CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST BORDER AGENTS

BURLINGTON -- Federal charges have been dropped against two U.S.
Border Patrol agents who were accused of covering up a drug arrest.

Prosecutors initially accused agents Steven Garceau and Ross
Schofield of trying to protect an informant by altering records and
fabricating a crime scene near Derby so it would appear 60 pounds of
marijuana they had confiscated had been abandoned.

They were accused of letting their suspect go after he promised to
alert them when there were shipments in the future.

But prosecutors said they don't think they can prove the agents had
any criminal intent. And, prosecutors said in papers filed in federal
court, they wanted to avoid a confrontation between the agents' right
to know about the evidence against them and the government's interest
in keeping certain law enforcement procedures and investigative
material secret.

"We felt a clear conflict would arise on what the agents needed to
prove at trial and what the agencies involved would not want
discovered," said David Kirby, acting U.S. attorney on the case. "In
the interests of justice, we had to do this."

Garceau and Schofield were indicted by a federal grand jury in
November on six counts apiece of conspiracy and making false
statements. They had faced up to 20 years in prison, but now they'll
try to get their jobs back, their lawyers said.

The agents' lawyers argued all along that the men were following
common procedures practiced by the Border Patrol and Immigration and
Customs Enforcement. Lawyer Eric Miller, representing Garceau, said
the dismissal proved that defense.

"This is what we have been saying since the outset of this case,"
Miller said. "Their decision entirely vindicates our position. These
agents had every intent to further legitimate law-enforcement
interests. They were trying to stop drugs from coming across the border."

He said both men, who have been suspended without pay, would try to
return to the Border Patrol, where they were both decorated agents.

Kirby said the men still could face sanctions outside court.

"I expect that administrative charges will be brought, and they will
be dealt with administratively," he said.