EX-SHERIFF RENEGES ON PLEA DEAL, WILL FACE JURY

AUBURN -- Facing 60 days in jail, a former county sheriff decided Tuesday
to withdraw his guilty plea and face a jury trial on charges he stole
$4,000 from a drug task force fund. If convicted by a jury, former Cayuga
County Sheriff Peter Pinckney could face up to seven years in state prison.

Pinckney pleaded guilty Jan. 17 to third-degree grand larceny, defrauding
the government and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. But
defense attorney James McGraw warned that Pinckney would renege on the plea
deal if it appeared he would have to serve even one day behind bars.

On Tuesday, McGraw carried through on that pledge when visiting state
Supreme Court Justice Thomas Van Strydonck said he planned to sentence
Pinckney to 60 days in county jail. Van Strydonck agreed to let Pinckney
withdraw his plea. No immediate trial date was set.

"I want to make clear for the record, we don't believe he committed any
crimes," McGraw told the judge. "When he entered his admission ... any
responsibility he took was not an admission to crimes."

Assistant Deputy Attorney Gen-eral James Mindell was not surprised that
Pinckney did what he said he would do. It did not change his opinion that
the ex-sheriff deserved "substantial" jail time, although he declined to
say specifically how much.

"The public trusted him to en-force the law, instead he broke the very laws
he was entrusted to up-hold," Mindell said.

"We are ready to go to trial if that's what he wants. We are ready to try
him," Mindell added.

Outside the courthouse, Pinckney explained his reversal as he walked away.

"I guess I should have listened more closely to Mr. McGraw. But I did want
closure for my family. People plead guilty for a lot of reasons, all
right," Pinckney said.

McGraw has contended that Pinckney was the victim of overzealous
prosecution by the state attorney general's office and prejudicial
publicity because of his prominence as the county's top law enforcer.

According to state prosecutors, Pinckney misappropriated money from a task
force drug fund on four occasions during a nearly three-year period,
ordered subordinates to assist him in the process and then took steps to
cover up his wrongdoing.