EX-DEPUTY MARSHAL ADMITS TO DRUG SALE

LIVINGSTON -- An ex-Denham Springs deputy city marshal pleaded no-contest
to a distribution of cocaine charge, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Robert Stovall, 33, dealt drugs while on duty as a deputy city marshal for
Ward 2 Court, said David Guidry of the District Attorney's Office.

In entering the plea, Stovall did not admit guilt, but neither did he
dispute the charge.

In a second case, which also went before Judge Doug Hughes of 21st Judicial
District Court, a 12-member jury unanimously found Calvin Gross, 34, guilty
of distribution of cocaine, Guidry said.

In the Stovall case, Denham Springs police and Livingston Parish sheriff's
deputies arrested the defendant in the City Courthouse after he sold drugs
to an undercover agent in December 1999, Guidry said.

The case was part of a sting called "Operation Christmas Cheer" run out of
a Denham Springs motel room by the two agencies and the Tri-Parish
Narcotics Task Force, Lt. Stan Carpenter of the Sheriff's Office
said.Guidry said during he transaction, Stovall threatened to harm the
cocaine buyer if Stovall found out the customer was an undercover officer.

The case was set to go to trial when Stovall, who lives at 202 Rodeo Drive,
Denham Springs, agreed to plead no-contest in return for a five-year
sentence, the prosecutor said. Formal sentencing is set April 24.

The drug purchase involving Gross, 34, P.O. Box 593, Albany, dates back to
October 1998. That case was delayed because Gross fled to Georgia where he
was arrested.

Sentencing for Gross was set Feb. 27. He faces a maximum of 30 years in
prison, Guidry said.