EX-DRUG TASK FORCE DIRECTOR PLEADS INNOCENT TO FRAUD, EXTORTION CHARGES

BIRMINGHAM - David Scogin sat silently on a wooden bench Thursday in
an eighth-floor federal courtroom.

Wearing a blue, button-down shirt and brown pants, he occasionally
spoke to Doug Dellaccio Jr., an attorney from the Birmingham law firm
he hired to represent him on federal fraud and extortion charges. He
watched, occasionally resting his head in his hands, as one by one,
defendants in other cases appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge
Harwell G. Davis III. After a wait of just over an hour, the judge
called Scogin's name. He and Dellaccio walked toward the bench to
appear before the judge in an arraignment.

A copy of a 10-count indictment was handed to Scogin, the former
director of the Lauderdale County Drug Task Force and an unsuccessful
candidate for the sheriff's office.

Dellaccio told the judge that he would waive the reading of the
indictment. Scogin was indicted July 1 on five counts of extortion,
one count of theft or bribery involving programs receiving federal
funds and four counts of lying to federal officials, namely the FBI.

Scogin entered an innocent plea to the charges Thursday and was told
he would be released on an unsecured $500 bond. He was also told that
he was not allowed to possess firearms while his case is in progress.
The judge also told Scogin that he should not open any new lines of
credit, to which Scogin asked if he could close on his new house. The
judge told Scogin that he could but not to open any new lines of
credit "from this point forward."

Like the other defendants, Scogin was ordered to report to the second
floor so he could be processed by the U.S. Marshal's Office. Dellaccio
told the judge that marshals had processed his client Wednesday.
Scogin left the Hugo L. Black U.S. Courthouse in downtown Birmingham
without making comment to reporters.

Dellaccio referred all comments to Scogin's primary attorneys, Mark
White and George Andrews, two Birmingham lawyers.

Andrews was attending a hearing Thursday and was not available for
comment. White, according to a law firm employee who answered the
telephone, was in Huntsville.

White said earlier that he looks forward to the case going to trial.
He said the case is built on words of drug dealers that Scogin helped
prosecute while serving as the task force's director.

Scogin, 44, is accused of accepting money and vehicles from suspects
in drug cases in exchange for charges being reduced or dropped. The
cash and vehicles were presumably placed in the task force's
possession, but sources have said that 14 vehicles are still
unaccounted for, along with more than $40,000.

Scogin is also accused of forging signatures of informants on
reimbursement forms and paying them only a fraction of the money due
to them for supplying information in drug cases.

The Alabama Bureau of Investigation initiated the case and FBI agents
were later called in to assist when possible federal violations were
uncovered, authorities said.

The first five charges against Scogin involve charges of extortion. *
Count one states that on or about March 10, 2002, Scogin unlawfully
obtained $15,000 and a 1992 Ford F-150 pickup from a person known to
the grand jury by the initials E.G.

Count two states that in July 2002, Scogin unlawfully obtained
$15,000 from a person known to the grand jury by the initials Z.G.

Count three states that on or about March 14, 2000, Scogin unlawfully
obtained $5,000 from a person known to the grand jury by the initials
D.M.

Count four states that on or about April 26, 2000, Scogin unlawfully
obtained a Honda Civic from a person known to the grand jury by the initials
W.C.G.

Count five states that on May 23, 2002, Scogin unlawfully obtained a Ford
Explorer from a person known to the grand jury by the initials K.M.

Count six of the indictment states that between Jan. 1, 2002, and Dec. 31,
2002, Scogin intentionally misapplied $5,000 of a $10,000 Federal Drug Task
Force Grant.

Counts seven through 10 accuse Scogin of lying to FBI agents who
were questioning him about cases that include accusations of receiving
money in exchange for reducing criminal charges, falsifying drug task
force disbursement forms tampering with evidence.

In count seven, the indictment states that Scogin told FBI agents that
an individual identified only as D.M. wanted to donate a vehicle to
the drug task force because they had "done such a good job in the
battle against drugs." The indictment states that instead of donating
a vehicle, D.M. gave the task force $2,500. The indictment states
Scogin solicited $5,000 from D.M. after finding a small quantity of
marijuana in D.M.'s residence. The money was a "a necessary condition"
for assisting D.M. in any possible prosecution.

In counts eight and nine, the indictment states that Scogin told the
FBI that two informants signed disbursement forms for money they
received for undercover drug buys. The indictment states that the
informants never signed the forms nor received any money from Scogin.

In the 10th count, the indictment states that Scogin told the FBI that
Assistant Lauderdale County District Attorney Doug Evans informed
Scogin that he could not testify in a drug case because "an FBI agent
had breached the evidence seal on seized marijuana being held at the
Florence Police Department."

The indictment states that Scogin actually told Evans that the chain
of custody had been broken on the marijuana in order to settle the
case for a lesser charge.

Scogin's case has been assigned to Senior U.S. District Judge Robert
B. Propst.