JUDGE LENIENT IN DRUG SENTENCES

The Prosecutor Said That the Defendants Had Cooperated With Law Enforcement
Authorities.

Four more Franklin County residents were sentenced Wednesday for their
roles in what federal authorities have described as a large powder cocaine
distribution ring.

All four defendants had pleaded guilty to being part of the
drug-trafficking conspiracy. Eleven defendants have pleaded guilty to
charges in the case, and many already have been sentenced.

In addition to conspiracy, Grover Thomas Burgess Jr., 51, also had pleaded
guilty to perjury. Federal Judge James Turk sentenced Burgess to 37 months
on both the conspiracy and perjury charges, to be served concurrently.
After Burgess is released from prison, Turk also ordered that he spend four
years on supervised release. Turk found that Burgess could not afford to
pay a fine.

Turk also sentenced Bobby Joe Hood to about 3 1/2 years and then said that
Hood should be placed on supervised release for an additional 42 months.
Hood, 42, was not ordered to pay a fine.

Turk sentenced Devin Shane Pendleton, 28, to four months of home
confinement and ordered him to perform 50 hours of community service. Turk
also ordered Pendleton, who had also pleaded guilty to a count of cocaine
distribution, to pay a $1,500 fine.

John William "Billy" Davis received a sentence of nearly three years on
each count to which he had pleaded guilty, to be served concurrently. In
addition to the conspiracy charge, Davis had pleaded guilty to four cocaine
distribution charges.

At the request of federal prosecutor Donald Wolthuis, Turk gave the
defendants significantly lower sentences than the guidelines called for,
because the defendants had cooperated with law enforcement authorities.