EX-OFFICER SENTENCED FOR ROLE IN DRUG-RING CONSPIRACY

He Gets Leniency For Helping To Catch The Other Suspects

A former Thomasville police officer who helped authorities break a drug
ring involving three area law-enforcement agencies was sentenced in federal
court yesterday for his part in the conspiracy.

Russell McHenry received a 25-month active sentence in a federal prison for
possession of marijuana, cocaine and Ecstasy.

McHenry was arrested in November on state drug-trafficking charges and
immediately agreed to help authorities investigate drug activity involving
an officer in the Archdale Police Department and three deputies from the
Davidson County Sheriff's Office.

McHenry pleaded guilty to the charges in November, and he is the first of
the officers to be sentenced. He could have received a sentence of almost
six years, but was given credit for working undercover to help nab the
other suspects.

U.S. District Court Judge N. Carlton Tilley said that it was difficult for
him to know what to do with McHenry's case.

"You've done some horrible things, and then you've done some brave things,"
Tilley told McHenry.

Tilley said that the only way society works is when people respect the law.

"When law-enforcement officers do what you've done, we lose that respect,"
he said. Tilley also said that McHenry put dangerous drugs in the hands of
people he was sworn to protect.

McHenry's attorney, Joe Bruner, described how McHenry worked with
investigators for two weeks, taping conversations and participating in drug
buys with people who he knew were armed and dangerous.

McHenry's cooperation with the FBI and the State Bureau of Investigation
led to death threats against him, and he was unable to spend time with his
family because he feared what could happen to them, Bruner said.

When given a chance to speak, McHenry took about 10 seconds to compose
himself, then - choking back sobs - apologized to the citizens whom he
served and for the black eye he had given law enforcement.

Several family members who attended the sentencing also wept as McHenry spoke.

The former deputies - Lt. David Scott Woodall, Lt. Douglas Edward
Westmoreland and Sgt. William Rankin, along with Archdale police Sgt.
Christopher James Shetley - all pleaded guilty to federal drug charges in
March.

Two other men involved in the investigation, Wyatt Nathan Kepley and Marco
Aurelio Acosta-Soza, also pleaded guilty in March.

They are all scheduled to be sentenced Friday, except Woodall, whose
sentencing is scheduled for June 26.

Federal prosecutor Sandra Hariston agreed that McHenry played a pivotal
role in the investigation, saying that he provided more help than most
defendants.

"He did everything the government asked him to do," she said.