PRYOR'S OFFICE DROPS DRUG CHARGES AGAINST ATTORNEY

Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor's office announced Thursday that
it dropped drug charges filed last fall against an Evergreen attorney.

Attorney general spokeswoman Suzanne Webb confirmed Thursday that the
charges against Sarah Elizabeth Oswald "Sally" Stoddard were dropped
because the evidence was insufficient to proceed.

Stoddard's attorney, Paul Harden, said his client was set up.

"I think the problem was, from day one, Sally Stoddard was a victim of
an overzealous investigator, John Green, who uses felons who will say
or do anything to get relief from pending charges of their own."

Harden said the attorney general's office discovered "the truth --
that Sally Stoddard had prescriptions for the medications she had."

Stoddard, 56, was arrested in October after a three-month
investigation, deputies said. Conecuh County Sheriff's Department
officers found $1,300 worth of illegal prescription medication in
Stoddard's office after a sting operation involving a few of her
clients. Investigators said drug buys were tape recorded.

Officers last fall said they found several Xanax and 36 Lortab tablets
in Stoddard's office and the attorney had no prescriptions for the
drugs.

Xanax, known generically as alprazolam, is described as highly
habit-forming and is prescribed as an anti-anxiety or panic
medication. Lortab is the brand name for a mix of hydrocodone, a
narcotic painkiller, and acetaminophen, a non-narcotic painkiller.
Lortab can be addictive if abused or over-used.

Conecuh County District Attorney Tommy Chapman had recused himself
from the case here -- standard procedure, he said, when local
attorneys are charged in criminal cases. The state attorney general
then stepped in to prosecute the case.

Conecuh County Sheriff Tracy Hawsey said the state prosecutor chose
not to pursue the case against Stoddard "because the evidence against
her was not what they wanted." Hawsey said the local investigation
remains open, however.

Webb declined to elaborate about the attorney general's decision to
drop charges.

Stoddard was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled
substance and released on $5,000 bond. The Alabama State Bar
Association suspended her license to practice law pending the
resolution of the charges.

Robert E. Lusk, Assistant General Counsel for the State Bar
Association, said Thursday Stoddard's license is suspended and that he
is unaware of any imminent reinstatement.

He said Stoddard could immediately file a motion to be reinstated with
the association's disciplinary board and consideration of the motion
could happen in a matter of days.