SHERIFF'S OFFICE SEARCHED

LUMBERTON - Federal and state agents spent more than seven hours Thursday
removing documents and computers during a search of the Robeson County
Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Kenneth Sealey said in a statement that the search was part of an
ongoing investigation requested by former Sheriff Glenn Maynor in 2002.
Maynor had called for the investigation after three of his drug agents were
accused of misconduct. Maynor, who retired on Dec. 31, could not be reached
for comment.

Sealey said the items were taken came from the Drug Enforcement Division
Office, which is the focus of the investigation. Drugs agents were told to
leave the office for the day while the search was done.

"... The department is cooperating completely with the SBI, the IRS
(Criminal Investigation Division) and the U.S. Attorney's Office," Sealey
said in the statement.

Sealey declined to comment further, referring questions to the U.S.
Attorney's Office. But an official with that agency would not confirm
whether agents are investigating the Sheriff's Office.

"I don't have any paperwork on this ... we don't confirm or deny any
investigations," said Gloria Dupree, a spokesman for the Raleigh office.

A woman who didn't want her name used said about a dozen agents from the
SBI and the Internal Revenue Service arrived at the Sheriff's Office at
about 10 a.m. Thursday.

"Just as I pulled up, I saw several cars converge at the Sheriff's Office,"
she said. "They all parked at the sheriff's back door. When they got out,
they were wearing black jackets with the yellow letters SBI and IRS."

SBI Special Agent Jerry Weaver confirmed that he and about 15 state and
federal agents were at the Sheriff's Office on Thursday morning. Weaver
would not say what investigators were looking for or what was in the 40 or
so cardboard boxes that agents placed in the back of a Ryder rental truck
at the rear entrance of the Sheriff's Office. Agents could be seen placing
computers and several small plastic bags containing what appeared to be
computer disks into the truck.

There was a B&B Locksmith truck parked behind the rental truck.

"I can't comment at this time on any this," said Weaver, who heads the
SBI's Southeastern District Office in Fayetteville. He did say he doesn't
expect any more searches at the Sheriff's Office.

No Information

Robeson County District Attorney Johnson Britt said investigators have not
shared information with him about the case, but he believes it stems from
allegations of misappropriation of money seized by lawmen in the Drug
Enforcement Division. The division has been praised for its ability to
identify drug traffickers passing through Robeson County on Interstate 95,
even offering training for other lawmen. The Sheriff's Office shares in
assets seized during those arrests - including cash - and Sheriff Maynor
used to point at the division's ability to help equip the Sheriff's Office
while saving taxpayer money.

Three people who worked in the Drug Enforcement Division Office have been
investigated for wrongdoing in recent years.

C.T. Strickland lead the division until he was accused in 2002 of providing
false information to a magistrate to obtain a warrant. As a result, Britt
dismissed drug charges against two men. Strickland later resigned. His law
enforcement certification was revoked last year by the Criminal Justice
Training and Standards Commission.

J.W. Jacobs, a former sergeant in the division, pled no contest to a
misdemeanor charge that he failed to include in a report that a sheriff's
informant who was a convicted felon was in possession of a 9 mm handgun
during an undercover sting operation in November 2001. Jacobs had faced
felony obstruction of justice charges. Jacobs was given probation.

Roger Taylor, also charged in that case, faces two felony counts of
obstruction of justice and felony conspiracy to obstruct justice. His case
is pending.