EX-POLICE PROPERTY BOSS GETS 10 YEARS FOR STEALING

'Just Gave In' To Theft Of $1 Million, Cocaine

A former Memphis police property room boss told a judge he's sorry he
ripped off more than $1 million cash and 150 kilos of cocaine while he
worked there.

"I gave in. I just gave in," Kenneth Dansberry said Tuesday in federal
court. U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald sentenced Dansberry to 10 years
in prison for turning the property room into what she called a "drug
distribution hub."

From 2000 through Sept. 24, 2003, Dansberry, a 21-year MPD employee,
stole cocaine and marijuana and sold it to Patrick Maxwell, an Atlanta
drug dealer and former property room employee.

More than $2 million worth of cocaine, 560 pounds of marijuana, 66
guns and a small fortune in cash vanished from the police property and
evidence room between 2000 and 2003, a state audit found.

Dansberry, 42, stole so much cash that it grew mold in his home
because he couldn't spend it fast enough. He bought a Cordova home and
luxury cars with drug money.

He pleaded guilty in January to numerous drug conspiracy and
money-laundering charges.

The penalty was nearly 30 years in prison, but Dansberry's sentence
was reduced by a third for snitching on cohorts and helping trap
Maxwell in taped conversations.

Since last fall, 16 people -- including city workers and accused drug
dealers -- have been indicted in connection with the theft of money,
drugs and anything else in the property room that wasn't nailed down.

Former property room supervisors Alnita Campbell and Jacqueline
Layrock, who've pleaded guilty to money laundering, testified that
Dansberry gave them paper bags full of cash -- up to $60,000 each.

He later asked each of them to steal up to $18,000 from the property
room, they said.

"I just trusted him," Campbell said. "I didn't ask anything."

Dr. John Hutson, Dansberry's psychologist, testified he has pent-up
frustration from not being promoted to top boss in the property room.

Dansberry's family cried in court Tuesday when he spoke.

"I'm sorry," he told the judge. "I have no reason to explain it. ... I
ask the court to give me another chance in life."

Dansberry is scheduled to report to prison in March 2005.