OFFICER ACTED AS FBI INFORMANT

GREENSBORO -- The FBI and SBI used a law enforcement officer who was facing
drug charges of his own to obtain evidence of drug trafficking against
three Davidson County deputies and an Archdale police officer, an FBI
search warrant says.

Those four men, along with the son of a Davidson County commissioner and
another man, were arrested Wednesday and each charged with conspiracy to
distribute controlled substances. An indictment by a federal grand jury
charges the men with distributing 220 pounds of marijuana, 11 pounds of
cocaine, anabolic steroids and Ecstasy over the past year.

The warrant said the officer-turned-informant was arrested Nov. 5 at his
home in Greensboro. The officer, referred to in the warrant only as "CW-1,"
was charged with trafficking in Ecstasy, conspiracy to traffic Ecstasy,
possession with intent to sell and distribute marijuana and conspiracy to
deliver marijuana. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Greensboro would not
disclose the identity of the officer in the warrant.

"CW-1" then became part of an eight-month drug investigation that had been
focused on the officers. According to the warrant, "CW-1," Woodall and
Shetley are also suspected of using fake warrants to commit robbery. The
warrant also says that Woodall told "CW-1" that he and Westmoreland thought
Rankin had talked to agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency during the
investigation and that Woodall and Westmoreland had discussed killing Rankin.

Arrested this week were Davidson deputies Lt. David Scott Woodall, 34, Lt.
William Monroe Rankin, 32, and Sgt. Douglas Edward Westmoreland, 49;
Archdale police Sgt. Christopher James Shetley, 35; Wyatt Nathan Kepley,
26, who is the son of Davidson County Commissioner Billy Joe Kepley; and
Marco Aurelio Acosta Soza, 23, of Lexington.

The warrant outlines a bizarre story beginning with "CW-1" having severe
financial problems last year after a divorce. In early April, the officer
started receiving steroids from an unidentified childhood friend and
selling them to other police officers and weightlifters for profit.

Wyatt Kepley, 26, of Lexington and a local body builder supplied "CW-1"
with the steroids, the warrant said.

Shetley told the officer about a month later that Kepley had been arrested
in California for possession of more than $1 million worth of steroids.
After that, Rankin and Woodall began supplying "CW-1" with steroids and
other drugs to sell, the warrant said.

On April 27, Shetley told "CW-1" that a package of steroids, addressed to a
Lexington resident, arrived at the High Point Federal Express office. High
Point police had been notified, the warrant stated.

High Point police notified the Davidson County Sheriff's Office and Woodall
picked up the package. The High Point detective took the case to the FBI to
identify the intended recipient -- and because he was suspicious because
Davidson deputies had not been interested in steroid cases before, court
papers state.

According to the warrant, many of the meetings between "CW-1" and Woodall
took place in Davidson County undercover vehicles.

The warrant also states that Woodall, Westmoreland and Rankin had taken
more than $160,000 from Kepley's residence on three occasions.

While Kepley was in jail in San Diego in July, "CW-1" and Woodall served a
bogus warrant at Kepley's and took $42,600 and 16,000 vials of steroids
that were later resold to Kepley for $12,000, according to the warrant.

The warrant also says "CW-1" and Woodall robbed some Hispanic men in their
home in East Spencer in November and attempted to rob a residence on Kivett
Drive in High Point. The two men stole 1 pound of marijuana, $900 and three
guns, including a .357 semiautomatic pistol.

Soza is listed as Woodall's supplier of marijuana and cocaine in the search
warrant. According to the warrant, Woodall paid Soza's expenses when he
traveled to Texas to pick up shipments of cocaine and marijuana. In
October, "CW-1," Shetley and Woodall began to sell Ecstasy pills at
nightclubs and parties, the warrant states.

At the end of the investigation, FBI and SBI agents searched five
undercover sheriff's vehicles, the Davidson County Sheriff's Office
Vice-Narcotics Unit, a mobile home in Thomasville where Woodall was living,
the residences of Westmoreland and Shetley in Thomasville and single-story
dwelling in Thomasville, described as Woodall's stash house.

A Thomasville police officer, Sgt. Russell McHenry, 32, of 5524-B W. Market
St., Greensboro, was arrested on Nov. 5 on charges of trafficking in
Ecstasy, conspiracy to traffic in Ecstasy, possession with intent to sell
and deliver marijuana and conspiracy to deliver marijuana. A U.S.
Attorney's Office spokeswoman would not comment on whether McHenry is
connected to the Davidson deputies' and Archdale officer's cases.

Contact Cheris Hodges at 883-4422, Ext. 240, or chodges@news-record.com