FORMER DEPUTY SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON

RALEIGH -- A federal judge showed little leniency Tuesday, sentencing
former Robeson County Deputy Patrick Ferguson to more than 20 years
in prison for his role in kidnapping and attempting to rob two drug
dealers from Virginia. Ferguson's sentence is the first for 20 former
lawmen who have pleaded guilty since a state and federal
investigation into corruption in the Robeson County Sheriff's Office
began nearly five years ago. The investigation -- known as Operation
Tarnished Badge -- continues. Ferguson apologized to the court, his
family and to the law enforcement profession.

"I made some poor decisions and poor choices in my life. I'm trying
to get it past me and get it right. I ask for mercy from the court,"
he said before sentencing.

Prosecutors said Ferguson cooperated with investigators and
recommended a sentence of a little more than eight years. Defense
lawyers asked that he receive five years in prison.

But U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle said Ferguson was a
lawman and should have known better.

"His conduct is about as egregious as can be conceived in a society
that depends on the rule of law... and for the law itself," Boyle
said. "I'm sorry for you, but you had those choices all the way
through." Mark Francisco, a State Bureau of Investigation agent who
has worked on the case since 2002, gave a brief outline of Ferguson's
involvement from the witness stand.

Afterward, a terse Boyle said he wanted to hear more so he and the
public could fully appreciate the extent of the corruption before
Ferguson was sentenced. Francisco retook the stand about a half hour
later and provided specific details of Ferguson's involvement.

When the SBI turned the investigation toward Ferguson, it knew of
only three instances in which he and others -- including former
Deputy Vincent Sinclair -- had robbed and sometimes beaten and
kidnapped drug dealers. By the time Ferguson was through talking,
investigators had learned of 26 more crimes he had participated in.

Drug dealer robberies Ferguson's involvement began in 2002, when his
cousin, convicted felon James "Bo" Black, talked him into robbing a
drug dealer who had just left Black's home. Ferguson turned on his
blue lights and stopped the dealer, who jumped out and ran. Black
took the money from the car and split it with Ferguson, who was
having financial problems at home.

The robberies continued and became more brazen. In February 2004,
Ferguson, Sinclair, Black, David "Buck" Troy, Michael Oxendine and
Deleon Holmes went to Virginia to rob two drug dealers out of
$400,000. The dealers were supposedly taking the money to Atlanta to
buy drugs. Claiming to be police, Ferguson and the others ordered the
drug dealers into the back of their van, handcuffed them and put duct
tape over their eyes. The dealers refused to tell them where they had
stashed the money, so Ferguson's group decided to take the van to Red
Springs and dismantle it. On the way, Oxendine shot one of the men in the foot.

The group stopped for gas at a store in Selma, N.C., where the drug
dealers overpowered Ferguson while the others went inside to buy
snacks. A video camera caught the men wrestling with Ferguson. It
also caught Sinclair inside the store. Sinclair denied any
involvement until being showed pictures from the store's camera.

In December 2003, Ferguson, Sinclair and others robbed, kidnapped and
beat Darius Bain, pointing a gun at his head and repeatedly cocking
the trigger until he had his girlfriend retrieve $150,000 in cash and
2 kilograms of cocaine. The girlfriend brought the money in a plastic
garbage bag. While the robbery was happening, Ferguson received a
call that his mother was being taken to the hospital and left. He
received his share later -- about $30,000. Home invasion In March
2004, Ferguson, Sinclair and others went to Alex Locklear's home near
Maxton, thinking Locklear had left a large sum of money before going
to a motorcycle rally in Myrtle Beach, S.C..

With blue lights flashing, the men stormed into the driveway, forced
everyone at the home to the ground and ransacked the house. After
returning home, Locklear reported to the Sheriff's Office that he
thought Sinclair was the one who tried to rob him. He told deputies
that Sinclair's patrol car would be missing a hubcap.

Former Sheriff Glenn Maynor replied: "I sure hope that isn't true,"
Francisco said from the witness stand. He said no follow-up
investigation was ever done.

Francisco told Judge Boyle that little oversight or control existed
in the Sheriff's Office at that time.

In another robbery attempt involving Ferguson and Sinclair, Sinclair
poured lighter fluid on a man's arm and lit him on fire more than
once in an effort to get the man to say where he kept his drug money.
The man turned out to be a Hispanic laborer who had no known
involvement in drugs. After Francisco's testimony, Ferguson's lawyer,
Robert Nunley of Raleigh, asked for mercy. Nunley said Ferguson had
cooperated fully with investigators. He said Ferguson has three
children, ages 7, 6 and 4, and no money or even a car.

"He tried to right the wrongs that he participated in," Nunley said.
Boyle remained unconvinced. He said federal guidelines call for a
minimum sentence of 255 months, or just over 21 years. He gave
Ferguson 250 months -- 130 months for conspiring to kidnap the
Virginia drug dealers and trying to rob them, and 120 months for
using a gun during that felony. Ferguson was also fined $20,000 and
will get five years of supervised probation upon his release.

Ferguson, wearing a gray suit, was handcuffed before being led out of
the courtroom. He turned to his family and said, "I love you."
Sinclair sentencing Sinclair is scheduled to be sentenced before
Boyle at 2 p.m. today. He faces a maximum of two life prison terms.

Also scheduled for sentencing today are Black and former deputies
Paul Pittman and Billy Hunt.

Pittman and Hunt pleaded guilty in October 2006 to helping landscape
Maynor's yard and working on his campaign fundraisers while on duty.
They face a maximum of five years in jail and $250,000 in fines.
Sentencing hearings for former deputies Kevin Meares, James Owen Hunt
and Joey Smith were continued Tuesday.