ROBESON COUNTY DRUG OFFICE PROBE LINGERS

LUMBERTON -- A year ago this week, agents with the State Bureau of
Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service seized documents and
confiscated computers from the Robeson County Sheriff's Office.
Agents loaded boxes of paperwork taken from the Drug Enforcement
Division office into a Ryder truck and hauled them away.

The investigation, now in its third year, is ongoing, said Brad
Hales, a spokesman with the Eastern District of the U.S. Attorney's
Office. Rumors circulated for months after the search about whether
top drug enforcement lawmen would be indicted on federal charges. No
arrests have been made, and investigators are not commenting about
the case. Three deputies were reassigned after the search; they later
resigned. Authorities aren't saying whether they are connected to the
federal investigation.

Sheriff Kenneth Sealey and District Attorney Johnson Britt are
waiting like everyone else for federal authorities to complete the
probe. "I would hope it will reach its conclusion in the near
future," Britt said. Sealey said he has no information about the case.

"This is a federal investigation that is ongoing. That's all I know,"
he said. Former Sheriff Glenn Maynor requested the investigation in
2003 after allegations surfaced about misappropriation of money
seized by lawmen in the Drug Enforcement Division.

Maynor called for the investigation several months after the
suspension of Lt. C.T. Strickland.

Strickland, who headed the drug investigation division, resigned in
June 2003 after his credibility as an officer was questioned. In
September 2002, Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks threw out evidence
in a drug case after learning that Strickland falsified information
to obtain a search warrant. Weeks ruled that Strickland knowingly
provided false information to a magistrate to obtain the warrant.
Strickland's law enforcement certification was later revoked.

It is uncertain whether Strickland and other deputies who have since
resigned are part of the federal investigation.

James O. Hunt, Steve Lovin and Billy Hunt, former drug officers with
the division, left the Sheriff's Office in July 2005.

Sealey, who became sheriff in December 2004 when Maynor retired, said
the federal investigation has not cast a shadow over the Sheriff's
Office. "We are moving on," he said. "We have to serve and protect
our citizens. We can't stop and not do our job because we have an
investigation going on." Topic of conversation The investigation was
a hot topic among residents for months following last year's search.
Now, it's mentioned from time to time in general conversations.

"It's not that people are not concerned about it," said a retired
sheriff's detective, who asked that his name not be used. "It's just
there's nothing they can do about it." It could take years to
complete an investigation when it involves a lot of people, he said.

"They took away all the information the drug officers had when they
hauled it away. They have to review those files and interview folks
involved in those cases to see if there was any wrongdoing," he said.
"It takes awhile to review all that stuff and interview people who
were arrested. They want to charge them with everything they can."
Public opinion about the investigation varies. Some residents say
they don't think much will come of it, while others say federal
agents are making sure they have a solid case.

"The public perception I have been hearing for the past few months is
that there is probably nothing to it," said Fairmont resident Leroy
Freeman. "Some feel the items seized were not enough for indictments.
There are also rumors abound about who is going to be indicted. It
needs to be cleared up and people removed from under a cloud of
suspicion." Freeman said he understands why federal agents are taking
their time. "They are dealing with people's lives and families," he
said. "But if they have wasted three years of taxpayers dollars and
had all these unknown people under suspicion, their job performance
surely needs to be looked at. They are causing people to accuse
individuals and it is not fair to the individuals, not fair to the
Sheriff's Office and it's certainly not fair to the citizens to allow
this thing to drag out and fester." Old news On Friday afternoon, a
group of women gathered at a beauty salon in Lumberton and discussed
the latest news. The federal investigation seems to be a dead topic,
the women said.

"You don't hear much about it anymore," one woman said. "I just know
what was speculated. I don't know the whole story. If there was any
wrongdoing, it didn't start with Glenn Maynor's administration. It
started way before that." The U.S. Attorney's Office has not shared
information with the District Attorney's Office, Britt said. His
office has had to dismiss cases because of the federal investigation.

Britt said cases involving 50 to 70 people were dismissed because the
investigating officer had resigned from the Sheriff's Office or was
the subject of the federal investigation.

"We had to make the hard decision whether to prosecute their cases,"
Britt said. "We couldn't because there were too many issues
surrounding it." The investigation may not be an issue during this
year's sheriff's race, where six people are running against Sealey.
At least one candidate has asked that the federal investigation be
completed before the May primary. Bo Biggs, a political observer and
columnist for The Robesonian newspaper in Lumberton, said the
seriousness of the investigation has lost its luster. "It is now to
the point that if there are any indictments, it really won't have an
affect on the election," he said. "The general public is more excited
about the lottery than this."