GADDIS GETS 8 YEARS IN PRISON

Fredrick Gaddis, a former Jackson police sergeant sentenced Thursday to
eight years in federal prison, blasted a former officer and friend who
helped snare him and four other officers in a drug-payoff scheme.

"There is a hell for (Ronald) Youngblood," Gaddis, 39, said after being
sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Barbour. "He has demons to deal with."

Youngblood, a former sergeant who worked with Gaddis in Precinct 3, helped
the FBI in the 15-month sting after officials began investigating him for
taking money from drug dealers.

With Gaddis' sentencing, Youngblood's case remains the only one unresolved.
The charges against Youngblood have been dismissed without prejudice,
meaning they could be brought up again. Assistant U.S. Attorney Don
Burkhalter said he is discussing Youngblood's status with his lawyer.

"When we come to a conclusion, we will notify the court," Burkhalter said.
Cynthia Stewart, Youngblood's lawyer, could not be reached for comment.

John Colette, Gaddis' lawyer, said: "Youngblood made a deal with the devil.
He was dirtier than all of them and he went and got his friends to make a
deal for himself. Him and Fred were good friends and battled their lives on
the streets together. I'll make a bet that Youngblood never spends a day in
prison."

Gaddis, who supervised a street-level drug enforcement unit, pleaded guilty
Dec. 7 to accepting cash for providing protection to undercover agents who
were posing as drug dealers. He took $1,000 to protect a shipment of 22
pounds of cocaine agents set up March 16, 2000, and another $1,000 to
protect a 22-pound shipment on June 2, 2000.

Gaddis, a 13-year veteran, and another officer drew the harshest sentences
Barbour handed down for those prosecuted. Before sentencing, Gaddis turned
in $2,800 he had accepted during the sting.

"I'm glad the conclusion has come to this and if I have to go to jail then
so be it," Gaddis said after sentencing. "But the guilty is still walking
around. Judge Barbour said (during sentencing) I need to own up to my part.
Maybe I didn't conduct a smart enough investigation... I asked for no mercy
and I got no mercy."

Burkhalter said Gaddis' defense was that he was conducting his own
investigation.

"It was as successful as Alvaline Baggett's was," Burkhalter said,
referring to a similar claim Baggett had made in her case. Baggett, a JPD
officer for 15 years, was sentenced to 27 months last year for accepting
money from drug dealers to fix their cases.

Gaddis said proof to support his investigation no longer exists. "JPD went
on and destroyed evidence," he said. "Everything that was in my office
belonged to me, except things like the computer and the desk and it is gone."

JPD spokesman Robert Graham said acting Police Chief Jim French "has no
comment on Gaddis' statements, the sentencing, conclusion of the
investigation or anything federal prosecutors have to say or do."

Barbour told Gaddis he was concerned Gaddis, whose 13 and 14-year-old sons
were present, did not take responsibility for his actions.

"You say you were duped into this... But I have read the transcripts of the
tapes and it is absolutely clear to me that you knew what you were doing,"
Barbour said. "I am concerned that with the age of your sons and with you
being gone they will get bitter at the world and at the justice system and
end up on the streets like so many young black men I see coming through
this court."

Barbour offered Gaddis counseling before he begins serving his sentence
July 1. While free on bond, Gaddis, the sole provider of his sons, will be
able to attend a custody hearing June 20 in Claiborne County Court.

Gaddis also alleged that race played a role in the FBI investigation. All
of the officers charged were black. "Where are all the white officers that
are corrupt," he said after sentencing.

Robert Cromwell, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI in
Mississippi, said: "Race had nothing to do with our investigation. The FBI
does not profile. We went where our investigation led us."

Burkhalter said the prosecution of the officers was motivated by justice,
not racism. "The investigation was given to us by a confidential informant,
" he said. "He was African American. What were we supposed to do? Say we
won't take your information because you are African American?"

Burkhalter said the officers charged, including Gaddis, were asked to
supply information on any others who could have been corrupt. "None of them
implicated any white officers."

Aside from the other officers charged in the same investigation involving
Gaddis, Baggett and her brother, Wallace Jones, also were charged with
corruption in 2000 and are black.

Burkhalter said the public should be mindful that most JPD officers are
honest. "I don't want people to conclude from these convictions all JPD
officers are corrupt," he said. "It is a shame that they have to be smeared
with the behavior of a few."

The other officers charged with Gaddis and Youngblood were:

a.. Tim Henderson, a 17-year patrolman. Last month he reported to the
Federal Prison Camp in Atlanta to begin serving an eight-year sentence. He
pleaded guilty to taking $500 on May 3, 2000, and June 6, 2000, for
protecting a 11-pound shipment of cocaine.

b.. Stanley Butler, an eight year-officer. He is serving a one-year
sentence at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Last February he was
convicted of taking two $200 payments on Feb. 7 and 14, 2000.

c.. Nate Thomas, an eight-year veteran. He served four months in federal
prison in Beaumont, Texas. He has returned to Jackson and is serving a
five-month home confinement sentence. He pleaded guilty to accepting $1,200
between Aug. 24-Oct. 12, 1999.

d.. Joe Wade, a 23-year-officer. Charges were dismissed against him without
prejudice on Dec. 14, 2000. Burkhalter said that case is over, but he would
not say why. Wade was accused of accepting $200 on Feb. 8, 2000.