SHERIFF KEEPS VOW TO SEND DRUG BOSS TO PRISON

The sentencing this week of an organized crime leader from a Vancleave
compound known as "The Hill" sends a message that drug trafficking isn't
tolerated in Jackson County, authorities said Tuesday.

The Hill, so named because the land has the highest elevation in Vancleave,
has been associated for several years with illegal drugs, shootings,
property thefts, a murder and a steady stream of complaints, said Jackson
County Sheriff Mike Byrd.

The message, Byrd said, is, "if you don't stop it, I will put you behind bars."

He said he made that promise to Ronald Simmons and members of the Reddix
family after taking office as sheriff in 2000. Byrd drove up to the 20-acre
family compound, just off Mississippi 57 near a middle school and a park,
and delivered the message himself.

Simmons, the operation's leader, was sentenced Monday to nine years in
federal prison for a drug-trafficking operation that authorities believe
involved "multi-kilos of cocaine" cooked and sold as crack cocaine. A kilo
of cocaine has a street value of about $20,000. But its resale value
triples once it's cooked, narcotics agents say.

The FBI and its Safe Streets Task Force in Pascagoula became involved in
the case after the sheriff's narcotics officers and members of the Jackson
County Narcotics Task Force made enough undercover buys to indicate a major
drug ring existed.

When authorities raided the compound in February, Byrd walked through the
kicked-in doors and said to the residents, "I told you I'd put you away if
you didn't stop."

Four others arrested in the raid are serving sentences of 13 months to
seven years.

The sentencing of Simmons, however, doesn't mean the case is over, Byrd
said. The five men will face state charges at a later date for receiving
stolen property. Authorities believe that $30,000 in stolen property found
at the compound was stolen by drug addicts and exchanged for drugs.

Drug distribution is as much of a community problem as a law enforcement
problem, said Byrd.

"When people are really strung out on narcotics, they will kill you for $2
so they can go get their next fix to satisfy their habit," he said. "We
haven't eradicated the problem, but we will continue to look for illegal
drugs with every resource available."