WITNESS IN DRUG TRIAL FLIP-FLOPS, TESTIFIES

A witness in the federal drug trial of a Baton Rouge man initially refused
to testify Wednesday but changed his mind after being threatened with an
extended prison sentence.

Frankie Lee Mills, 20, had been scheduled to testify during the
drug-trafficking conspiracy trial of Louis Brown, 9152 Great Smokey Ave.,
as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

But when called to the witness stand on the third day of Brown's trial in
U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, Mills refused to answer questions. "I
don't want to do it," said Mills, who goes by the nickname "Doodlebug." "I
don't feel like it. I just don't."

Mills, dressed in an orange prison outfit and shackles, changed his mind
after Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Piedrahita said that refusing to
testify would violate his plea agreement with the government. That could
expose Mills, who is serving seven years on a drug charge, to 10 years to
life in prison, Piedrahita said.

Mills was one of three witnesses to testify that Brown bought crack and
powder cocaine in the Valley Park community.

Brown, arrested in July 2000, is charged with one count of conspiracy to
distribute cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute
cocaine and two counts of unlawful use of a communications facility.

Prosecutors claim Brown was part of a loose-knit group known as the
"Hillside Gs," who bought and sold cocaine in Valley Park out of a house on
Bawell Street.

Charles "Shorty" Williams Jr., and his son, Charles Maurice "Big Charlie"
Williams, also testified that Brown bought drugs.

"He is really the only customer Big Charlie would walk out in the yard
with," "Shorty" Williams said. "They was the best of friends."

Under questioning from Brown's attorney, each of the witnesses said he
didn't know how much cocaine Brown got or what he did with the drugs.

Brown and 15 others were arrested in July 2000 during a sweep of the Valley
Park neighborhood north of Interstate 10 between College Drive and South
Acadian Thruway.

All but two of the people arrested -- Brown and Leonard "Trick" Williams,
24, 3576 Dalton St. -- have pleaded guilty in the case. Williams is in a
federal psychiatric facility after being declared unfit to stand trial.

The FBI and sheriff's deputies raided Brown's home, where they found
digital scales with cocaine residue on them, but no drugs, Piedrahita has said.

The defense in the case may begin today, attorneys said.