AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN DRUG INVESTIGATION

About 200 Pounds Of Marijuana Seized During Mobile-Baldwin Operation

BAY MINETTE -- A day after a major drug seizure in Daphne's Lake Forest
subdivision, top law enforcement officers in Mobile and Baldwin counties
Thursday showed off their bounty: 200 pounds of marijuana and $43,000 in cash.

Mobile County Sheriff Jack Tillman appeared with his Baldwin counterpart,
James B. "Jimmy" Johnson, and Daphne Police Chief Joseph Hall at the
Baldwin County Sheriff's Department to discuss the seven arrests in the
case and detail what they called an ongoing investigation.

Samuel Herbert Williams, 22, and Angela Gayle Everett, 23, were arrested
Wednesday morning at a house in the 200 block of Ridgewood Drive and
charged with drug trafficking.

Everett was being held Thursday evening on a $1 million bond at the Baldwin
County Corrections Center, while Williams was being held without bond in
the Mobile County Metro Jail. If convicted of trafficking, they could face
prison terms ranging from 10 years to life.

In addition, five residents of the Dauphin Island Parkway area in Mobile
County were booked on distribution charges. Authorities identify them as:
James Sellers, 25; Carrie Sellers, 24; Paul Ladnier, 29; Kecia Ladnier, 33;
and Joseph Richerson, 26.

Richerson was being held in Mobile County Metro Jail without bond Thursday
evening, officials said. The others were free on bond.

Officers seized five vehicles: a 2001 Lincoln Navigator and a 1993 Acura
Legend that were parked in front of the Lake Forest house, and a Lincoln
Towncar, a Ford truck and a 1964 Ford Galaxy in Mobile County.

Tillman said the investigation began in Mobile County and involved law
enforcement in Baldwin County after Williams and Everett recently moved to
Lake Forest, the county's largest subdivision. He said the overall
investigation is a spin-off of an operation that has resulted in 19 or 20
arrests over the past two years.

Tillman made his remarks while standing in front of a large pile of bagged
marijuana and neatly bundled stacks of $100 and $20 bills.

Tillman said the odor and packaging of the marijuana suggest that the drugs
originated in Mexico.

"This is an extremely large quantity," he said.

Johnson echoed that assessment, adding that such an inventory would require
deep pockets and a years-old trafficking operation. Investigators pegged
the wholesale value of the marijuana at more than $160,000 and estimated it
would have been worth $500,000 to $800,000 on the street when sold in
smaller amounts.

Investigators said they found the marijuana stuffed in six trash bags in
the master bedroom closet, with additional drugs in the freezer.

Wednesday's raid marked the second high-profile bust in Lake Forest in less
than two years.

In August 2000, police arrested three members of a family on Marie Lane
after finding marijuana growing in a network of underground rooms hidden
beneath a utility building. Sean Michael Bosarge, 19, was allowed to plead
as a youthful offender and has since died. His parents, Joseph K. Bosarge
Jr. and Terry Sutton Bosarge, are scheduled to be tried on trafficking
charges later this year.

Hall, the Daphne police chief, said drugs are a problem throughout society.
By its sheer size, Lake Forest can expect to share in those troubles, he said.

"It's growing, but this subdivision is bigger than most towns in Baldwin
County," he said.