TWO DEPUTIES HANDED LEAVE

Two supervisors of the Shawnee County sheriff's narcotics unit, each
with more than 20 years of experience in law enforcement, were placed
on administrative leave Monday following a two-month internal affairs
investigation linked to the sheriff's department drug scandal, county
spokesmen said Tuesday.

One deputy, Lt. Larry Crady, who led the special services-narcotics
unit and detective unit, resigned immediately, said Sgt. Marsha
Bryant, sheriff's department spokeswoman. A deputy normally gives
notice of at least two weeks, but Sheriff Dick Barta waived the
notification in Crady's case, she said.

The second deputy is Sgt. Earl Busey, who is the narcotics unit
supervisor, Bryant said. Busey remains on administrative leave with
pay "at this time," she said.

County counselor Rich Eckert said placing Busey and Crady on
administrative leave "does have to do with the sheriff's department
drug scandal, but until we get the investigation done, I don't want to
say anything."

The suspensions are "the result of an ongoing internal affairs
investigation," Bryant said, initiated by Barta when he entered office
in February.

Barta was appointed by Gov. Bill Graves to replace Sheriff Dave
Meneley after two district judges ruled Feb. 24 to oust Meneley from
the sheriff's post. The judges found Meneley had committed perjury on
two occasions and concealment on one occasion. Meneley had denied
knowledge about former deputy Timothy P. Oblander's use of illegal
drugs.

Eckert declined to specify what the internal affairs investigation
centered on, saying only that the probe started after "certain facts
came to our attention."

Bryant also declined to reveal the nature of the investigation.

In October, a report -- compiled by Crady and members of the sheriff's
special services unit -- was released that named another former deputy
as the suspect in the disappearance of cocaine evidence stolen from
the sheriff's department in 1994.

That disappearance sparked the scandal that led to Meneley's ouster;
the filing of criminal charges against Meneley, three deputies and a
former deputy; the dismissal of some drug cases and the overturning of
others; and the continuing departmental shake-up.

In October, Shawnee County District Attorney Joan Hamilton dismissed
the nine-month investigative report, calling it a "witch hunt"
designed to exonerate Meneley and falsely accuse another.

When called at his Shawnee County home Tuesday, Crady confirmed that
he had retired from the sheriff's department but declined to comment
on the case or the earlier administrative leave. Busey didn't return a
phone message.

Besides Crady and Busey, sheriff's department officials talked to a
third deputy Monday, but no disciplinary action was taken with that
deputy "at this time," said Eckert, who declined to identify the third
officer.

Crady, a deputy since Nov. 1, 1975, earned $22.96 an hour, or $47,757
a year, and Busey, a deputy since Jan. 2, 1980, receives $22.31 an
hour, or $46,405 a year, Bryant said.

Crady is the fifth officer to leave the sheriff's department as a
result of the drug scandal.

Others who have left are Meneley; Sgt. Frank Good, who faces charges
of two counts of perjury and was fired April 20; Oblander, who
resigned Feb. 26, 1999, and was charged April 2, 1999, with six counts
of perjury and one count of official misconduct but later entered a
plea agreement; and Undersheriff Bill Huffmier, who is charged with
misdemeanor theft and criminal threat and who was fired the same day
Meneley was ousted.