FORMER LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, TWO OTHER MEN SENTENCED ON DRUG CONSPIRACY
CHARGES

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Four former law enforcement officers were sentenced
Friday to terms ranging from 31 months to 27 years in prison on drug
conspiracy charges that have led to the dismissal of more than 30 cases.

The law officers along with two other men were arrested last December and
pleaded guilty in March to various conspiracy and extortion charges. The
officers were fired last year.

Davidson County District Attorney Garry Frank said his office has dismissed
drug charges against more than 30 people because the deputies were involved
in the cases.

"The most damaging thing is the general reputation of law enforcement is
hurt among people here," he said. "It's given a bad image to law
enforcement that a lot of people are working to overcome."

David Woodall, a former Davidson County sheriff's lieutenant, was sentenced
Friday to 27 years in prison on charges of extortion and conspiring to
distribute cocaine, marijuana, Ecstasy and anabolic steroids.

"It's not the rest of your life, but it's a substantial part of it," U.S.
District Judge William Osteen told the 35-year-old Woodall.

Woodall, who apologized to the judge, said he had a religious conversion
after his arrest and blamed much of his problems on steroid use.

"I realize that I've ruined my life and the lives of a lot of other
people," he said.

Woodall's lawyer Gene Metcalf, said his client was a highly regarded
officer who had been left undercover and unsupervised for too long.

Former Lt. Douglas Westmoreland was sentenced to 11 years and three months,
while former Sgt. William Rankin, who cooperated with federal
investigators, received a two-year, seven-month term.

Former Archdale police Sgt. Christopher Shetley and two other men, Marco
Aurelio Acosta-Soza, and Wyatt Kepley, received terms ranging from 34
months to 61Z2 years.

Sheriff Gerald Hege's department has gained national publicity because of
his paramilitary approach to law enforcement. Hege's officers wear combat
boots and black berets and Hege works out of an office decorated like a
military bunker.