FORMER USA STUDENT SENTENCED FOR ROLE IN LSD DISTRIBUTION RING

Former University of South Alabama student Richard Alexander Doggett was
sentenced last week by a federal judge in Mobile to nearly 12 years in
prison for his role in an interstate LSD distribution ring.

Prosecutors described Doggett as the leader among four former USA students
who all pleaded guilty to helping bring acid into Mobile from California
and Las Vegas. The group then distributed the drugs throughout the city and
in several southeastern states, according to court documents.

"As far as the people that we indicted here in Mobile, he would've been the
main supplier," Assistant U.S. Attorney George May said.

May said the investigation surrounding the arrests of Doggett and the
others remains alive and could produce more indictments.

Doggett admitted in court records to selling 200 acid tablets to an
undercover officer for $1,100 last year, and acknowledged dealing in the
drug for more than two years.

Primarily because he had prior drug offenses, Doggett faced more than 17 to
21 years in prison on the one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to
distribute LSD, May said. But the government asked U.S. District Judge
Charles Butler to cut Dog gett's sentence by 25 percent because he
cooperated with investigators.

Doggett's 140-month sentence could be reduced even further if he helps
secure other convictions in the case, May said.

Meanwhile, another member of the ring has filed a motion for a lighter
sentence and been denied. U.S. District Judge Richard Vollmer sentenced
William Jonathan Glass in June to almost nine years in prison for the same
charge leveled against Doggett and another defendant, Justin Pruett Davis.

Butler sentenced Davis in May to four years in prison after Davis was
caught in a DEA undercover operation selling about 68 grams of LSD. An
undercover buy last year nabbed Glass dealing slightly more than 10 grams
of acid.

Prosecutors said they asked for a larger break for Davis because he
provided more cooperation to investigators. That, combined with Glass'
criminal history, translated into a tougher sentence under the federal
sentencing guidelines.

Anything over 10 grams mandates a 10-year minimum term, according to
federal guidelines, although prosecutors may recommend shorter sentences
for defendants who cooperate.

Skip Brutkiewicz, Glass' lawyer, said he filed a motion in July asking
Vollmer to reconsider Glass' sentence based partially on the sentence Davis
received, but Vollmer rejected it.

Brutkiewicz said recently he holds out only faint hope for Glass' appeal.

"Our appeal is basically dead in the water," Brutkiewicz said. "There's no
legal ground for it to stand on."

The fourth defendant, Jessica Tenay Walker, played a smaller part in the
ring, serving merely as a driver for Davis during at least two drug buys.
She pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, meaning she knew about the
crime but did not report it.

Walker is to be sentenced Aug. 17.