EX-OFFICER PLEADS TO DRUG DEALS

FBI narcotics probe led to charges against Cleveland County deputy

ASHEVILLE -- A former narcotics officer with the Cleveland County Sheriff's
Office pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to dealing drugs he was
in charge of getting off the street.

Otis Mayrock "Rock" SmithIII told a federal judge he would plead guilty to
a charge of possession with intent to sell and distribute marijuana and a
charge of possession of cocaine.

A grand jury indicted Smith, 43, of 166 Garland Drive, Ellenboro, in
August, following an FBI investigation that began in October 1999.

Smith will be sentenced at a later hearing. No date has been set.

According to a plea agreement, he faces up to five years in prison on the
marijuana charge, and one year on the cocaine count, plus fines.

On Monday, Smith declined comment: "I'm not supposed to say anything until
I'm sentenced," he said. William Loose, Smith's court-appointed attorney,
did not return a call to his Asheville office.

Smith, who was fired following his arrest in July, joined the Cleveland
County Sheriff's Office in November 1995. He spent most of his career as a
deputy in the narcotics division. His job called for him to buy or sell
drugs undercover to catch drug dealers. He had access to drugs seized from
previous busts.

Smith told FBI agents he had been abusing crack cocaine since December 1999
and that he got some of the drug from an evidence locker containing powder
and crack cocaine from more than 100 drug cases, according to a sworn
affidavit.

The drugs had been placed in a filing cabinet awaiting court-ordered
destruction, the affidavit said. Smith also told agents that he had smoked
crack with a former sheriff's office informant, the affidavit said.

The sheriff's office keeps the drugs its deputies seize. They are used as
evidence in court cases. Then the drugs are placed in storage and burned
twice a year.

In July, a judge set Smith's bond at $10,000 and placed him under
electronic house arrest, and ordered him to undergo drug testing and
substance-abuse counseling.

The arrest prompted the sheriff's office to order random drug tests for its
officers. Each month, two of the five narcotics officers and six to seven
officers throughout the sheriff's office will be tested.

The department changed the way deputies store drugs and handle money used
for drug buys and informants, along with money taken in drug seizures.

The FBI alerted the sheriff's office in May that it suspected Smith was
dealing drugs. At that point, the sheriff's office joined the investigation
with the FBI.

According to court documents, investigators alleged that Smith delivered
6.2pounds of marijuana to one of the FBI's confidential sources and asked
the source to sell the marijuana so they could split the proceeds. Smith
met with the source and received $1,000, court documents said. They met
again and Smith received an additional $1,500 from the sale of the
marijuana, documents said.