EX-OFFICER SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS IN DRUG CASE

Richard Burgess Posted on December 20, 2002 LAFAYETTE - A former Abbeville
police officer was sentenced Thursday to 17 years and six months in prison
for his role in what prosecutors said was one of the largest crack cocaine
rings in Acadiana.

Calvin J. Broussard Sr., 49, who was a 17-year veteran of the police
department when arrested, provided protection for the drug ring and passed
along inside information on police activity to drug dealers to help them
avoid getting caught, according to federal prosecutors.

"I'm sending a message today, Mr. Broussard," said U.S. District Judge
Rebecca Doherty before handing down the maximum sentence allowed under
federal guidelines.

The judge characterized Broussard's actions as "a betrayal" and "extremely
heinous."

"I think any dirty cop deserves what they get," said former Abbeville
Police Chief Mike Hardy.

Hardy, who led the department when Broussard was arrested but has since
lost a bid for re-election, sat at the back of the courtroom during the
sentencing.

Hardy said that Broussard had most likely been working with members of the
drug ring for four years before coming under suspicion.

"I think if they (the drug ring)

didn't have the help they had with him, they wouldn't have gotten as far as
they did," Hardy said.

Broussard was one of 29 people indicted in March 2000 in what federal
officials dubbed the "Legion of Doom" case. All but one of the defendants
have pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors said the drug ring dealt hundreds of kilograms of cocaine in
the Abbeville and Jennings areas from 1990 to 2000.

The group dealt "millions" of dollars in drugs, said Assistant U.S.
Attorney Stephanie Finley.

The man identified as the ringleader, 49-year-old Leonard "Stridder"
Castleberry Jr., is serving a life sentence in the case on cocaine charges.
Prosecutors suspect he made nearly $18 million from drug sales.

In the last two days, 13 of the people charged with conspiring to
distribute crack cocaine in the Abbeville area have been sentenced in
federal court here.

Most of the sentences ranged from five years to 10 years in prison.

Broussard's sentence was the stiffest.

"I'm sorry for my involvement in with the Legion of Doom - to you, the
people of Abbeville and the police department," Broussard told the judge
before sentencing. "I learned my lesson."