RACIAL-BIAS SUIT SETTLED OVER TULIA DRUG BUST CASE

TULIA - A black man who said he was unfairly targeted in a 1999 drug bust
because of his skin color has settled with local authorities for $30,000.

Billy Wafer settled with Swisher County officials for $5,000 in cash and
$25,000 in attorneys' fees.

Wafer was among 43 people, 37 of them black, who were arrested during an
undercover drug bust in Tulia.

Tulia, a town of about 5,000 about 40 miles south of Amarillo, is home to
about 250 blacks.

In February, Wafer sued Swisher County, Sheriff Larry Stewart and
undercover officer Tom Coleman. The suit said Wafer was wrongfully arrested
and imprisoned after the bust.

After his arrest, he had a hearing on a motion to revoke his probation
stemming from a 1990 possession of marijuana charge.

The charge could have led to Wafer's probation being revoked, but a
district judge refused, saying he was not convinced of Wafer's guilt.

Swisher County refused to drop the charge, sending the case to the 7th
District Court of Appeals, which tossed it out in January.

The court said the probation hearing amounted to a trial and, therefore,
Wafer could not be tried a second time.

Charges against him were eventually dropped.

In the Oct. 5 settlement, the defendants deny any wrongdoing. Court
documents detailing the settlement were not made available until late last
week.

Swisher County Judge Harold Keeter declined to comment on the settlement,
citing a clause preventing anyone involved in the suit from talking about it.

Wafer's suit stemmed from an 18-month investigation by Coleman, who said he
bought drugs from those who were later arrested. Coleman worked alone and
used no surveillance equipment.

Eleven of those arrested in Tulia were found guilty and 17 have accepted
plea agreements. Appeals are pending.

Coleman was dismissed this year from the Southeast Metroplex Narcotics Task
Force near Dallas for engaging in a "relationship that was inappropriate,"
Ellis County District Attorney Joe Grubbs said.