PINELLAS WOMAN OFFERED NO POT CHARGES IN RETURN FOR 1968 BUICK

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - A woman says deputies made a her a deal after
finding a pound of marijuana in her car: If she turned over the car, she
wouldn't be charged with a felony.

Pinellas sheriff's officials deny that they offered Tomeca L. Demps that
choice, but her signature appears on an agreement to hand over her 1968
Buick Skylark to deputies.

Demps, 31, said she stores the car away from her home and didn't notice it
missing when it was seized in a Feb. 13 drug investigation. Four days
later, deputies arrived at her home with the agreement ready for her
signature, Demps said.

"They told me the best thing I could do was just sign the paper, and I
wouldn't get charged with anything," she said. "What could I do? I signed."
After questions from the St. Petersburg Times Monday, the Sheriff's Office
gave the car back to Demps, saying no links had been found between her and
the marijuana. The car would have been given back even without the paper's
questions, sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha said. "Our legal staff did
not feel this was an appropriate use of this process when it is apparent
there was no action going forward against Mrs. Demps," Pasha said. Deputies
Mark Douglas and Kris Lutz made a mistake by writing in the agreement that
Demps would not be charged since there were no plans to arrest her, Pasha
said "It wasn't an either or thing," Pasha said. "She would not have been
arrested." Pasha also denied that Demps signed over ownership of the car to
the Sheriff's Office, though the agreement indicates she did. Demps hired
attorneys Craig Epifanio and John Trevena, who questioned whether deputies
had acted properly.

"This is like a mob shakedown," said Trevena. "The document's language is
clear. It appears to be extortion and official misconduct."