SENTENCING CONCLUDES OURAY DRUG EPISODE

The last of 19 people charged in a methamphetamine case that brought
down the sheriff and two other law officers in picturesque Ouray
County was sentenced Tuesday to 6 1/2 years in federal prison. Denver
U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham imposed the sentence on
Federico Estrada-Garcia.

Law enforcement authorities said the ring operated for about two
years, importing the drug to Ouray County from California.

The case revealed complicated, interlocking relationships and
rivalries among residents practicing the flourishing drug trade in
the small town at the base of the scenic San Juan Mountains on
Colorado's Western Slope.

Former undersheriff John Radcliff was sentenced to 19 years in prison
for his role in the ring. Radcliff protected ring members from
discovery by other law officers. He also used the drug with his wife,
Lisa, whose brother, Perry Wherley, was a ringleader.

Wherley was sentenced to six years and three months in prison. Lisa
Radcliff was sentenced to more than five years.

Also implicated in the case was former sheriff's deputy Leroy Dale
Todd, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison. He once dated Brenda
Paul, who is Wherley's aunt and also was found guilty of
participating in the ring. Paul was sentenced to more than five years
in prison.

Jerry Wakefield, then the Ouray County sheriff, was caught with an
unauthorized firearm and accused of state theft and embezzlement as
part of the investigation. His two daughters, Neysa Blansett and
Laura Huddleston, also were arrested as ring members.