BETHEL POLICE CHIEF, LIEUTENANT FACE DRUG, WEAPONS CHARGES

BETHEL -- Chief Reginald Roberts and Lt. Jerome Cox of the Bethel
Police Department were suspended without pay by town commissioners
after being arrested Thursday on drug and weapons charges by the FBI.

During a 7 p.m. emergency meeting at town hall, Bethel commissioners
unanimously picked Capt. Barry Stanley to become the interim police
chief. Stanley is a 14-year law enforcement veteran who has worked in
the community four years.

The board also activated three reserve officers to supplement the
police department's loss of Roberts and Cox -- bringing the number of
sworn officers to eight.

The meeting came five hours after Roberts and Cox had a first
appearance hearing in the federal courthouse in Greenville. During the
15-minute session, the magistrate judge set Nov. 1 as the date for the
men's detention hearing.

Also Thursday, about 30 officers from the Pitt and Beaufort sheriff's
offices, the SBI and the FBI looked for more evidence at the Bethel
Police Department and each man's home, officials said. The search at
the police department is expected to take several days as
investigators will spend time cataloging the evidence from the
property room.

At the emergency meeting, Mayor Frank Hemingway told about 50 people
gathered that he was distressed by the news, but confident in the
town's police force.

"Our police department is perfectly capable of carrying out their
duties," Hemingway said. "I want to assure you, you do not have to
fear crime downtown."

The assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case said earlier in the
day that no other Bethel officers are under investigation.

Hemingway said tears filled his eyes when Cox's father called him to
find out what was happening.

"This has just tore me up," Hemingway said. "I definitely don't
condone what they are accused of, but I can sympathize with a father
devastated by the actions of his son."

Roberts, 41, and Cox, 31, became the focus of the Beaufort County
Sheriff's Office in August after individuals alleged Roberts made
comments suggesting he would take narcotics seized by Bethel police
officers and distribute them to persons to be sold on the street,
Capt. Tim McLawhorn of the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said.

After a preliminary check of the allegations, Beaufort County
investigators contacted the FBI's Greenville office for assistance,
and together the organizations began planning how to proceed.

On Oct. 23, the case turned when a cooperative witness, armed with a
concealed recording device provided by law enforcement, visited
Roberts at his Winterville home, an affidavit filed in federal court
said.

While there, Roberts reportedly sold the witness, who was not
identified in court documents, a .45-caliber pistol for $750, even
though he knew the witness was a convicted felon.

A day later in Washington, N.C., Roberts -- this time with Cox by his
side -- met with the convicted felon again.

The felon directed the men to an impound lot that supposedly contained
a pickup truck which held the money and drugs of a recently
incarcerated drug dealer.

According to the affidavit, Roberts and Cox broke the window and
entered the truck. Once in, Roberts discovered a black nylon bag
containing 10.7 grams of crack cocaine, $2,000 in cash and an
electronic scale, the document said.

The vehicle was planted by the FBI in cooperation with the impound lot
owner, McLawhorn said.

Sheriff's investigators and FBI agents followed as the men drove to a
nearby parking lot and divided the money. The felon was given $290 in
cash and the entire supply of crack while the Bethel officers kept
$1,710, the bag and the electronic scale.

After gathering what agents believed to be compelling evidence, the
next task was arresting the officers without incident.

"One of the (FBI) agents worked with Cox and Roberts on a bank robbery
that occurred in Bethel within the last year," McLawhorn said. "So he
called the men and told them they needed to come to the federal
courthouse (in Greenville) to testify in a hearing because a lawyer
was trying to suppress a lineup they organized."

By 11:25 a.m. Thursday, both men were in the custody of U.S. Marshals
at the courthouse.

Both are charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute crack
cocaine, which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison
without parole and a $2 million fine.

Roberts also was charged with one count of unlawfully selling a
firearm to a known felon and faces the possibility of 10 additional
years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

"It's always a sad day when someone in law enforcement is arrested,"
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bennett said. "But when these things
happen, it's important that they are aggressively pursued."

After a brief appearance before Magistrate Judge David W. Daniel, Cox
and Roberts were transferred to the Pitt County Detention Center,
where they will be held until the detention hearing.

At that hearing, the government plans to argue that the two officers
are a danger to the community and need to be continuously detained
without bond, Bennett said.