensboro.

Several others have been indicted as co-conspirators, but all but one
of their names have been struck from the federal indictment. Miguel
Angel Mancia, 21, whose last known address was 3106 E. Geer St., was
the only other person listed on the indictment. He faces charges of
trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. He did not
make a plea Thursday, said Capt. Paul Martin of the Durham County
Sheriff's Office. Mancia was released on a $25,000 bond.

Neither Martin nor Sandra J. Hairston, the assistant U.S. attorney
handling the case, would comment on others who have been indicted. La
Zona was raided Oct. 13 after two months of surveillance and
undercover work by local and federal investigators.

Along with Owens, four others were charged with trafficking by
possession of cocaine at the time: Sergio Garcia Perez, 23; Mario
Garcia Segura, 21; and Isidoro Vallinas Domingues, 25, all of 3106 E.
Geer St.; and Jose Manuel Ramirez, 21, of 453 California St. in Belhaven.

It's unclear whether they have been indicted -- just one of the
unanswered questions in a case that shook the sheriff's office.
Martin and Hairston also declined to discuss why this is a federal
case. Hairston said any drug case can be tried by the federal
government, but many are not. She would not say what made this one
different. Also, in a search warrant affidavit filed last year,
sheriff's detectives said they also believed prostitution,
counterfeiting and human trafficking could have taken place at the club.

Again, neither Martin nor Hairston would say whether any charges for
such crimes are forthcoming.

"I don't want to make a lot of public statements, prejudice a jury
pool or anything," Martin said.

Two other deputies were fired in connection with the incident, though
they have not been charged criminally.

Deputy William Keith Dodson and Cpl. Bradley King were fired for
violating the sheriff's office off-duty work policy. They put in
shifts at the club without telling their supervisors, Sheriff Worth Hill said.