DEPUTIES ENTER NOT GUILTY PLEAS

Four local law enforcement officers and another man arrested late last year
on drug charges pleaded not guilty to additional charges Monday.

Among those named in new federal charges, including civil rights violations
and extortion, are three Davidson County Sheriff's Office deputies: David
Scott Woodall, 34; Douglas Edward Westmoreland, 49; and William Monroe
Rankin Jr., 32. Another man arrested, Christopher James Shetley, was an
Archdale police patrol sergeant and former vice officer. Two other men,
Wyatt Nathan Kepley and Marco Aurelio Acosta Soza, also are named in the
new indictment, although Soza does not face new charges. Kepley and Soza
were not in law enforcement.

All of the men were arrested Dec. 12 and charged with conspiracy to
distribute cocaine, marijuana, steroids and ecstasy.

On Jan. 12, federal authorities added civil rights violations and extortion
to the list of charges for Woodall, Rankin and Westmoreland.

Woodall was given an additional charge of carrying a firearm in the
commission of a crime.

Shetley, Woodall and Westmoreland also were charged with extortion.

Kepley was given the additional charge of possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon. He was convicted of a drug charge in California last year,
and police found a handgun among his possessions when he was arrested.

The civil rights violations charges stem from allegations that Woodall,
Westmoreland and Rankin illegally searched Kepley's apartment.

According to the indictment filed in December, the deputies were accused of
breaking into Kepley's apartment four times to take drugs and money - once
by using a false search warrant.

The affidavit said Rankin, Westmoreland and Woodall had stolen more than
$160,000 in cash from Kepley's residence during three earlier break-ins.

In the allegations listed in the December indictment, Woodall, Shetley and
Westmoreland were accused of routinely robbing drug dealers for cash and
drugs that they reportedly resold.

In one reported instance, Shetley allegedly drew arrest warrants for
possession of marijuana on a suspect. He is said to have later offered to
"make the warrants ... disappear" for $1,500.

The informant also said Woodall kicked in the door of a Rowan County
residence known to house drug dealers and used a false search warrant to
convince one person there to give him money. The officers also are accused
of taking marijuana found in a search of the residence. The defendants,
excluding Soza, also were ordered to forfeit property they own which was
purchased with money gained from or used in committing their crimes.

Rankin was the only one to be released on bail. He was released on a
$50,000 bond Jan. 7 after a hearing in U.S. Middle District Court in
Winston-Salem.

The December arrest of the officers, Kepley and Soza followed the arrest of
another local police officer on drug charges.

Thomasville police Sgt. Russell Earl McHenry Jr., 32, was arrested Nov. 5
by State Bureau of Investigation officials on charges of trafficking and
conspiracy to traffic in ecstasy and marijuana.

McHenry pleaded guilty to the charges against him Jan. 29.

The trial for the four former law enforcement officers and Kepley is
scheduled for March.