RAVENEL FACES UP TO 4 YEARS IN DRUG CASE

Former S.C. Treasurer Indicted

But Federal Guidelines Indicate He Could Get 6 Months' House Arrest

COLUMBIA -- If convicted on a federal drug charge, former S.C.
Treasurer Thomas Ravenel could receive as little as six months' house
arrest and probation, according to an analysis of federal sentencing
guidelines by The State. The most prison time that Ravenel likely
would face would be about four years. The guidelines are not mandatory
but are followed in about 70 percent of federal criminal cases in
South Carolina.

Six months of house arrest or even four years in prison is far less
than the maximum sentence of 20 years and a $1 million fine that
Ravenel could face if convicted of conspiracy to possess and
distribute less than 500 grams of cocaine. It's also possible a judge
could sentence Ravenel to probation only. That could happen if he
pleads guilty and provides information to authorities that leads to
the arrest of others and the amount of cocaine involved was less than
25 grams, or less than an ounce, say lawyers familiar with the federal
system.

"If everybody plays their cards right, if everybody cooperates, and if
everybody gives truthful disclosure of their drug activity, there is a
way they could end up with probation," said Bill Nettles, a longtime
Columbia criminal defense attorney.

Ravenel, 44, a multimillionaire developer from Charleston, is accused
of possessing cocaine and giving it to others, though not selling it.
His co-defendant, Michael Levon Miller, 25, of Mount Pleasant, S.C.,
faces the same federal charge, though authorities said he sold an
unspecified amount of cocaine to Ravenel. Miller also faces state
charges of drug trafficking.

Ravenel and Miller have pleaded not guilty to the federal drug
charges. Lawyers interviewed by The State last week said Ravenel's
continuing treatment for an apparent drug problem and his resignation
as treasurer are signals he doesn't plan to fight the charge against
him. In South Carolina last fiscal year, 97 percent of all federally
indicted cases ended in guilty pleas, records show.

Ravenel, who is free on a $100,000 unsecured bond, meaning he didn't
have to put up any money, was to check in at a New Mexico drug
treatment center late last week, his lawyers said.

Lawyers who practice regularly in federal courts, including two former
U.S. attorneys for South Carolina, said Miller could wind up with a
sentence similar to Ravenel's if he is convicted especially if he
provided information to authorities.

Former U.S. Attorney Rene Josey of Florence, S.C., said it's
"conceivable" Ravenel, if convicted, could get probation only.

But it's more likely that, based on the sentencing guidelines, Ravenel
would receive prison time, or probation combined with house arrest,
Josey said. Bart Daniel of Charleston, a former U.S. attorney for
South Carolina who is representing Ravenel, and Miller's federal
public defender, Langdon Long, declined to comment Friday.