'I AM TRYING TO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF'

Defendants Make Plans To Use Settlement Money

TULIA - When his Tulia settlement check came, Joe Moore could take
stock and invest in his future. The money was going to be invested in
certificates of deposits and in his savings account, he said.

"I am trying to take care of myself for the rest of my life," said
Moore, 61, who spent four years in prison as a result of the drug
sting. "It is time to go on with the rest of my life. It is all I want
to do."

The settlement check came with a heavy price, Moore said.

"The money we got will never pay for the time I spent in prison,"
Moore said.

Forty-five checks came to Tulia last week, with the defendants sharing
about $4 million of the total $6 million civil lawsuit. Attorneys
divided the remaining $2 million.

Many of the defendants wouldn't speak for the record about the
settlement because their lawyers told them not to reveal their share
of the money.

But many of their friends and family said the first investment many of
the defendants have made, or were going to make, was in a car, used or
new.

Because of the depressing state of employment in Tulia, a car was the
first step toward a better life, they said.

"They all got vehicles. They didn't stay still," said Helen Williams,
a 59-year resident of Tulia and the mother of defendant Dennis Allen.
"Cars will help them to find a job because there are no jobs in Tulia."

Thelma Johnson, relative and friend to many of the defendants, agreed
that a car was probably the most important, first purchase with money
from the settlement.

Because of the relatively bleak economic situation of many of the
Tulia defendants, financial planners told the defendants before they
received their checks to be realistic about the money they would
receive, said Alan Bean, executive director of Friends of Justice, who
was present at the meeting.

Planners also told the defendants not to share how much each one got
for fear the defendants would make comparisons about one another's
suffering, Bean said.

Bean, who keeps in touch with many of the Tulia defendants, said they
are going in and out of the city, but that a small majority of them
still live in Tulia.

"A lot of them have gravitated back in anticipation of the
settlement," Bean said.

But Williams said many defendants plan to move away.

"Most of them are trying to change. From the little I've seen, they're
making up for lost time with their kids," Williams said.