EX-CASWELL DEPUTY NABBED IN DRUG BUST

ROXBORO -- Teddy Willis might have to wait a while to get his gun back.

Just hours before the retired Caswell County sheriff's deputy and lake
warden was to be handed his service revolver in a ceremony Friday in
Yanceyville, he was arrested in Person County for allegedly buying 15
pounds of marijuana,.

"He was in custody at the time [of the ceremony] so I don't think he could
make that date," said Person County Sheriff Dennis Oakley.

Deputies contacted Willis at his attorney's office in Yanceyville Friday
morning and arranged for him to turn himself in later the same day, Oakley
said.

Willis was charged with two counts of conspiracy to traffic in marijuana
and was initially placed under a $500,000 bond. District Judge Mike Gentry
reduced that to $25,000, which Willis posted, Oakley said.

Willis was released late Friday and is scheduled to appear in court Feb.
11, Oakley said.

Sheriff's deputies observed Willis, 61, and a co-conspirator, who has not
been arrested, buying the marijuana at a Collin Road house that deputies
had under surveillance last Tuesday, Oakley said.

Deputies searched the home and arrested a resident, Bernice Michael Jacobs,
but did not bring Willis in for questioning or arrest until Friday, Oakley
said.

Willis was already under investigation before deputies spotted him buying
the marijuana, Oakley said.

"We were suspecting him of other things anyway," Oakley said. "We had
received reports of drugs and other illegal activities."

Deputies found some, but not all, of the marijuana Willis allegedly bought,
Oakley said.

Neither Willis nor his attorney could be reached for comment Monday.

Oakley said his office was still investigating the alleged drug ring and
could not yet say how big it was or how many people were involved.

"The investigation is still ongoing and there will probably be other people
arrested," he said.

Depending on the quality, that much marijuana could have a street value of
$12,000 to $18,000, according to Durham County Sheriff's Lt. N.H. Gordon, a
member of the county's drug task force.

Oakley said he had worked with Willis, who lives in Milton, over the years
when the Person and Caswell county sheriff's offices cooperated on a case.

"I've been knowing him all my career," Oakley said. "We weren't friends or
anything, but I knew him."

Caswell County Manager Jeff Earp said he was set to hand Willis his
revolver in a 1 p.m. ceremony Friday.

"It's our policy that if you are retired law enforcement you can request
your weapon," Earp said. Willis retired in December after working in law
enforcement in Caswell County for 34 years, Earp said. He was a sheriff's
deputy and a lake warden for Farmer Lake.

Shortly before the ceremony someone called with a message from Willis that
he would not be able to make it, Earp said.