SHERIFF'S PROBE OF PHELPS POT CASE STRIKES SOME AS OVERKILL

The sheriff of Richland County, S.C., made a big splash a week ago
when a squad of deputies raided the houses of people suspected of
having information about a party at which Olympic swimming champion
Michael Phelps allegedly smoked marijuana.

But some people in the metropolitan county of 350,000 in central
South Carolina are wondering why the sheriff is making such a big
deal about the situation. "This case is just ridiculous," said Todd
Rutherford, a South Carolina state legislator and criminal-defense
lawyer who isn't involved in the investigation.

It all started after the British tabloid "News of the World"
published on Feb. 1 a photograph showing Mr. Phelps, who won eight
gold medals at the Beijing Games last year, apparently smoking a
marijuana pipe. Without specifically admitting that he had smoked an
illegal drug, Mr. Phelps confirmed the authenticity of the photo,
taken last November at a student party at the University of South
Carolina in Columbia, S.C. He issued a public apology for his
conduct, and the embarrassing incident cost him a lucrative
sponsorship contract with cereal maker Kellogg Co. Sheriff Leon Lott,
shown Friday, is described by friends as hardly the stereotypical
Southern cop. But some in South Carolina worry his pursuit of Olympic
swimming hero Michael Phelps is making the state a laughingstock.
Then, last Saturday morning, sheriff's deputies with drawn guns burst
into two Columbia homes, including the site of the party, and
arrested eight young men on various drug offenses.

Joseph McCulloch, a lawyer for one of the eight, said the deputies
ordered one home's three occupants to the ground, seized computers,
cellphones and cameras, and later questioned the three extensively
about Mr. Phelps. Dick Harpootlian, who represents another of the
arrested men, said deputies appeared to be interested primarily in
gathering evidence against Mr. Phelps. "All they asked him was, 'Were
you at the party in November with Michael Phelps? Do you know where
the bong is? Do you know who did see him?' " said Mr. Harpootlian.
Neither attorney would name his client. Through a spokesman, Sheriff
Leon Lott declined to comment.

Earlier this month, he told the State newspaper in Columbia that the
investigation was "no different than any other case."

"This one [investigation] might be a lot easier since we have
photographs of someone using drugs and a partial confession," Mr.
Lott told the newspaper. "It's a relatively easy case once we can
determine where the crime occurred."

Mr. Phelps doesn't face much legal jeopardy.

Taking a hit off a marijuana pipe isn't a serious crime in most
places in the U.S., including South Carolina. Under the state's laws,
simple possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by a $200
fine and as much as 30 days in jail. However, first-time offenders
are generally eligible for public service, and if they stay out of
trouble, can strike the offense from their permanent record.

Mr. McCulloch called the investigation "a tragic waste of resources,"
as well as a public-relations blunder for an otherwise
"well-respected member of law enforcement." Mr. McCulloch said he has
contributed to Mr. Lott's past political campaigns.

Mr. Lott, who was first elected in 1996, has repeatedly won
re-election and was unopposed in November. Mr. Lott's friends said he
is hardly the stereotypical, ultraconservative Southern cop. A
chiseled fitness buff, Mr. Lott, 55 years old, is also a white
Democrat in a county that is 45% African-American and that voted
overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in the presidential election. Both
supporters and adversaries said Mr. Lott, a former narcotics officer,
was always more "Miami Vice" than "Smokey and the Bandit" -- with a
nuanced view about crime and punishment.

"This is not your pot-bellied, cigar-chomping good ol' boy," said
John Delgado, a local lawyer who isn't involved in the case and who
has known Mr. Lott for several decades.

Some recent guests on a widely followed Columbia talk-radio station
expressed concern that Mr. Lott's actions were making South Carolina
a national laughingstock. The sheriff in a nearby county questioned
the wisdom of expending resources on such a low-level case. Others
defended the sheriff, saying, "A crime's a crime," as one caller put it.

Republican state Sen. John M. Knotts, a former law-enforcement
officer who once worked narcotics cases with Mr. Lott, said the
sheriff is right to investigate, but should probably decide
immediately to bring charges or drop the case. "You probably know
what you need to know," said Mr. Knotts, who represents a district
adjacent to Richland County. "How long do you have to look at it? He
either did it or he didn't, and in this case, he admitted it." If Mr.
Lott pursues charges, he said, "I guess you have protected your
people from dope smokers."