SHERIFF DEFENDS 1999 TULIA DRUG BUST

AMARILLO - For the past year, the man elected to safeguard Swisher County
has kept quiet about the 1999 drug sting in Tulia that critics say was
racially motivated.

Now Sheriff Larry Stewart is defending the undercover operation and the
town of 5,000, which has come under fire from civil rights groups.

"This is not a racist community," Stewart said Wednesday. "This is a
wonderful community full of wonderful people."

Stewart said he stands behind the drug busts, in which 43 people were
arrested, 37 of them black. Of those arrested, 11 were found guilty and 17
more accepted plea agreements.

On Monday, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn announced that his office
will investigate the case. A Department of Justice investigation, which has
been ongoing for nearly two years, remains open.

Jeff Blackburn, an Amarillo attorney handling appeals for most Tulia
defendants, said the sheriff is using rhetoric to gloss over the real issues.

"These are generalities, and that's not what this campaign we're involved
in is about anyway," Blackburn said Thursday. "It's about whether these
people received fair trials. They clearly did not."

Many of the cases were based on the testimony of officer Tom Coleman, who
said he spent 18 months working undercover to make drug cases against a
large portion of the town's black population.

Coleman worked alone and used no audio or video surveillance. Little or no
corroborating evidence was introduced during the trials. Coleman himself
was charged with theft and abuse of power during the investigation.

The charges against Coleman, who no longer works in law enforcement, were
later dropped.

But Stewart defended Coleman, pointing out that the former officer worked
to keep Eliga Kelly Sr., a black man whom Coleman befriended during the
investigation, from going to jail.

Stewart said the bust couldn't have been racially motivated because Coleman
was instructed to go after anyone who sold drugs.

"I told him the rules are that you go where your investigation goes,"
Stewart said. "I don't care if it leads to my office, the Police Department
or the county courthouse. Nobody is off-limits."

Blackburn said Coleman was creating arrests to boost his career.

"He needed to get the numbers for himself. He needed to make the largest
number of accusations in the shortest period to rescue his career,"
Blackburn said. "He went from zero to hero because of Tulia."

Stewart said the town has suffered because national news organizations have
implied or even stated that the entire town is racist.

"This community takes care of those that need help, regardless of who they
are," Stewart said.