EX-POLICE CHIEF IS SENTENCED

Collinsville's former top officer Don Abel will serve two years' probation
on a drug count to which he had pleaded no contest.

Former Collinsville Police Chief Don Abel received a two-year deferred
sentence Friday for distributing a controlled drug to a dispatcher, court
officials said.

Abel, 58, pleaded no contest to the drug charge June 2. The case will be
dismissed with no conviction if Abel follows the requirements of a two-year
probation.

Prosecutor Larry Edwards said he was disappointed with the sentence.

"This was a drug offense involving a law enforcement officer," he said. "I
think it deserved a conviction because of the public trust that's involved."

Defense attorney Everett Bennett said Abel, who has a plumbing business, is
eager to get on with his life. "Mr. Abel is pleased with the sentence and
looks forward to putting all of this behind him," Bennett said.

Abel was charged in August 1996 with delivering ephedrine to Cherry Fifer,
a Collinsville dispatcher from 1989 until 1992.

Abel -- then police chief of Collinsville -- was arrested June 26, 1996, at
the Saratoga Motor Hotel, 10117 E. 11th St., in Tulsa.

At a preliminary hearing, Fifer said Abel appeared "in full uniform" for a
rendezvous at the Tulsa motel.

She testified that on several occasions Abel had mentioned the idea of
exchanging drugs for sex.

Fifer said Abel handed her two small plastic bags before FBI agents entered
the room and arrested him. No sexual activity occurred, she said.

Edwards said Friday that Abel admitted that he took the drug from the
Collinsville Police Department's evidence room.

Bennett maintained that Abel went to the motel for "strictly law
enforcement" purposes.

Abel did not go there to have a sexual encounter and did "not intend to
deliver a controlled substance," Bennett said.

Abel was suspended from duty by the Collinsville City Commission in July
1996 before being fired as police chief three months later.

Tulsa District Judge Ned Turnbull previously denied a motion to dismiss the
charge, based on Bennett's contention that ephedrine is "commonly sold over
the counter" for legitimate use.

At a 1996 preliminary hearing, a police chemist indicated that the
ephedrine detected in powdery contents tested in this case was not in
tablet or dosage form associated with an over-the-counter drug.

Brian Barber can be reached at 581-8470.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski