ALLEGED POT SELLERS MAKE DEAL IN DEADLY SHOOTOUT

OROVILLE -- Plea bargains were struck in court Wednesday for two of
three men accused of taking part in an Oct. 22 drug transaction that
ended in the shooting deaths of three others at an Oroville motel.

A fourth suspect being sought by police could face murder charges.

According to police, four Oroville-area men were attempting to sell
thousands of dollars worth of medical marijuana, when one of three
would-be buyers from Vallejo, Djuan Dean, 33, pulled a pistol.

Dean exchanged 17 gunshots with one of the pot sellers, Thomas John
Kile, 38, of Concow, in a room at the Best Value Inn in Oroville. The
two gunman died, along with Lee Miles Nixon, 22, of Vallejo, one of
the suspected buyers who got caught in the crossfire.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled Wednesday in Butte County
Superior Court for the three alleged surviving pot dealers.

Jeffrey James Hutton, 37, of Concow pleaded no contest to felony
transportation of marijuana, under a deal that leaves him facing no
more one year in the county jail.

He remains free pending sentencing Feb. 14.

Shaun Michael McDeavitt, 23, Oroville, whose attorney contends he had
no marijuana of his own and was only at the Oroville motel to assist
his friends in the ill-fated drug Advertisement Check out
NorCalBlogs.com! deal, entered the identical plea to a felony drug
transportation charge, which carries a maximum of four years in prison.

McDeavitt remains held without bail, with a sentencing date of Jan. 10.

Prosecutors Wednesday dismissed a prior strike on McDeavitt's record,
relating to an attempted burglary, which could have doubled his
potential sentence to more than nine years behind bars.

A similar plea-bargain offer to an alleged go-between in the fatal
drug deal, Joshua Christopher Roberts, 22, of Oroville, was postponed
one week so Roberts could consult with his attorney, who was
reportedly delayed Wednesday at a Dallas airport due to bad weather.

District Attorney Mike Ramsey said one of the men from Vallejo who
drove to Oroville for the pot transaction, identified as Deandre
Tyrone Lowe, 38, could face murder charges because a death occurred
during an aborted robbery.

Last week, Oroville police issued an arrest warrant for Lowe, and
warned the public that he should be considered dangerous.

Outside of court Wednesday, Robert Radcliffe, McDeavitt's attorney,
called the fatal drug deal tragic, and said his client had no idea
that any of the men taking part in it were armed.

The would-be pot sellers "obviously didn't know about any robbery and
certainly didn't intend for anyone to be killed," Radcliffe stated.

Hutton's lawyer, Mark Stapleton, said the plea bargain was "an
excellent resolution for my client."

Asked if Hutton had been among the men trying to sell his marijuana
crop, Stapleton replied, "no comment."

Police allege Kile and Hutton had arranged to sell several pounds of
medical marijuana at the Oroville motel through Roberts, who
reportedly worked with one of the Vallejo buyers.

According to Ramsey, after the money and drugs were placed on the
motel room bed, Dean produced a pistol, firing a single shot into the
ceiling and ordered the other two buyers with him to scoop up the
drugs and cash.

Kile pulled his own pistol at that point and was killed with Dean and
Nixon in the exchange of gunfire.

The other four men in the room fled. Police captured Roberts nearby.
Hutton and McDeavitt surrendered to authorities shortly afterward.