FORMER ROBESON DETECTIVE CHARGED IN KIDNAPPING CASE

LUMBERTON - A former detective with the Robeson County Sheriff's
Office Juvenile Division is facing federal conspiracy kidnapping charges.

Patrick Ferguson has been charged by a bill of criminal information
in the kidnapping of two Virginia men between January and February
2004. He also was charged with using a firearm during an act of violence.

According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Raleigh on
July 24, Ferguson and a co-conspirator drove from Robeson County to
Virginia and kidnapped the men at gunpoint. One of the men was shot
during the incident. Court records identified the shooter as a
co-conspirator. The co-conspirator has not been indicted, according
to the court documents.

Robert Nunley, Ferguson's lawyer, declined to comment. He also
represents Ferguson on state charges.

Ferguson, who is 34 and lives in Red Springs, is the sixth former
Robeson County deputy to be charged with federal crimes.

The arrests are the result of a three-year federal and state
investigation called Operation Tarnished Badge.

Roger Taylor, C.T. Strickland and Steve Lovin were indicted in June
on racketeering and theft charges. The men were accused of stealing
money, taking money seized in drug operations and committing arson.

Former lawmen James O. Hunt and Kevin Meares pleaded guilty in
federal court in recent weeks to conspiracy to commit money
laundering. Both are expected to testify against Taylor, Strickland and Lovin.

Hunt is accused of stealing $160,000 during six traffic stops along
Interstate 95. Meares is accused of stealing more than $25,000 that
was supposed to be used to pay confidential informants.

All of the men except Ferguson were members of the Sheriff's Office
Drug Enforcement Division.

Ferguson also faces state charges of robbery and kidnapping. A court
date has not been scheduled on those charges.

He and former Detective Vincent Sinclair were arrested in April by
State Bureau of Investigation agents. He and Sinclair are accused of
robbing several drug dealers in Robeson County.

Ferguson, Sinclair and four other men posed as police officers and
used Robeson County sheriff's equipment to stage a drug raid in May
2004, according to court records. The four other people were not lawmen.

The men were charged with kidnapping a man in December 2003 and
demanding a $150,000 ransom.