3 DAVIDSON SHERIFF'S OFFICERS ARRESTED ON DRUG CHARGES

An Archdale Police Officer, Two Civilians Also Charged

LEXINGTON - Three high-ranking Davidson County sheriff's officers and an
Archdale police officer were arrested along with two other men on charges
that they distributed crack cocaine, marijuana, steroids and Ecstasy for
more than a year, authorities said yesterday.

Officials from the FBI and the State Bureau of Investigation arrested Lt.
Douglas Edward Westmoreland, 49, Lt. David Scott Woodall, 34, and Sgt.
William Rankin, 32, at 5:30 a.m. yesterday at the National Guard Armory in
High Point, said Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege at a news conference.

Archdale police Sgt. Christopher James Shetley, 35, was arrested at the
Archdale Police Department, said Lynn Klauer, a spokeswoman for the U.S.
attorney in Greensboro.

Marco Aurelio Acosta Soza, 23, and Wyatt Nathan Kepley, 26, who are not in
law enforcement, were arrested at their homes in Lexington, Klauer said.

All the men are in the Guilford County Jail

Kepley is the son of Davidson County Commissioner Billy Joe Kepley, who
declined to comment on his son's arrest.

The arrests come after an eight-month investigation. Authorities said that
the men conspired to distribute about 5 kilograms of crack cocaine, 100
kilograms of marijuana and unspecified amounts of anabolic steroids and
Ecstasy.

Authorities did not reveal details of the investigation yesterday but said
that more information about the case will be released this week.

Hege was at the armory when his deputies were arrested. He said he was
aware of the federal investigation and called the arrests disappointing to
him and his department.

"You try to give them the best equipment, the best environment. You try to
give them the best, and they blow it, over what?" Hege said. "This isn't
the stuff you like to work at."

The three deputies were part of the sheriff's five-man vice and narcotics
division and had worked on most of the large drug cases in Davidson County.
Woodall joined the sheriff's department in January 1991. Hege hired
Westmoreland and Rankin after he was elected in 1994.

Woodall and Westmoreland were involved in breaking up a drug ring in 1995
that officials suspected shipped more than $1 million of marijuana a month
from Mexico to the Triad.

"They've been involved in some major stuff," Hege said. "They've worked
with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). They've worked in Texas.
They've worked in New York."

Now some of the arrests that these officers made are in question. District
Attorney Garry Frank said his office is reviewing the cases that these
detectives have been involved in.

"We've started pulling any cases that are pending," Frank said. "Each case
would have to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. I don't know if this
changes anything."

Georgia Nixon, a High Point defense lawyer, said that these arrests hurt
the credibility of these officers and open the door for some appeals.

"I see it as totally destroying the reputation of Davidson County vice
narcotics," Nixon said. "And all they have is their reputation. I don't see
how there can be any outcome than dismissing charges."

Nixon, who was an assistant district attorney in Davidson County until
1995, said she was disappointed to discover that the officers whom she had
worked with for several years were arrested.

However, she said that she was not surprised. In the past two years, more
than 10 of her clients have complained about the tactics used by
Westmoreland, Woodall and Rankin.

Some of her clients alleged that they had no drugs on them and were charged
with drug violations, or that they had more drugs and money on them than
the police reports indicated.

"There were a lot of things that didn't add up," Nixon said.

At first she didn't pay attention to the allegations. But when they started
to become more frequent, she said, she researched the cases and noticed
that the only common thread was the officers involved - Rankin, Woodall and
Westmoreland.

She and other lawyers complained to officials in Frank's office about these
inconsistencies. The trials for some of her cases were pushed back, she
said, but she said she didn't know whether prosecutors did anything more
with her complaint.

Frank said he had never heard of any specific allegations related to these
officers.

The officers have been fired. Even if they aren't convicted, Hege said, he
won't hire them back.

"Losing an officer I can get over," Hege said. "But what they did to us and
the agency, you don't get over that."

For now, the loss of these three deputies leaves the sheriff's office
short-staffed, with only two people handling undercover drug operations.

But the arrests could also hurt Hege next year when he runs for
re-election. Some predict that the arrests of his top investigators will be
a difficult issue for the sheriff, who swept into office in 1994 with
promises to be tough on crime and to go after big drug dealers.

"It will be talked about a lot," said Roy Holman, a Democrat who plans to
challenge Hege again next year. Holman lost his bid for sheriff in 1998.
"It may very well be an issue. We've got to take care of business. There's
a crack somewhere in the department. I don't know how big it is. But it
appears there is one."

But David Faust, the chairman of the Davidson County Republican Party, said
that Hege's supporters will stand behind him.

"Things like this happen in departments all over," Faust said. "It's sad,
because they're representing the public. But I don't think this will affect
his chances."

Hege has plenty of time between now and November to ensure that he wins,
Faust said.

"We're a long way from the election," he said. "He's got a good record as
an individual and as a leader."