ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT

Several federally funded anti-drug task forces have been under
investigation across the nation Among them:

1. Iron County, Utah

Sheriff Dave "Duke" Benson, a member of the Iron/Garfield Counties
Narcotics Task Force, faces trial in July on eight charges. They
include obstruction of justice, witness tampering, misuse of public
funds and theft of a drug that was supposed o be used in a sting operation.

2. Swisher County, Texas

Tom Coleman, an undercover agent with the Texas Panhandle Regional
Narcotics Trafficking Task Force, faces trial in May on perjury
charges stemming from the Tulia sting operation in 1999. Thirty-eight
people, nearly all black, were convicted on Coleman's testimony even
though no drugs or significant amounts of money where found in 46
arrests in Tulia, Texas. Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, has pardoned
35 of those convicted.

3. Wilson County, Texas

A former task force agent pleaded guilty in federal court to
conspiracy to distribute narcotics after 73 pounds of cocaine
confiscated in a drug raid disappeared from the 81st Judicial District
Narcotics Task Force headquarters. He was sentenced to almost six
years in prison.

4. Jasper County, Mo.

The Missouri attorney general's office investigated allegations that
the Jasper County Sheriff Pill Pierce operated a private commissary in
the county jail, and that $2,000 designated for the county's anti-drug
task force was not deposited into the county treasury. The case was
dropped after Pierce resigned last summer.

5. Cole County, Mo.

A former deputy sheriff working for the Mid-Missouri Unified Strike
Team and Narcotics Group (MUSTANG) faces trial in May on perjury
charges. He is accused of lying about being present during drug purchases.

6. Muscogee County, Ga.

A deputy sheriff, acting on a tip from the Metro Narcotics Task Force,
mistook a local man for a Miami Drug Dealer and fatally shot him. The
deputy could face criminal charges.