DRUG DEALER'S HELP EARNS HIM REDUCED TIME IN PRISON

Another little nugget appeared Wednesday in the federal case against
Jacksonville police officers charged in crimes including murder and
robbery, as a convicted drug dealer got a reduced prison sentence for
helping authorities in the case and other matters.

Fred L. Wilson, 25, is among a number of people who cooperated during a
federal grand jury investigation of the police that led to a 26-count
indictment last week. Four officers and two other people were arrested Dec.
13 on charges ranging from murder to bank fraud, according to court records.

Police records show Wilson was arrested twice in 1997 on charges including
armed trafficking of cocaine and has been cooperating with prosecutors in a
number of cases since. That cooperation includes help in the convictions of
at least seven drug dealers and the federal investigation of the
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, court records show.

Wilson faced at least 24 years when convicted in his cases but received
15-1/2 years when prosecutors asked a judge to go outside the set
guidelines during the May 1999 sentencing. Yesterday, U.S. District Judge
Ralph W. Nimmons Jr. granted a prosecutor's motion that Wilson's prison
time be further reduced to 10 years for his continued cooperation.

As with other witnesses before him, Wilson's role in the police probe has
yet to be defined publicly. A court motion to reduce his sentence said,
"The defendant also testified before a grand jury investigating allegations
of illegal activity by certain Jacksonville Sheriff's officers and others.
The defendant's information is limited, but helpful."

Wednesday, federal prosecutor Jim Klindt, who is leading the case against
the police officers, declined to discuss details of Wilson's role but said
his help was a factor in requesting the sentence reductions. Wilson's
police record shows that he crossed paths with at least one of the accused
officers, Aric Sinclair, who arrested him twice in 1996 on traffic charges.

Wilson's primary assistance to prosecutors came when he provided
information that helped convict drug dealers, including Abdul Robinson and
Derrick Smith, involved in distributing massive amounts of cocaine in
Jacksonville, court records show. After their arrests in August 1999,
Robinson and Smith kicked off the police probe by telling investigators
they were paying off at least one police officer for drug case information.