PLEA DEAL PROPOSED BY SHERIFF

For nearly two years, Carl Henry Burris has been free on bond pending federal charges that he stole money from his employer and sold marijuana. The fact he is Frio County's sheriff only complicated matters.

Last week, Sheriff Burris, 53, filed a proposed plea agreement in federal court in San Antonio that could end the case.

In the plea, which requires judicial approval, the sheriff states he stole more than $5,000 in federally monitored assets seized by his deputies in 1994, then sold more than 200 pounds of seized marijuana to cover the theft.

Neither Sheriff Burris nor his federal public defender attorney could be reached for comment Tuesday. Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in San Antonio declined to comment until a judge has ruled on the matter.

"It's not an official plea agreement until he steps up in open court before the judge," Mr. Fields said. "He can revoke his offer at any time."

Sheriff Burris has been free on a $50,000 bond since shortly after his arrest by the FBI on Dec. 8, 1998. A two-term sheriff in Frio County, about 40 miles south of San Antonio, he's on the November ballot seeking a third term.

The controversy surrounding Sheriff Burris' arrest didn't go unnoticed while he continued as the county's top law enforcement officer, under conditions of his bond he couldn't carry a firearm.

In December 1998, the sheriff had to get court permission to travel to Arkansas to pick up a prisoner.

The sheriff's plea, when accepted, will constitute a felony conviction and make him ineligible to hold office, ending a 21-year career in law enforcement, according to officials at the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards.

In November 1994, Deputy Kenneth Zummer stopped three vehicles traveling together southbound along Interstate 35 as it cuts through Frio County. During a search, he found $11,726 in cash, some of it hidden. Thinking it could be drug proceeds, he seized it and turned it in to the sheriff's office.

According to court records, when the deputy later tried to account for the seized funds, Sheriff Burris told him he had returned about half to one of the rightful owners and had kept the remaining $5,900 in the office safe.

Investigators later learned the sheriff had spent the $5,900 on personal expenses, including a vacation to Florida.

Later, when the FBI began an investigation into the unaccounted seized funds, the sheriff and a former sheriff's office employee concocted a scheme to sell marijuana seized from drug dealers to cover the theft.

Unbeknownst to the sheriff, his partner was an FBI informant, and he sold the drugs to FBI agents working a sting operation.

In late 1996 and early 1997, the sheriff and his associate sold a total of 262 pounds of marijuana, for $6,000. Some of the marijuana carried the Department of Public Safety markings, which were placed after the drugs were seized.

Sheriff Burris took the first payment Feb. 13, 1997, in his office, wearing his uniform and badge. The second payment was made a week later in San Antonio behind a vacant restaurant.

The sheriff placed the funds in his office safe in order to be ready for FBI agents investigating the missing funds. The sheriff first needed to change out the new larger format Franklin $100 bills, which weren't in circulation when the cash was seized.

Sheriff Burris is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Hippolito Garcia Sept. 28 to determine whether the plea proposal will be accepted. While the charges against him rule out parole, it is expected that because of the sheriff's cooperation, he will receive less prison time than the 10 to 40 years he could face if the case goes to trial.