MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ALTERING COURT DRUG TESTS

Former President Of Firm Took Bribes To Change Results

The former president of a Louisville drug-testing company pleaded guilty
yesterday to federal charges that he solicited bribes to alter courtordered
drug tests.

Rodney K. Sanford, 49, admitted that while operating Adapt Inc. in 1996, he
"solicited and received bribes from defendants in exchange for falsely
reporting that the tests had found no indication of illicit drug use, or
for not reporting tests which found the defendant had been using illicit
drugs," said Monica Wheatley, U.S. attorney for the Western District of
Kentucky.

Sanford, of Lethborough Drive in Jefferson County, pleaded guilty to using
an interstate facility to promote bribery and wire fraud before U.S.
Magistrate Judge C. Cleveland Gambill, Wheatley announced.

Sanford is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 14 and faces a maximum of 30
years in prison, $1.25 million in fines and three years' supervised release.

Adapt Inc. provided services for defendants in Jefferson circuit and
district courts as a condition of their pretrial release or probation; it
also helped judges determine an appropriate sentence, Wheatley said.

Sanford was originally indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury on charges
of bribery, extortion and tampering with public records, but his trial in
May 1999 was halted while lawyers argued over whether FBI records
surrounding the case should be given to the defense.

The prosecutor later asked the circuit judge to dismiss the case so it
could be handled in federal court.

A federal indictment in August 2000 stated that Sanford sent urine
specimens for a person on probation to a commercial laboratory in Lexington
on Oct. 10 and Dec. 20, 1996. The sample showed the individual had recently
used cocaine, but Sanford asked for and got $500 to keep that information
from a circuit judge, the indictment said.

The indictment did not name the judge or offenders.

On Oct. 1, 1996, Sanford collected a sample for someone about to be
sentenced in circuit court. The judge said that if the test showed that the
person was on illegal drugs, a prison sentence would result.

The test showed the offender had recently used cocaine, but Sanford
accepted a $500 bribe to say the test was negative, according to the
indictment.

A probation and parole officer began questioning the integrity of the tests
performed by Adapt in 1997. Leonard Gardenour, in letters to judges and in
other court documents, alleged that offenders who showed up drug-free in
tests by Adapt were found to be using drugs in tests performed at the
probation and parole office.

Rodney K. Sanford, the former head of Adapt Inc., admitted that he took
bribes to alter court ordered drug tests. He could be imprisoned for 30 years.