Pubdate: Sat, 08 Jun 2002 Source: Winston-Salem Journal (NC) Copyright: 2002 Piedmont Publishing Co. Inc. Contact: http://www.journalnow.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/504 Note: The Journal does not publish letters from writers outside its daily home delivery circulation area. Author: Paul Garber EX-OFFICER SENTENCED FOR ROLE IN DRUG-RING CONSPIRACY He Gets Leniency For Helping To Catch The Other Suspects A former Thomasville police officer who helped authorities break a drug ring involving three area law-enforcement agencies was sentenced in federal court yesterday for his part in the conspiracy. Russell McHenry received a 25-month active sentence in a federal prison for possession of marijuana, cocaine and Ecstasy. McHenry was arrested in November on state drug-trafficking charges and immediately agreed to help authorities investigate drug activity involving an officer in the Archdale Police Department and three deputies from the Davidson County Sheriff's Office. McHenry pleaded guilty to the charges in November, and he is the first of the officers to be sentenced. He could have received a sentence of almost six years, but was given credit for working undercover to help nab the other suspects. U.S. District Court Judge N. Carlton Tilley said that it was difficult for him to know what to do with McHenry's case. "You've done some horrible things, and then you've done some brave things," Tilley told McHenry. Tilley said that the only way society works is when people respect the law. "When law-enforcement officers do what you've done, we lose that respect," he said. Tilley also said that McHenry put dangerous drugs in the hands of people he was sworn to protect. McHenry's attorney, Joe Bruner, described how McHenry worked with investigators for two weeks, taping conversations and participating in drug buys with people who he knew were armed and dangerous. McHenry's cooperation with the FBI and the State Bureau of Investigation led to death threats against him, and he was unable to spend time with his family because he feared what could happen to them, Bruner said. When given a chance to speak, McHenry took about 10 seconds to compose himself, then - choking back sobs - apologized to the citizens whom he served and for the black eye he had given law enforcement. Several family members who attended the sentencing also wept as McHenry spoke. The former deputies - Lt. David Scott Woodall, Lt. Douglas Edward Westmoreland and Sgt. William Rankin, along with Archdale police Sgt. Christopher James Shetley - all pleaded guilty to federal drug charges in March. Two other men involved in the investigation, Wyatt Nathan Kepley and Marco Aurelio Acosta-Soza, also pleaded guilty in March. They are all scheduled to be sentenced Friday, except Woodall, whose sentencing is scheduled for June 26. Federal prosecutor Sandra Hariston agreed that McHenry played a pivotal role in the investigation, saying that he provided more help than most defendants. "He did everything the government asked him to do," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens