EX-DEPUTIES PLEAD GUILTY

GREENSBORO - Lengthy prison terms and hefty fines are possible for a couple
of former Davidson County sheriff's deputies and other defendants who
pleaded guilty Thursday to federal drug conspiracy charges.

Former First Lt. David Scott Woodall, 34, who headed the sheriff's office
vice/narcotics unit, faces from 17 years to life in prison, fines of up to
$7.75 million and forfeiture of $250,000 in cash or property after pleading
guilty to three separate counts under an agreement with prosecutors in U.S.
District Court.

Former sheriff's Lt. Douglas Edward Westmoreland, 50, who also worked in
the vice/narcotics unit, faces five to 80 years in prison, fines of up to
$3.25 million and forfeiture of $100,000 in cash or property after pleading
guilty to two separate counts.

Potential penalties would appear to be less for the other four defendants -
former sheriff's Sgt. William Monroe Rankin, 32, former Archdale police
Sgt. Christopher James Shetley, 41, and Lexington-area residents Wyatt
Nathan Kepley, 26, and Marco Aurelio Acosta-Soza, 26 - who also entered
guilty pleas Thursday.

The federal sentencing system is a complex maze of points and levels that
makes predictions of sentences difficult. The U.S. Attorney's Office agreed
to recommend reductions in sentencing levels for the six defendants in
exchange for Thursday's guilty pleas.

But those are just recommendations to U.S. District Judge William Osteen,
who has some discretion in how precisely he follows them. While expressing
some indecision about what kinds of sentences to give former law
enforcement officers, Osteen warned the defendants Thursday that parole has
been eliminated in the prison system.

"What active prison time you get is pretty much what you will serve," the
judge said.

He scheduled sentencing for Woodall, Westmoreland, Shetley, Kepley and
Acosta-Soza, all of whom remain in jail, for June 14. Sentencing for
Rankin, who remains free on bond, will be June 26.

After an eight-month probe by the FBI and the State Bureau of
Investigation, a federal grand jury indicted the six men last Dec. 7 on
conspiracy to distribute cocaine, marijuana, steroids and Ecstasy. The
grand jury added additional charges in a superseding indictment on Jan. 25.

The defendants initially pleaded innocent but changed their pleas Thursday.
They had been scheduled for trial this coming Monday.

Woodall, who has been described in court as the "ringleader" of the
conspiracy, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to distribute all four
drugs, extortion and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence. The
government agreed to dismiss another extortion charge and a charge of
violating Kepley's civil rights during an illegal search.

Westmoreland pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute just cocaine and
marijuana and extortion. The government agreed to dismiss a charge of
violating Kepley's civil rights.

Westmoreland faces from five to 40 years in prison for cocaine conspiracy,
up to 20 years for marijuana conspiracy, and up to 20 years for extortion.
But federal sentences usually run concurrently rather than consecutively.
He probably will get just a portion of the 80-year maximum for all three
charges.

Rankin, another vice/narcotics unit member, pleaded guilty to conspiring to
distribute just steroids and depriving Kepley of his civil rights. He faces
at most six years in prison, fines of no more than $350,000 and forfeiture
of an unspecified amount of property and $9,700 in cash.

In an interview after the court hearing, Rankin's lawyer, Fred Robinson
Harwell Jr. of Winston-Salem, said his client was less involved in the
conspiracy than others and that evidence at the sentencing hearing will
show Rankin was "a good officer."

"I think he pleaded guilty to the appropriate charges," Harwell said. "He
decided to do that because he wanted to admit his guilt and move on with
his life."

Kepley pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to distribute just steroids
and to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He faces at most 15
years in prison, $500,000 in fines and forfeiture of $250,000 in cash or
property.

Shetley pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute just marijuana and
Ecstasy. The government agreed to dismiss an extortion charge against him.

Shetley faces up to 25 years in prison, fines of up to $1.25 million and
forfeiture of property.

Acosta-Soza pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute just cocaine and
marijuana. He faces from five years to life in prison and fines of up to $6
million. Acosta-Soza, an illegal alien from Mexico, also faces possible
deportation by U.S. immigration officials after he completes any prison
sentence.

Osteen, who said he already has started wrestling with the philosophical
questions posed by sentencing former law enforcement officers, asked
defense lawyers and prosecutors to provide him with guidance.

The law enforcement officers might have provided public service during
their careers that they should receive credit for in sentencing, Osteen said.

But the good they did might be offset by the stigma they create for all law
enforcement officers by violating the law, the judge added.

"I don't have an answer for that," Osteen said. "But by sentencing (time)
we've got to resolve that."

Afterward, outside the federal courthouse, Shetley's father, the Rev. James
Shetley, pastor of Gospel Light Free Will Baptist Church in Thomasville,
said the judge should treat his son not as a police officer but as any
citizen or "man on the street."

Shetley's brother, Eric Shetley of Thomasville, who is mentioned in a
federal affidavit in the case but not by name, said he regretted his
brother would not have a chance during a trial to counter some of the
allegations by the government's key witness, which Eric Shetley called
lies. But he said he supports his brother and his brother's decision to
plead guilty.

"We're not saying anybody's perfect," Eric Shetley said. "Things happen."

The guilty pleas, along with the January guilty plea by the key witness,
former Thomasville police Sgt. Russell Earl McHenry Jr., are the first
public corruption convictions for new U.S. Attorney Anna Mills Wagoner of
Salisbury, who took office last Nov. 16.

"I think that our offices - federal government and state government -
worked well together" on the investigation, Wagoner said. "And we will not
tolerate this kind of behavior from law enforcement officers."

The investigation is continuing but Wagoner's office cautioned that does
not necessarily mean additional charges will be filed.