'STAR' SHERIFF DEALS WITH POETIC JUSTICE

Don't make fun of a man when he's down, even if he deserves to be there.

Don't strut around telling everybody how great you are.

And especially, don't have one set of rules for everybody else and another
for yourself.

Most of us learn this stuff when we're kids.

Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege appears to be a slow learner.

Sheriff Hege (say it HAYG-ee) is the guy over in Lexington who painted the
jail cells pink, put inmates in prison stripes and hosted a show on Court
TV.

He did pretty much everything but jump up and down in his seat saying, "Look
at me! Look at me!"

Well, now look at him.

He was arrested Monday on 15 felony charges.

Most of them center on embezzlement. Prosecutors say he stole $6,200 of the
public's money from his own department, spending at least part of it after
two re-elections on victory parties for himself.

That money came from a stash undercover officers use to buy drugs, so they
can make cases against drug dealers.

So if the charges are true, Hege's parties probably kept a couple of drug
dealers on the street.

This is from the guy who sells "DEATH ON DRUGS" posters on his Web site.

You would think that every dealer in Davidson County would already be in
jail, the way Hege boasts about how crime has dropped since he took over.

Of course, it didn't help any when three of his deputies pleaded guilty last
year to federal drug charges.

But the drop in the crime rate is one of the reasons Hege has so much
support. People figure he can do what he wants as long as he keeps the bad
guys locked up.

Look here, though. Look at the affidavits from current and former deputies.
They say Hege told his officers to write false police reports, telling them
to record serious crimes as lesser violations. The idea was to make Hege's
county look safer than it is.

Remember, these are only indictments and affidavits. Nothing has been proven
in court. Hege might be innocent. But an awful lot of people are willing to
swear otherwise.

He was a fun story for a while. You always like to see somebody with flair.
And Hege was smart enough to see that throbbing vein in the public's
forehead. Millions of people think criminals get off too easy, inside jail
and out.

But you always got the feeling with Hege that the point wasn't punishing
criminals or reducing crime or making a better place for the people who
provide his paycheck.

The point was Hege. The point was to make himself a star.

And guess what? It might work.

Depending on what happens in court, it could make a great movie. The
toughest sheriff in America turns out to be a crook. Gets nailed for ripping
off the taxpayers who put him in office. And ends up doing time in prison
stripes, staring at the ceiling of a pink jail cell.

Court TV would be all over that.

Tommy Tomlinson