FORMER OFFICER PLEADS INNOCENT

The town of Bethel's former police chief pleaded innocent to drug and
weapons charges Monday in federal court.

Reginald Laverne Roberts, 41, said little beyond the yes or no
answers he gave the federal magistrate during the proceeding in the
U.S. Courthouse in Greenville.

A trial date has been set for March 20.

Former Bethel police lieutenant Jerome Earl Cox has already pleaded
guilty in the case to aiding and abetting another in knowingly and
unlawfully distributing more than five grams of crack cocaine. Cox is
scheduled to be sentenced April 3.

Under a plea agreement, Cox will be required to cooperate with
prosecutors and possibly testify against Roberts, his former boss and friend.

Roberts and Cox were arrested Oct. 27 after a three-month probe by
the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office and the FBI of alleged drug
trafficking and illegal gun sales. Bethel commissioners suspended
both men with pay after their arrests.

On Nov. 9, a federal grand jury indicted Roberts on one count of
illegal distribution of a controlled substance, one count of
conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, one count of the use
of a firearm during the commission of a crime in relation to drug
trafficking, and two counts of being in violation of federal law for
the distribution of a firearm to a known felon.

Roberts, who had served as Bethel's police chief since 2000, was led
into court Monday in leg shackles along with about a dozen other
people awaiting arraignment before Magistrate Judge David Daniel.
Roberts answered not guilty to all of the counts while his lawyer,
Geoff Hosford, stood beside him.

If convicted, Roberts could face a maximum prison term of 40 years
each for both of the charges related to distributing drugs, and life
in prison for using a firearm for a crime related to drug
trafficking. He could face up to 10 years each for the two counts of
distributing a firearm to a known felon.

On Nov. 1, Greenville FBI agent Donald Cowart testified that his
agency's investigation of the two lawmen began in August after an
unidentified man -- described as a convicted felon and cooperative
witness -- contacted Beaufort County narcotics detectives about a
conversation he had with Roberts.

Cowart said the man told investigators Roberts wanted to sell a kilo
of cocaine that had been stored in the police department's evidence room.

On Sept. 23, the witness, Roberts and Cox went to a storage unit in
Chocowinity supposedly owned by a drug dealer named "Alverez," but
secretly purchased by the FBI for the covert operation, Cowart said.

Hidden cameras planted by the FBI recorded Roberts waiting in a
nearby vehicle while Cox smashed open the lock to Alverez's unit with
a hammer, Cowart said.

Cowart said Cox took $5,500 in cash and an electronic scale. The
witness got $1,800, and the officers took the rest, Cowart said.

A month later, Roberts allegedly sold the witness a .45-caliber
semi-automatic pistol that had been listed as stolen.

The next day, Cox, Roberts and the witness went to an impound lot in
Washington, N.C., to steal drugs and money stashed in a supposed drug
dealer's truck, Cowart said.

Cowart said Cox broke the truck's front window and Roberts took a
black bag containing $2,000 in cash, 10.7 grams of cocaine and an
electric scale. Hidden cameras and FBI agents monitored the event, Cowart said.