ACCUSED HAVE MINOR RECORDS

Two former Fond du Lac area residents who were arrested in Las Vegas
in July on charges of selling Ecstasy-like drugs and chemicals over
the Internet have no prior local drug offenses, according to the
Wisconsin Circuit Court Internet database.

Michael J. Burton and Keith A. Russart, both 24, were arrested July 21
after DEA agents searched the Las Vegas home they shared. The search
followed an indictment ordered by the Middle District of Louisiana
U.S. District Court alleging that Burton sold a mixture of drug-like
chemicals on his Web site that killed a Louisiana man. Burton is
formerly of Fond du Lac, and Russart is formerly of
Campbellsport.

Burton was charged with four counts of using a Web site to distribute
analogues of controlled substances in the Middle District of
Louisiana. Russart was arrested on similar charges after the search of
their home.

Both made initial appearances before a magistrate in Las Vegas
following their arrests, said U.S. District Attorney David Dugas of
Baton Rouge. Burton is being held without bond, and Russart's bond was
set at $20,000, Dugas said.

Locally, both men have a relatively minor criminal history. Burton's
criminal record in Wisconsin ranges from disorderly conduct to a
number of traffic violations. He was booked into the Fond du Lac
County Jail in August 1999 on a theft of movable property charge but
was released three days later, said Fond du Lac Police Department
Detective Phil Anderson. His last local offense was a traffic
violation in May 2003.

Russart's local record isn't as extensive as Burton's and doesn't
contain any serious offenses, Anderson said. Russart's contains
several traffic offenses and a theft charge, he said, but he was never
booked into the Fond du Lac County Jail. Russart's last local offense
was a traffic violation in March 2003.

The investigation and Burton's indictment are part of a nationwide DEA
initiative --"Operation Web Tryp" -- that targets Web sites
distributing designer drug alternatives such as the chemicals that
were being sold on Burton's Web site.

The chemicals are disguised on such sites as being for research, but
they are often purchased and consumed by young people because they can
produce stimulant and hallucinatory effects similar to designer drugs
like Ecstasy or LSD, according to a U.S. Attorney's office press release.

Eight other people in Nevada, California, Arizona and Georgia were
arrested as part of the DEA's operation, and Internet domain names and
other assets associated with the businesses were seized.

If convicted on count one of the indictment, which charges that a
22-year-old Louisiana man died as a result of using the chemicals he
bought from Burton's Web site, Burton could face life in prison. He
faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the other three counts.

The St. Francisville, La., man died after ingesting a substance he
thought was similar to Ecstasy that he purchased on Burton's Web site,
www.americanchemicalsupply.com. His body temperature reached 108
degrees before he died three days after ingesting the substance.

Both Burton and Russart are in the process of being transferred to
Louisiana for further court proceedings.