MOST STUDENTS IN DRUG STING PLEAD GUILTY

BURLINGTON -- Nearly all the teens charged in February with selling or
distributing drugs to undercover police officers have pleaded guilty,
the Alamance district attorney said Friday.

Of the 61 cases, the last of which was resolved Thursday, 58 pleaded
guilty to felony charges related to the sale or delivery of a
controlled substance, said District Attorney Rob Johnson.

One other defendant was found guilty in a jury trial. Another was
found not guilty and prosecutors dismissed a third case, Johnson said.

Most of the teens who were arrested were students. Most received three
years' probation and 200 hours of community service, though some with
prior convictions were sentenced to jail time. Those on probation may
be required to receive drug treatment, are subject to warrantless
searches by their probation officers, and must avoid areas where drugs
are known to be used or sold.

"It was not our goal to destroy their lives. It was not our goal to
cause undue distress. Our goal was to hold them accountable," Johnson
said about the sting, which resulted in the arrest of 50 high school
students.

The students who pleaded guilty, including former Eastern Alamance
High School basketball star JamesOn Curry, were charged with felonies,
meaning they could be prevented from receiving some kinds of college
financial aid. They'll also likely have to disclose the felonies on
job applications. UNC-Chapel Hill revoked Curry's basketball
scholarship.

Superintendent James Merrill said Friday that the school system is
working on a policy that would allow drug testing for students
involved in extracurricular activities, which he said might make drugs
less prevalent at county schools.

"I wish I could say it is gone. But I'm too skeptical to believe
that," he said.

Last August, undercover officers working for the Alamance County
Sheriff's Department and the Burlington and Graham police departments
enrolled as students at all six county high schools and its
alternative school, the Sellars-Gunn Education Center.

The officer working at Western Alamance High School had his cover
blown, but the other officers made drug buys, mostly of small amounts
of marijuana, in classrooms and hallways, as well as off campus.

On Friday, police showed video surveillance tapes of students chatting
with undercover officers as they exchanged drugs and money in cars and
a school bathroom.

The sting was planned last spring, when Merrill asked local law
enforcement for help with a drug problem in the schools.

School system surveys of staff and parents indicated that drugs were a
growing concern on Alamance-Burlington campuses.

Other than Merrill and the school system's attorney, school system
employees weren't aware of the operation while it was happening.

In February, police arrested the students facing drug charges. The
students were given long-term suspensions and had the opportunity,
which most of them took, to continue classes at night at a special
school in Graham. They can return to their regular schools next school
year.

Those students with previous convictions who took plea deals have
generally received a few days of jail time -- usually three weekends.
Others received sentences of several months, and at least one
nonstudent was sentenced to 15 to 18 months in prison and five years'
probation.

On Friday, Johnson defended his office's handling of the cases, which
has come under fire as being unduly harsh from some parents and their
attorneys.

He said it would have been an abuse of his authority to reduce the
charges to misdemeanors.

"It's not the kind of thing that you want to have to do in your
community," he said about the operation.

But "it is in the best interest of the community and the students to
have a lengthy and strict probation."