EX-MACON COP PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG CHARGE

Macon (AP) - A retired Macon police officer pleaded guilty Friday to
charges he sold drugs while he was on the force and asked the court for
mercy, claiming it was ''rough in jail.''

James Otis Smith Jr., 50, was charged April 5 with selling methamphetamines
to an undercover Georgia Bureau of Investigation officer.

Smith pleaded guilty to one count of sale of methamphetamine and two counts
of using a communication facility to facilitate a felony --- charges that
could have sent the 27-year Police Department veteran to jail for more than
30 years.

Instead, Bibb County Superior Court Judge Tommy Day Wilcox sentenced Smith
to 10 years on probation, including 180 to 220 days in a detention center.
Wilcox said the punishment was standard for a first-time offender with no
criminal record, reported The Macon Telegraph in its Saturday edition.

Smith said he began using methamphetamines to lose weight and never
intended to sell the drugs. ''I never sold it until they come around and
asked for it,'' he said.

Smith also was fined $2,000, ordered to pay $1,000 to a drug education fund
and granted first-offender status, which means his record will be wiped
clean if he successfully completes his sentence.