WILLIE NELSON'S BAND MEMBERS FINED $25

Three members of Willie Nelson's band cited in January for possession
of marijuana and moonshine were sentenced Wednesday to a $25 fine.

Thomas Hawkins, Kenneth Koepke and Dudley Prewitt, via their lawyer,
Sampson County attorney Doug Parsons, pleaded guilty to disorderly
conduct in a Duplin County court. In exchange, Onslow County District
Attorney Dewey Hudson dismissed the possession of marijuana charges.

In response to concerns about special treatment, Hudson insisted that
this case was handled the same as any other would be.

"Disorderly conduct carries the same penalty as possession of
marijuana," he said. "We tend to do that in cases with no prior
criminal record and none of those three had a prior record we were
able to find."

N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement agents wrote citations to the band
members after allegedly smelling marijuana smoke coming from the
band's van in the parking lot of the Duplin County Events Center in
Kenansville on Jan. 28. The show scheduled for that night was
subsequently cancelled.

Although the official reason for the show's cancellation did not
mention the incident, many of the attendees thought it was a
contributing factor.

Hudson, who was in Kenansville with his wife for the show, said he
understood how people felt but that the agents handled the situation
professionally.

"In those situations where you're going to make half the people mad
no matter what you do, you do the right thing," he said. "And that's
what the officers did, and that's what the court system did."

Hudson said the band members were "satisfied with the way they were
treated by law enforcement and the court system in the state of North
Carolina."

All of the alcohol charges were dropped after evidence was presented
showing that the moonshine was already on the tour bus when it was purchased.