2 OF FIRED DEPUTIES WON'T BE CHARGED

DURHAM -- Two former Durham County sheriff's deputies fired in the
aftermath of a drug-related sting at a Durham nightclub last October
are not being held criminally responsible, but a third former deputy
- -- the then-owner of the club -- has pleaded guilty to drug charges
and will be sentenced Aug. 10. Former deputy Michael Paul Owens
pleaded guilty last month to maintaining the La Zona nightclub at
2825 North Roxboro Road as an establishment for the sale of drugs and
conspiracy to traffic cocaine, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra
Hairston said Wednesday. Hairston said Owens could be sentenced to up
to 20 years in federal prison.

Owens and six other men were arrested in an Oct. 13 raid at La Zona.
Five ounces of cocaine were confiscated during the raid.

Owens is the only person to date to have been charged in connection
with the alleged trafficking conspiracy. Hairston declined to say
whether charges against more people will be filed.

The two former deputies who lost their jobs -- William "Keith" Dodson
and Brad King -- had moonlighted as security guards at La Zona. They
were fired after the raid for violating the Sheriff's Office
secondary employment policy, Sheriff's Office Captain Paul Martin
said Wednesday. Martin said the October raid cut short an undercover
probe of alleged criminal activity at the club. That investigation
was believed to be much more wide-ranging than the eventual drug case
built against Owens and any possible unnamed co-conspirators.

Law enforcement reportedly made its move after evidence surfaced that
Owens and perhaps some others were planning an armed robbery. Search
warrants linked to the La Zona raid alleged that vehicles and people
seen frequenting the club were known to be involved in a wide array
of criminal activities, including "drug trafficking, armed robberies,
murder (for hire), prostitution and human trafficking."

On Oct. 12, 2006, investigators orchestrated what law enforcement
referred to as a controlled buy at the nightclub.

Investigators gave a confidential informant cash to buy several
ounces of cocaine to be used as evidence that the establishment was
the site of drug trafficking, Martin said.

During the exchange, investigators got more than they bargained for
when the informant was allegedly asked to return the following night
with a gun. The informant, Martin said, was asked to participate in a
planned home invasion and robbery. Owens, Martin added, could be
heard offering the informant a weapon to use.

Because investigators had learned of possible violence, they cut
their probe short and decided to charge Owens solely on the basis of
the drug evidence because, Martin said, they did not have enough
information to advance the other charges.

Martin said he felt justice has been served in Owens' case. "We took
it as far as we could," he said.

He added that the La Zona incident and a current Sheriff's Office
investigation into a former employee's alleged embezzlement of county
funds should be considered "aberrations."

"We've had two unfortunate incidents in the dozen or so years under
Sheriff [Worth] Hill," Martin said. "Whenever you have an
organization made up of human beings you're going to have mistakes.
We're handling those mistakes and we're doing the best we can."