FORMER HAZARD OFFICER SENTENCED

Ex-Policeman Gets 32 Months; He Pleaded Guilty To Stealing, Distributing
Confiscated Drugs

LONDON - A former Hazard police officer charged with stealing
confiscated drugs and having dealers sell them has been sentenced to
32 months in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell handed down the sentence against
Calvin W. Sizemore Thursday in federal court in London.

According to court records, Sizemore took less than a pound of
marijuana and more than 100 pills, including OxyContin and Tylox, from
the evidence-storage room at the Hazard Police Department between
February and April 2003.

At the time, Sizemore, who is in his late 20s and had been a police
officer about eight years, was the custodian of the lockup where
police stored confiscated contraband.

After other officers discovered the drugs were missing and state
police began investigating, Sizemore confessed to stealing the drugs
for consumption and resale by conspirators, according to an affidavit
from FBI agent Timothy S. Briggs.

Sizemore pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to possess more than
150 pills with intent to distribute.

Sizemore's attorney, Douglas Benge of London, had argued for a lesser
sentence for the former officer, saying the sentencing report
incorrectly identified him as a leader of the conspiracy.

However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen C. Smith argued that Sizemore
did in fact play a lead role. Sizemore stole the drugs, passed them on
to at least three people to sell, and got most of the money, Smith
said.

After drugs were no longer needed for a court case, Sizemore was
supposed to burn them. He sometimes staged phony burns to make it
appear that he was destroying drugs, but kept them, Smith said in court.

"He was the supplier, and he had control," Smith said during a court
hearing.

Caldwell ordered enhancements to Sizemore's sentence based on his lead
role in the scheme and abusing a position of trust.