Pubdate: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC) Copyright: 2007 The Herald-Sun Contact: http://www.herald-sun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428 Author: BriAnne Dopart Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?246 (Policing - United States) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) EX-DEPUTY DRAWS 21 MONTHS IN PRISON GREENSBORO -- After admitting to only some of the behavior that led to what his own legal team called a "long fall from grace," fired Durham County sheriff's deputy Michael Paul Owens was sentenced to 21 months in prison Wednesday. The sentence was handed down in U.S. Middle District Court in Greensboro by Judge N. Carlton Tilley, who found that Owens had abused his position in law enforcement and abused the public's trust when he used his county-issued, in-car computer to look up addresses of individuals that his accomplices intended to rob. Those abuse findings allowed Tilley to consider a harsher-than-normal sentence for Owens' admitted crime of operating an establishment -- the La Zona nightclub-turned-drug market at 2825 N. Roxboro Road -- with the purpose of distributing cocaine. Owens had denied ever confessing to knowingly using his sheriff's patrol car computer to look up addresses of individuals his accomplices wanted to rob. Owens looked up the addresses, his attorneys admitted, but didn't know what they'd be used for until after he had made them known. The judge didn't buy it. Tilley also ruled that Owens had failed to accept responsibility for his actions. In pre-sentencing hearings, FBI Special Agent Bill Zolper, who worked with Durham County authorities in the La Zona investigation and was present at Owens' interrogation last year, was called to the witness stand three times to testify about Owens' confession, some elements of which Owens' attorneys had attempted to refute. Zolper repeatedly testified that Owens knew how the addresses were to be used and that the former deputy even performed surveillance on one "target" while on duty and in his county-issued patrol car. "I wish I could agree with you," Tilley told defense attorney Robert O'Hale regarding his contention that Owens only found out about the intended robberies after having given the information to accomplices. "I sincerely wish I could, but I don't." "I have tried to give Mr. Owens every opportunity to accept responsibility," the judge added, before allowing Owens' attorneys a brief recess to discuss whether Owens would "accept" responsibility. When Owens' attorneys claimed Owens had accepted responsibility by the act of pleading guilty, Tilley handed down the less-than-two year sentence, which he ordered to be followed by three years of supervised probation. As the judge read the sentence, Owens' parents wept. Owens wept, too, as he addressed the court and apologized for his actions. "I've made some mistakes," he said, shaking as he choked back tears. "Nothing I can say or do will ever correct that." Tilley interrupted Owens to say that while Owens can't change history, he can change his life. "I've started to do that already," Owens said. "It's a long road." Owens apologized to his former Sheriff's Office co-workers. "I've let them down and embarrassed them severely," he said. "If there was anything I could do to change back time I would." Defense attorney O'Hale said Owens is "happy this ordeal is over." "He is very sorry that he got involved in La Zona," O'Hale said. "He tried to accept responsibility for what he did wrong and that judge felt otherwise. We didn't agree." Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Hairston called the sentence fair and said she was satisfied with Tilley's findings. Sheriff Worth Hill said Owens was lucky not to have received a longer sentence. Hill called Owens' arrest "a real shocker" that broke his heart, adding that he had known Owens before the case to be an upstanding and "clean-cut" person of great integrity. He then said he wished Owens well, and luck "when he gets out." Owens was the latest defendant to be sentenced in connection with a drug-dealing scheme at his La Zona nightclub. In April, he agreed to the plea of operating an establishment with the purpose of distributing cocaine in return for the prosecution dropping a count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. In August 2006, the Sheriff's Office began investigating a bevy of allegations about goings-on at La Zona, including a home invasion ring, a counterfeiting scheme, prostitution and a possible human trafficking ring. Deputies William "Keith" Dodson and Brad King, who had moonlighted as security guards at La Zona, were fired after an Oct. 13, 2006 raid at the nightclub. They were terminated for violating the Sheriff's Office's moonlighting policy. Following his arrest, Owens admitted to ordering fellow deputies who were working off-duty at the club to avoid club bathrooms, refrain from making arrests on club property and to "crush or flush" any drugs they might have come across, according to federal documents. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake