61-YEAR-OLD GRANDMOTHER FOUND GUILTY FOR ROLE IN DRUG CONSPIRACY

WEST PALM BEACH -- A 61-year-old woman grandmother pleaded guilty for her
role in a massive dockworker drug conspiracy at Port Everglades.

Former security guard Daphne "Ma" Creary faces a minimum of 10 years in
federal prison after pleading guilty Friday to one count of conspiracy to
import cocaine.

"My life and my grandkids' lives are at stake," said Creary, who is raising
three grandchildren. "They need me."

As part of the plea bargain arrangement, Creary admitted to helping
unionized dockworkers take duffel bags filled with 150 kilograms of drugs
from containers at the busy South Florida port over a three-year period
beginning January 1995 Creary initially told U.S. District Judge Daniel
T.K. Hurley she was forced to participate in the deals, but later changed
her story.

"They didn't threaten me," Creary said. "I knew exactly what was going on."

Creary was one of 14 current and former Port Everglades dockworkers and
security guards indicted in early March. She is the second major figure in
the case to plead guilty and cooperate with authorities.

Mark Knight, a member of the International Longshoremen's Association,
pleaded guilty in June. Knight, who worked at the Sea Land Service
shipyard, was supposed to be sentenced on Friday, but sentencing was
indefinitely postponed. Drug Enforcement Administration and customs agents
last week arrested seven more people, including another key figure, accused
drug dealer Willie Edward Jackson, a stevedore with the Teamsters union.

Authorities have identified Jackson, fellow Teamster crane operator Cecil
"Big Dirty" McCleod, and ILA stevedore Malcolm Edwards as the leaders of
three competing smuggling cells at the port.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski