DRUG TASK FORCE TO BEAR WILHELM'S NAME

Rowan Native, Federal Agent Killed After Atlanta Courthouse Rampage

ATLANTA -- During a ceremony Thursday, federal authorities named an
anti-drug task force in honor of Rowan County, N.C., native David
Wilhelm, the Homeland Security agent killed in the aftermath of a 2005
courthouse shooting spree.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described Wilhelm's
slaying as a "senseless and brutal act of murder."

The David G. Wilhelm OCDETF Strike Force-Atlanta will focus on
regional, national and international drug investigations and will
include local, state and federal law enforcement officers.

Members of Wilhelm's family attended the ceremony Thursday in Atlanta.
Wilhelm, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, was killed
March 11, 2005, at a home in Atlanta that he was renovating, hours
after the shooting rampage at the Fulton County Courthouse that
claimed the life of a judge, court reporter and sheriff's deputy.

Brian Nichols, who was being escorted to the continuation of his rape
trial at the time the shootings started, is charged with all four
murders. Jury selection in his state murder trial is on hold until
September because of defense funding issues.

The 40-year-old Wilhelm was a graduate of West Rowan High School and
the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

The naming of the drug task force after Wilhelm fits with his success
in past drug smuggling and money laundering investigations. In March
2001, for example, Wilhelm led federal efforts to seize four tons of
marijuana and $1.4 million in cash in Rowan County. The federal
government said the seizure was possible because of Wilhelm's strong
relationship with local law enforcement.

A Woodleaf farm was being used for the off-loading of marijuana
smuggled in from Mexico.

Wilhelm won the most prestigious U.S. Customs award for his role in
that investigation. The U.S. Immigration and Customs branch credited
him with dismantling eight smuggling operations from 1999-2001,
leading to the confiscation of some 9 million tons of marijuana.

The Salisbury funeral for Wilhelm drew an estimated 1,200 to 1,300
people to Catawba College's Omwake-Dearborn Chapel, including a sea of
local, state and federal law enforcement officers.

A plaque also was unveiled in Wilhelm's honor Thursday. U.S. Attorney
David Nahmias said he had met with Wilhelm the day before he was
killed to talk about the creation of the task force. "His murder was a
tremendous loss," Nahmias told those gathered outside the building
that will house the task force.

The building is in a complex that includes the Atlanta FBI field
office. The task force will consist of 74 people from 18 different law
enforcement agencies who will work "in one place with no walls," said
Karen Tandy, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Wilhelm was a rising star in law enforcement. At the time of his
death, he was second in command of Homeland Security with the Atlanta
office. Nichols, 35, is accused of killing the judge presiding over
his rape trial; a court reporter chronicling the proceeding; a
sheriff's deputy who chased him outside the downtown courthouse; and
Wilhelm, who Nichols encountered at a home a few miles away that
night. Nichols surrendered the day after the shootings after allegedly
taking a woman hostage in her suburban Atlanta home. After Thursday's
event, Wilhelm's widow, Candee Wilhelm, and Nahmias would not discuss
the criminal case against Nichols or whether there should or could be
a federal prosecution in the future over the agent's death. Julie L.
Myers, assistant secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, also declined to comment on the issue.