EX-DEPUTY SENTENCED ON DRUG, GUN COUNTS

Federal Judge Gives Man Prison Term Of Nearly 12 Years

PADUCAH, Ky. -(AP)-- A former Calloway County deputy sheriff was sentenced
to nearly 12 years in prison by a federal judge for his conviction on drug
and gun charges.

Max Parrish, 47, was convicted by a jury in March of possession with intent
to distribute more than 5 grams of methamphetamine and having a gun during
the commission of a drug crime. U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell
sentenced him Monday to 11 years and eight months in prison.

Before sentencing, Russell heard arguments from former U.S. Rep. Carroll
Hubbard on why Parrish's sentence should not strictly follow the federal
sentencing reform act Hubbard helped pass in 1984.

''I can assure you it was not the intention of Congress to be more severe
than the state courts,'' said Hubbard, Parrish's co-counsel.

Parrish, dressed in a jail uniform and wearing leg irons, declined to
comment before sentencing. Family members, including his wife, attended the
hearing.

Before the hearing Monday, Parrish faced up to nearly 25 years in prison
without the chance of parole. The minimum sentence Parrish could have
received was 10 years.

The gun conviction added five years to the six years and eight months
Russell gave Parrish for the drug conviction.

During the trial, the jury viewed a videotape that showed Parrish selling
an ounce of methamphetamine for $1,700 to a woman.

Parrish said he sold her what he believed was fake methamphetamine as part
of a drug sting to arrest her cousin. Tests later revealed the meth was real.

Being a former deputy sheriff made him ''a target of abuse during his
incarceration'' while awaiting sentencing, Hubbard said. ''I can assure you
this man faces abuse in prison,'' he said.