PANHANDLE DA ACCEPTS PLEA DEAL, RESIGNS HIS POST

A West Texas district attorney accused of using drugs and illegally
possessing guns resigned Tuesday then pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in
a deal that dropped the drug charges and cut his prison time, a prosecutor
said.

Rick Roach, 55, entered the plea agreement in a n Amarillo federal court
after resigning as district attorney for five Panhandle counties.

At the time of his Jan. 11 arrest at the Gray County Courthouse in Pampa,
he was in court with two guns in his briefcase, prosecutors said. According
to inventory lists from search warrants, there were drugs and more than 30
weapons semiautomatic handguns, rifles and shotguns in his office and home.

"I felt this was the best count for him to plead to federally," prosecutor
Christy Drake said.

Roach's attorney, Bill Kelly, said it was a good deal.

"I can't say we're satisfied, but it's certainly acceptable," he said.

Roach, who had just begun his second term, pleaded guilty to a charge of
being an addict in possession of a firearm, Drake said.

He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The drug charges
could have brought an additional 41 years and $2.25 million in fines. No
sentencing date was set. Roach is free until sentencing.

The dropped charges were possession of methamphetamine, possession of
cocaine with intent to deliver, and possession of methamphetamine with
intent to deliver.

According to court documents, Roach admitted he was addicted to
methamphetamine and that he started using it regularly several months
before his arrest. He told the government witness that he first tried the
drug after finding it in a seized vehicle, the court papers said.

Some in the counties he represented said they watched as Roach's behavior
over the past several months grew increasingly erratic and aggressive. But
few suspected drug use, even though the father of threes sons had dropped
about 30 pounds and his skin became sallow.

His secretary, Rebecca Bailey, said in a petition seeking to remove Roach
from office that she saw him use the drug.

Lynn Switzer, the assistant district attorney who became acting DA upon
Roach's resignation, said any decision on pursuing state charges will be
made after Gov. Rick Perry makes a permanent appointment.

Mark Pinckard, spokesman for the Chief Disciplinary Council with the Texas
State Bar, said the Board of Disciplinary Appeals will hear this case once
federal paperwork on the conviction reaches the bar's office.

"They will determine whether to suspend him or disbar him," he said.

Roach was 11 days into his second four-year term as district attorney for
Gray, Hemphill, Lipscomb, Roberts and Wheeler counties. When he first ran,
Roach ran a tough-on-drugs campaign.