ROBESON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE IS SEARCHED

LUMBERTON - Federal and state agents seized documents and computers from
the Robeson County Sheriff's Office on Thursday.

Agents with the State Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue
Service spent nearly four hours loading the items into a Ryder rental truck.

Sheriff Kenneth Sealey said in a news release that the search was part of
an ongoing investigation requested by former Sheriff Glenn Maynor. Maynor
could not be reached for comment.

Sealey agreed to the search of the sheriff's Drug Enforcement Division office.

The Sheriff's Office is cooperating with the SBI, the Criminal
Investigation Division of the IRS and the U.S. Attorney's Office, Sealey said.

Sealey declined further comment about the investigation or whether any
deputies have been suspended. He referred questions to the U.S. Attorney's
Office, which is overseeing the investigation.

Officials could not confirm whether agents are investigating the Sheriff's
Office, said Gloria Dupree, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

SBI Special Agent Jerry Weaver declined to comment. Weaver is in charge of
the SBI's southeastern district office in Fayetteville.

Robeson County District Attorney Johnson Britt said the investigation stems
from allegations of misappropriation of money seized by lawmen on the Drug
Enforcement Division. Maynor called for the investigation several months
after the suspension of Lt. C.T. Strickland, he said.

Strickland, who headed the drug investigation division, resigned in June
2003 after his creditability 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Strickland's law enforcement certification was revoked last year by the
Criminal Justice Training and Standards Commission. An official with the
state Department of Justice declined at that time to go into details about
the revocation because the matter is part of Strickland's personnel file.

It is uncertain whether Strickland is part of the federal investigation and
how many lawmen are involved.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has not shared information with the District
Attorney's Office, Britt said.

The sheriff's Drug Enforcement Division has reported seizing millions of
dollars and several hundred pounds of illegal drugs along Interstate 95
since the early 1990s.