FORMER COP PLEADS GUILTY TO POSSESSION OF COCAINE

A former Prichard police officer, who was once acquitted of federal
corruption charges, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing cocaine with the
intent to distribute it.

By statute, Larry David Bailey Jr. could face up to 20 years in prison at
his sentencing before U.S. District Judge Charles Butler Jr., although his
record and the amount of cocaine involved likely will result in a much
lesser term.

Bailey and his partner at the time, Officer Terrance A. Powe, were fired in
late 1997, shortly before federal prosecutors indicted them on allegations
that they forced suspects to fork over cash in exchange for their freedom.

A jury acquitted them on all counts in February 1998. Bailey sought and got
his job back the next month, then quit after three weeks.

A year after the acquittal, Bailey sought to have the episode erased from
his record, but then Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Vollmer Jr. denied
his motion.

In January, federal prosecutors indicted Bailey again, this time on a
single cocaine count. He is set for sentencing in June.

Bailey's conviction makes him the seventh former Prichard officer found
guilty in federal court in Mobile since January 2001, when four former
members of the department's vice and narcotics unit pleaded guilty to
corruption and other related charges.

Two other officers, who had been charged in the same indictment, were found
guilty by a jury the following month.