SELLERS POLICE CHIEF ARRESTED FOR MISCONDUCT, CHARGED WITH DISTRIBUTING
MARIJUANA

SELLERS (AP) -- The police chief here has been charged with misconduct in
office after state agents say he distributed marijuana from a police
department evidence locker.

Willie Fore Jr., 47, was arrested Tuesday after a joint investigation by
the State Law Enforcement Division and Florence County Sheriff's Office,
SLED Spokeswoman Kathyrn Richardson said.

Fore, who served as the town's police chief for about eight years, is
charged with conspiring and distributing marijuana, according to a warrant.

Officers found 327 grams of marijuana and a small bag of cocaine in a
vehicle driven by Fore's secretary, Philesa Marie Braddy, after she was
stopped on a traffic violation on Dec. 7, said a SLED affidavit.

Braddy's passenger, police department clerk Anita Jeanette Bryant, had an
open container of alcohol, the affidavit said.

Bryant and Braddy told officers Fore removed the two bags of marijuana from
an evidence locker on Friday and gave them the drugs to sell. They said
Fore told them to keep anything in excess of $3,500.

During a telephone conversation between Braddy and Fore recorded by SLED
agents on Sunday, Fore discusses the weight of the marijuana, according to
the affidavit.

Bryant said the cocaine belonged to her, and deputies charged her with
possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.