CUMPTON EXPECTED TO PLEAD GUILTY TO FEDERAL DRUG CHARGES

BENTONVILLE -- A man accused of overseeing a Missouri
marijuana-growing operation from the Benton County Jail likely will
plead guilty to federal charges Feb. 20.

William Cumpton, 46, recently of Shell Knob, Mo., appeared in Benton
County Circuit Court for a probation-revocation hearing on state
charges Monday.

Judge Tom Keith, however, rescheduled Cumpton's hearing to May 6 after
Cumpton's attorney, W.H. Taylor of Fayetteville, said Cumpton soon
will plead guilty to the federal charges.

The petition to revoke Cumpton's probation on state charges stated
that Cumpton committed the federal offenses related to a
marijuana-growing operation and had narcotics smuggled into the jail
on July 5.

Cumpton and Keith D. Sanders, 42, of Bella Vista each face federal
charges of one count of conspiracy to manufacture 100 or more
marijuana plants and one count of manufacturing 100 or more marijuana
plants, according to an indictment handed down in the Western District
of Missouri in November.

Cumpton and Sanders previously pleaded innocent in federal court in
Springfield, Mo.

A federal indictment alleged that they had a marijuana-growing
operation at Cumpton's home near Shell Knob from at least December
2000 to July, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's
office.

On July 6, investigators searched Cumpton's home in Shell Knob and
discovered a marijuana-growing operation in a metal outbuilding,
authorities said. Officers seized more than 600 plants in various
stages of development, about 43 marijuana plants that had been cut and
set out to dry, and cultivation and lighting equipment, the release
stated.

If convicted, Cumpton and Sanders each face a prison sentence of
between 10 years and life without parole, plus a maximum fine of $4
million.

The federal charges are not Cumpton's first brush with the
law.

Cumpton was arrested in June 2000 by sheriff's detectives after they
discovered Cumpton was growing marijuana inside his home in Bella
Vista, according to court documents. Cumpton on Jan. 12, 2001, pleaded
guilty to one count each of manufacture of a controlled substance
(marijuana), possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) with
intent to deliver and criminal use of a prohibited weapon, all felonies.

Keith in May sentenced Cumpton to 10 years of state-supervised
probation for the manufacturing and possession charges. Keith
sentenced him to one year in jail for the weapon charge, with credit
for 111 days spent in jail awaiting transport to prison.

In July, an inmate smuggled a marijuana cigarette into the jail and
authorities discovered several inmates smoking the cigarette.

Officials investigated the smuggling incident, and sheriff's officials
interviewed Cumpton. That interview led to the marijuana seizure at
Cumpton's home in Barry County, Mo., and that seizure led to the
federal charges.