BOYD MAKES PLEA DEAL IN DRUG CASE

A Milwaukee man arrested in Stevens Point in June as part of a large
cocaine and marijuana trafficking bust has agreed to cooperate with
authorities as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Gregory E. Boyd, 27, pleaded guilty Friday in Branch III of Portage County
Circuit Court to a reduced charge of possessing less than 5 grams of
cocaine with intent to deliver. Judge Thomas Flugaurset sentencing for Aug. 26.

Investigators say Boyd was part of a ring that distributed nearly 30 ounces
of cocaine and 81 pounds of marijuana in Portage County between 1998 and
June 2002.

Richard Lawson, Boyd's attorney, was unavailable for comment after the hearing.

Thomas Eagon, Portage County district attorney, said he would recommend
that Boyd receive a sentence that includes two years of probation, four
months in the county jail, a six-month suspension of Boyd's driving
privileges, and payment of court costs. With time served, Boyd is expected
to serve about six weeks in jail after sentencing if the plea agreement is
accepted by Judge Flugaur, Eagon said.

As part of the agreement, Eagon said Boyd, who has cooperated with
authorities since his arrest, must continue to do so. Such cooperation
could include court testimony, but Eagon declined to say whether that was
part of the deal.

Boyd was arrested along with Daryl S. Ferguson, 27, 3100 Rice St., on June
11 after officers found 2.5 ounces of cocaine in their car. The pair had
brought the cocaine from Milwaukee to Stevens Point to be sold, a criminal
complaint said. Ferguson is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 3. Boyd remained
jailed Friday on $10,000 cash bond. One of Boyd's co-defendants, Kelly J.
Keenlance, 20, Wisconsin Rapids, also will have a plea hearing on Sept. 30,
Eagon said. Keenlance was also arrested June 11 and is charged with one
count each of conspiracy to deliver cocaine and marijuana, court records
said. Keenlance is free on bond.

Chronis can be reached at 344-6100, Ext. 2512, or at paul.chronis@cwnews.net.

SIDEBAR:

Main defendant to stand trial

A man accused of being the ringleader of a large central Wisconsin cocaine
and marijuana trafficking ring is scheduled to go to trial Nov. 12 after he
pleaded innocent Friday in Portage County Circuit Court.

Ahmad R. Gross, 24, Wisconsin Rapids, is charged with one count each of
conspiracy to deliver cocaine and marijuana as a repeat offender, and he
could be sentenced to up to 180 years in prison and a five-year revocation
of his driving privileges if convicted, according to the criminal complaint
filed against him.

Portage County Branch III Judge Thomas Flugaur rejected a motion from
defense attorney John Sesini to alter Gross' bond from $200,000 cash to a
property bond of $40,000 or $10,000 cash. The property would have been a
house in Milwaukee belonging to Gross' parents, Sesini said, adding that
Gross would have lived with his parents and had lined up a job as a
maintenance worker at a Milwaukee-area YMCA.

He was arrested with four others June 11, and he remained jailed Friday on
the $200,000 cash bond.