DEFENSE SAYS EX-GUARD RESISTED DRUG

A former Wackenhut jail guard on trial, accused of smuggling drugs to
inmates, did not want to accept a package from an undercover officer who
told him it contained heroin, the guard's attorney told federal jurors
Monday.

David C. Higginbotham, 42, has pleaded innocent to a charge of attempting to
possess with intent to distribute heroin.

He is disputing the government's case that he agreed to deliver a package of
heroin from an undercover San Antonio police officer to an inmate at the
local detention facility for $500. The package actually contained 150 grams
of brown sugar.

Testimony began Monday and could end today. If convicted, Higginbotham could
face five to 40 years in prison.

An undercover officer testified Monday that police use brown sugar in place
of real drugs so narcotics don't make it to the streets in case a suspect
flees with the evidence.

Higginbotham came under scrutiny during a U.S. Marshals Service
investigation into an attempted escape from the jail in April 2001.

Several tools used in the attempted escape, and other contraband, were
found, leading to interviews with inmates during which Higginbotham's name
came up, Deputy U.S. Marshal Bobby Hogeland testified Monday. Higginbotham
also was fingered as having brought in drugs, the deputy marshal said.

Higginbotham's lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Alfred Villarreal,
tried to show that his client was an unwilling participant in a scheme
furthered by persistent police officers.

Referring to transcripts of undercover recordings, Villarreal repeatedly
pointed out that during the sting on March 26, 2002, Higginbotham declined
to deliver the package, after agreeing to take tobacco and other items to
the jail.

"You heard David say, 'I don't want heroin,'" Villarreal told one of the
undercover officers. "You said, 'We can do this. We can make some money.'

"You were turning up the heat because David didn't want to do this," he
said.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Priscilla Garcia countered that despite his
comments, Higginbotham still took the package and the money.

Higginbotham was followed after the exchange to Wackenhut, and later
cooperated when he knew he was caught, according to testimony.

In a statement he gave police, Higginbotham said he took the package and the
money and also described a prior incident where he picked up a small amount
of marijuana from East Houston Street and delivered it to an inmate at the
jail.

"I didn't do it for the money," the statement quotes Higginbotham as saying.
"To tell you the truth, I really don't know why I did it."