ROBESON COUNTY DEPUTY SCANDAL COULD FREE GANG

A defense lawyer believes it's possible that 10 members of one of the
largest drug gangs in Robeson County history will be released from
prison as a result of Operation Tarnished Badge.

But federal prosecutors aren't acknowledging that any such release
could happen. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Moore declined to comment
publicly except to say he has never spoken with the defense lawyer,
Carlton Mansfield of Lumberton.

Moore, head of narcotics for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the South
Carolina district, said he is handling post-trial matters involving
the state and federal investigation of alleged corruption in the
Robeson County Sheriff's Office.

The 10 members of a drug gang led by Eugene Strickland pleaded guilty
in federal court in 1999 to distributing at least 55 kilograms of
cocaine over 10 years. Strickland received a life sentence.

The 10 were arrested by members of the Robeson County sheriff's Drug
Enforcement Division following a two-year investigation.

Seven years later, three former members of the Drug Enforcement
Division have been indicted on corruption charges, and two others
have pleaded guilty as a result of Operation Tarnished Badge.

At least four of those former deputies -- C.T. Strickland, Steven
Lovin, Roger Taylor and Kevin Meares -- took part in the
investigation of the the Strickland drug gang, which operated in the
Maxton area.

Mansfield, the defense lawyer, said a source close to the Tarnished
Badge investigation told him that allegations against the former
deputies may have tainted evidence in the case against the Strickland
drug gang. Mansfield represented one of the 10, Travis Strickland,
during his appeal.

The Strickland drug gang was accused of selling millions of dollars
worth of drugs along N.C. 130 south of Maxton and from three homes in
the area, where most of them lived. Allegations

Mansfield said Operation Tarnished Badge has led to allegations that
members of the Drug Enforcement Division allowed the drug gang to
sell cocaine in exchange for information about other drug dealers.

Mansfield and District Attorney Johnson Britt said some of the gang
members worked as confidential informants for the Drug Enforcement
Division. Mansfield said he was told that the drug gang was using the
deputies to eliminate competition.

William Davis, who represented drug dealer Marshall Strickland, said
a drug dealer who had been arrested using information from the
Strickland gang later turned on the Stricklands.

"I thought the detectives had double-crossed the Stricklands," Davis said.

Mansfield said investigators with Operation Tarnished Badge have
interviewed the 10 drug dealers in prison.

Barbara Strickland's son, Robert Neal Strickland Jr., was among them.
Her husband, Robert Sr., was arrested with the gang members, but
charges against him were dropped.

Barbara Strickland said State Bureau of Investigation Agent Mark
Brewington met with her recently about the case.

"He is investigating the whole case because he talked to all those
boys" in the drug gang, she said. Brewington is the lead SBI
investigator for Operation Tarnished Badge.

Barbara Strickland said her husband was arrested in 1999 on charges
that he aided the drug dealers. During his arrest, investigators
seized 10 vehicles, equipment and guns from his auto repair shop.
Investigators alleged that the vehicles had been stolen.

She said her husband, who died last year, had no involvement in the
drug operation.

"Imagine somebody coming into your house and arresting you and
locking you up and saying you are facing 20 to life for something you
haven't done and they know you didn't do it," she said.

After federal charges were dropped against her husband, the state
filed charges saying he possessed a stolen vehicle and a vehicle in
which the identification number had been altered. Those charges were
dropped in March 2001 because evidence could not prove that Robert
Strickland Sr. knew that the vehicles had been stolen, court records show.

Barbara Strickland said she has never gotten back any of the
equipment or the 10 vehicles seized from her husband's shop. She said
Brewington came to her to talk about compensation for the vehicles
and equipment.

She said Brewington told her that members of the drug gang, including
her son, are on a list to testify against the three former sheriff's
deputies under indictment.

But she said Brewington discussed little else about the case.

"He told us the case is obviously going to have to be looked at if
C.T. and Lovin and Roger Taylor are found guilty," she said.

Operation Tarnished Badge has already led to one convicted drug
dealer being released from prison. Britt, the district attorney, said
Eugene Scott of Shannon had to be released because evidence uncovered
during the investigation revealed that former deputy Taylor planted
drugs on Scott's property and then arrested him.

Court documents show that the investigation has also caused at least
180 charges to be dropped against people awaiting trial.