TRIO ACCUSED OF CRIMES SPANNING 10-YEAR PERIOD

LUMBERTON - Three former Robeson County sheriff's deputies have been
charged with multiple federal crimes over a 10-year period, including
money laundering, arson and providing drugs to informants.

Federal, state and local law enforcement officials, including state
Attorney General Roy Cooper, held a press conference Friday to
explain the federal indictments returned Wednesday against Roger Hugh
Taylor, 39, Charles Thomas Strickland, 39, and Steven Ray Lovin, 36,
all of Lumberton. Each faces up to life in prison if found guilty.

They were all arrested without incident Friday morning as up to 60
officers with the State Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue
Service and state Highway Patrol flooded the county, conducted
searches and seized property.

All three face charges of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy,
while Lovin also is charged with stealing federal funds, conspiracy
to commit thefts, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

"Obviously this is a black eye on local law enforcement, but this is
not a reflection of local law enforcement in this county," said
Robeson County District Attorney Johnson Britt, who attended the
press conference. Britt stood with Cooper and Robin Pendergraft, the
director of the State Bureau of Investigation, at the press
conference, which was held at the Holiday Inn.

There were at least a dozen people who were not allowed into the
press conference, which was limited to the media.

U.S. Attorney Frank Whitney said the three engaged in numerous crimes
between 1995 and 2004 while employed as Robeson County deputies. They
served under former Sheriff Glenn Maynor, who could not be reached for comment.

Whitney said more indictments are possible as part of the ongoing
investigation, "Operation Tarnished Badge," but would not say more.
Taylor, Strickland and Lovin are being held at a Raleigh detention
center without bail until a hearing Tuesday.

A federal grand jury handed down the indictments that accuse the men
of committing arson, assault, theft of public funds, distribution of
controlled substances and money laundering that "financially enriched
the three defendants and increased their power and influence within
the community."

The indictments say the three men were involved in 12 federal
racketeering acts, including setting fire to two residences and one
business. They are accused of: providing marijuana and cocaine to
confidential informants working for the sheriff's Drug Enforcement
Division; paying someone marijuana to commit arson; stealing $11,000
from an individual; and with using stolen money to buy a motorcycle.

Lovin alone is accused of taking money from drug stops on Interstate
95 on six occasions from Oct. 17, 2001, to April 1, 2004, and with
money laundering.

Strickland led the Drug Task Force Division until 2002, when he was
accused of providing false information to a magistrate to obtain a
warrant. He later resigned and his law enforcement certification was revoked.

Taylor, a former lieutenant, already faces felony charges of
obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice stemming
from claims that he allowed a convicted felon to possess a handgun as
part of a sting operation in November 2001.

Lovin was one of three agents who resigned from the Drug Division
last year; the other two have not been charged with any crimes.

A former sergeant in the Drug Division, J.W. Jacobs, last year
pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of failing to include in a
report that an informant was a convicted felon. That stemmed from the
drug sting that involved Taylor. Jacobs was put on probation.

Friday's operation included as many 60 officers and 16 vehicles. They
searched Lovin's Tar Heel Road home Friday between 6 and 7 a.m. and
seized a 2002 Harley Davidson motorcycle and a Ford F250 pickup
truck. They later searched Lovin's business, Big Boy's Towing off
West Fifth Street. There was no information on other searches that
might have been conducted.

"Nothing jeopardizes our personal safety or undermines the
enforcement of the law more than illegal conduct of sworn law
enforcement officers." Whitney said.

Cooper said it is difficult for the lawmen to investigate fellow officers.

"This investigation has stopped a series of crimes that corrupted the
very people who were sworn to enforce our laws," Cooper said.
"Unfortunately corruption knows no boundaries, and can infect every
profession. As the case continues we hope the community will be able
to return its trust to the true enforcement officers who put their
lives on the line every day."

Sheriff Ken Sealey did not attend Friday's press conference, but did
provide a statement.

"Since I have been sheriff I have cooperated fully with the SBI and
U.S. Attorney's Office and will continue to do so," Sealey said in a
statement. "As sheriff of Robeson County I will not tolerate any
wrongdoing or corruption in the department or anywhere else in the county."

Sealey became sheriff in January 2005, replacing Maynor, who resigned
because of health reasons. Strickland and Taylor had already left the
department by then, and Lovin resigned in July 2005.

Lovin began work as a sheriff's investigator in September 1991. When
he left the department, he was making $32,508 a year.

Strickland worked for the Sheriff's Office for about 13 years. A
former lieutenant and supervisor of the Drug Division's Task Force,
he earned $31,584 when he resigned in June 2003.

Taylor began working for the Sheriff's Office on July 1991. He served
as commander of communications at the Sheriff's Office and worked in
the Drug Task Force as a lieutenant. He also formerly served as
commander of the Lumberton Rescue Squad.

Maynor suspended Taylor after authorities charged him with two felony
counts of obstruction of justice and felony conspiracy to obstruct
justice in September 2003. Numerous sources have told The Robesonian
that a large part of the investigation focused on the fact all three
men lived lives that could not be supported by their salaries.

District Attorney Britt said his office had to dismiss as many as 300
cases because evidence gathered by the three men would not be able to
stand up in court. He said one conviction has been vacated.