DRUG BUST DOESN'T HALT WEDDING

It wasn't a traditional wedding.

The office was cold and stale. No paper wedding bells dangled from the
ceiling. No crepe paper adorned the walls.

There was no cake, no bouquet to be thrown and no limousine to carry
the newlyweds to their honeymoon destination.

The bride, Chandra Vancleave, 21, wore a skirt and nice shirt. The
bridegroom, Kareem Abdul Jabbar White, 24, wore his orange uniform
issued by the Swisher County Jail.

To the couple, it didn't matter much that they recently were married
inside a small office at the Swisher County Jail. It mattered only
that they were able to get married, just like they had planned before
an undercover drug bust sent White to jail for 60 years.

White and his new wife were among 43 people arrested during the summer
of 1999 in a drug bust in Tulia.

White, who claims to be innocent, was found guilty of drug charges by
a Tulia jury in September.

Like the others, his conviction rested on the testimony of undercover
officer Tom Coleman.

Though she professes her innocence, Mrs. White pleaded no contest to
her drug charges and was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. She was jailed
for five days before being released.

Mrs. White is hoping her husband's conviction will be overturned. If
he's released, they'll have a proper wedding outside the walls of a
jail.

She said it was somewhat of a struggle to get the local authorities to
agree to the wedding, but she and her husband were allowed to hold
hands, exchange rings and kiss at the end of the short ceremony.

Her mother and 5-year-old daughter attended, as did White's
father.

For now, Mrs. White can see her husband on Tuesdays and Thursdays
while he waits to be transferred to a state prison from Swisher County
Jail. At the jail, they talk through a small screen in a glass divider.

"I think that after all of this blows over and the feds get through
investigating and stuff, all of them will get to come home, not just
him," Mrs. White said.