EX-DEPUTY GUILTY ON 2 COUNTS IN SHAKEDOWN

A former Shelby County sheriff's deputy admitted he raided a drug dealer's
hotel room, stole his drugs and cash, piled the goods in his patrol car and
kept most of it for himself.

Jodie Chambers, who was fired from the department soon after he was charged
in a 14-count indictment in April, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two of the
counts.

"Let's get this over with," he told family across the courtroom.

Chambers, 39, didn't know his accomplice and the drug dealer, Jorge Garcia,
were Federal Bureau of Investigation informants, Asst. U.S. Atty. Steve
Parker told the judge.

Chambers and his accomplice, who told him Garcia was his drug source, met
several times at North Tire Co., a company at 3376 Watkins that Chambers
owned, Parker said. Chambers joined the sheriff's department in 1991,
working with the SWAT team, fugitive squad, crime prevention and the courts.

They planned to steal Garcia's money and drugs from his Millington hotel
room while he went out for dinner March 31.

Chambers called Garcia on his cell phone, told him he was a police officer
and that his drugs and money were seized, Parker said. Then he tore the
sheets off the bed and pulled out the dresser drawers to make the seizure
look believable.

He left with $6,000, 12 pounds of marijuana and 4 ounces of cocaine. He gave
the accomplice the drugs to sell and they split the $8,000 profit, Parker
said.

In January, when the drug theft was still in the planning stages, he
threatened violence if the informant talked to police, Parker said, pulling
a .45-caliber pistol and warning, "I don't care if I do 20 years ... I will
kill you."

Chambers told a judge most of Parker's proof was correct, but denied he had
threatened to kill the informant.

Chambers is set to be sentenced Jan. 21.