$255,000 SOUGHT FOR 'POT' RAID

Hunting Club Leader Wants Compensation

HARRISON COUNTY - The president of a hunting club is seeking a $255,000
settlement from the county over the raid last month that destroyed more
than 500 plants suspected of being marijuana.

The demand, written on behalf of Marion "Bucky" Waltman, accuses Sheriff
George H. Payne Jr. and his agents of negligence, trespassing, invasion of
privacy and defamation. Waltman said he hired an attorney after the
Sheriff's Department refused to resolve losses and damage incurred in the
raid Sept. 8 on land the Boarhog Hunting Club leases off Herman Ladner Road.

A civil lawsuit has not been filed. However, a letter from Waltman's
attorney to county supervisors and the sheriff demands the cash settlement
and implies that federal charges also may be filed.

"I want them to fix the road and gate they destroyed, compensate for my
plants, arrest the people that were trespassing and apologize to the
hunting clubs," Waltman said.

"I think (Payne) made a mistake and now he doesn't know how to fix it. I've
just had my 12th heart surgery. I don't need this stress."

County Attorney Joe Meadows had no comment.

Payne's only comment was, "we were assisting the DEA-HIDTA task force on an
investigation they were conducting. Everything that was done was done in
the interests of public safety."

HIDTA stands for High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a federally funded
law enforcement effort. No one from the DEA or HIDTA returned calls to The
Sun Herald.

The letter from attorney Chet Nicholson claims that "the sheriff's acts and
omissions resulted in general damages, damages to reputation, emotional
distress and mental anguish, and general outrage."

Waltman, 53, maintains the plants were kenaf, which is harvested as a wood
substitute and as food for deer and wildlife. Waltman said he grows it for
deer.

"I used to be just an old hunting club president," Waltman said. "Now,
people know me as the old dope-grower."

He said he bought the seeds for $700 from a company in Senatobia and has
planted kenaf in three other fields.

Waltman learned about the raid while watching a television news report, he
said, and contacted the sheriff, asking him not to destroy the crop.

Samples seized in the raid were sent to the state Crime Lab. The sheriff
earlier this week said it could take months for test results because of the
lab's backlog of work.

The sheriff previously reported that people who were seen picking leaves
from the plants threatened youngsters who were riding four-wheelers on the
land. State narcotics officers have said that smoking kenaf can cause illness.