EX-PRICHARD COPS PLEAD GUILTY

The Four Could Testify Against Two Other Former Prichard Officers In Trial
Starting This Month

Four former Prichard narcotics officers avoided a second corruption trial
and possible lengthy prison terms by pleading guilty Friday in federal
court in Mobile.

The pleas set the stage for some or all of them to testify against two
former comrades in a trial scheduled to start later this month.

A jury deadlocked in October after hearing two weeks of testimony for and
against the six -- former Lt. James Stallworth Jr., former Sgt. John "Big
John" Stuckey and former detectives Nathan McDuffie, Derek "Dae Day"
Gillis, Anthony "Curlyhead" Diaz and Frederick Pippins.

A retrial was set for Jan. 22 until all but Diaz and Pippins cut deals with
prosecutors Thursday and Friday. The four who pleaded guilty are to be
sentenced April 30.

Stallworth smiled broadly and gave a thumbs-up sign as he walked into the
courthouse Friday morning. Gillis winked at news cameras on the way in.

All four offered no comment afterward, as did Justice Department lawyers
Peter Ainsworth and Rita Glavin. Lawyers for some of the defendants,
however, said they were pleased with the deals.

Stallworth, who was head of Prichard's criminal investigations division,
pleaded guilty to racketeering, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years
in prison. His deal calls for prosecutors to ask Chief U.S. District Judge
Charles Butler Jr. to sentence him to a three-year term.

Stallworth admitted threatening a drug suspect with prosecution to get him
to turn over $10,000 cash, which Stallworth, Pippins and McDuffie then kept
for themselves, according to a statement prosecutors read in court.
Stallworth also agreed that he and Pippins took another $1,000 out of the
department evidence vault in Stallworth's office, according to the statement.

Stallworth's lawyer, Buzz Jordan, said pending sentencing, his client will
go back to Houston, where he moved after resigning from the Prichard force
in the fall of 2000. Stallworth worked as a security guard until FBI agents
arrested him and the others last August. He started driving a shuttle bus
for disabled people after the mistrial.

Stuckey repeatedly shook his head and looked toward the ceiling as he
pleaded guilty to possessing one gram of crack cocaine with the intent to
distribute it. Confessed prostitutes testified during the trial that
Stuckey had sex with them during wild parties in which all present smoked
crack, which they said Stuckey had brought in evidence bags.

Stuckey could have faced nearly 20 years in prison if convicted at a trial
on the cocaine counts. Instead, he likely will serve 2 years followed by
probation.

Prosecutors introduced evidence at the previous trial that Stuckey tested
positive for cocaine in a urinalysis screening ordered by his supervisors
at the Drug Enforcement Administration, where Stuckey worked on a task force.

"I'm not a fool," said Stuckey's lawyer, Robert F. "Cowboy Bob" Clark, when
asked why he told his client to take the deal. Clark said he would ask
Butler to recommend Stuckey be sent to a minimum-security penitentiary,
where other inmates would be less likely to assault a former officer in
their midst.

McDuffie pleaded guilty to conspiring to deprive citizens of their rights,
a charge that stemmed from the instance in which he, Stallworth and Pippins
took the drug suspect's $10,000. McDuffie also admitted to falsifying
records to cover up another instance in which he and other officers
pocketed cash they seized from suspects, according to another statement
prosecutors read in court.

McDuffie could have gotten up to 10 years if a jury convicted him of the
conspiracy charge. Now, he likely will spend four months in a halfway house
and another four months on electronic monitoring.

"Certainly, my preference would be to try everything and to put the
government to its burden of proof," said Al Pennington, McDuffie's lawyer.
"But the downside on this was just too significant."

Pennington credited the two jurors who held out against conviction with
giving the defendants the leverage to make the plea agreements. Prosecutors
did not want to risk another mistrial or acquittals, he said.

"That hung jury made this deal possible, to be truthful," Pennington said.

Gillis pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of not filing paperwork
showing that $882 had been taken from a drug suspect. He is expected to
receive probation.

"We feel fantastic," said Gillis' lawyer, Dennis Knizley. "We pleaded
guilty to just what we did, which is fail to file some papers. He's been
totally exonerated of any stealing or anything like that."

Legally, Gillis could become an officer again because his conviction was
not a felony. Knizley, however, said Gillis plans to become a commercial
truck driver.

"He has no desire whatsoever to be in law enforcement again," Knizley said.

Butler could opt not to issue the sentences laid out in the plea
agreements. The men could appeal, however, if the judge hands out stiffer
sentences than the ones they agreed to.

Pippins and Diaz reportedly rejected deals similar to McDuffie's. They risk
prison terms of several years each if convicted at trial, which is set to
begin Jan. 28. Lawyers for both said Thursday that their clients maintain
their innocence.

Prosecutors agreed to drop numerous other charges against Stallworth,
Stuckey, McDuffie and Gillis in exchange for the pleas and cooperation from
the four, who will have to testify against Pippins and Diaz if prosecutors
call them, according to the written plea agreements. In the course of
negotiating his plea, Stuckey told prosecutors at least some of what he
knows, Clark said.

"We played show-and-tell before the deal," he said, without elaborating on
what Stuckey might know.

Knizley said Gillis would cooperate but might not be able to help
prosecutors too much. "There's not going to be any testimony from my client
that he saw anybody steal anything," Knizley said.

After Butler declared the court in recess, Prichard Police Capt. James
Parrish walked over to Gillis and shook his hand, pulling him in to say a
few words. He then consoled Gillis' mother, who was blotting tears from her
eyes.

Parrish, the head of patrol and one of Prichard's highest ranking
commanders, testified as a character witness for McDuffie at the trial.

Prichard Chief Sammie Brown, who testified for the prosecution, did not
attend the plea hearing. He said Friday afternoon that he had no regrets
about working with the FBI to clean house in his department.

"If I had to do it all over again, I'd do the exact same thing," Brown
said. "Wherever criminal activity circles, you have to deal with it."

Around Prichard, some residents said they had followed the case closely and
took news of the plea deals in stride.

Leon Myles, who owns Myles Men's Shop on Wilson Avenue, said the defendants
"did the right thing" by pleading guilty.

"They just weren't thinking," said Myles, who lives four blocks from his
store. "They're not bad people."

Myles said the temptation can be great for narcotics officers, who often
deal with huge sums of cash on the street.

"It's kind of hard to resist," he said, adding that he puts full trust in
the city's police department.

Mamie Robinson, who was crossing Clark Street to pay her water bill Friday
afternoon, said the recommended sentences aren't enough to compensate for
the damage caused and trust eroded.

"I don't think that's right, all the wrong they did to the community," said
Robinson, who lives in the Whistler area of Prichard located between
Interstate 65 and Eightmile Creek.

Robinson said prosecuting the defendants is progress, but, she said,
authorities need to check old cases the officers worked on to make sure
everything was done above board.