WATTS' SISTER FACING SIX DRUG CHARGES

The youngest sister of U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts Jr., R-Okla., is facing drug
trafficking charges in Oklahoma County that carry a maximum sentence of
life in prison.

The congressman has denied one report that his sister visited him in
Washington, D.C., while she was a fugitive in the case for nearly two
months after she failed to appear in court.

Darlene Watts, 34, of Oklahoma City, has been in jail in Oklahoma County
since New Year's Eve and is being held on $76,000 bail.

Rep. Watts, who repeatedly speaks out against drug use, declined to talk to
the Tulsa World about his sister.

``He is very concerned about her situation,'' said Mike Hunter, the
congressman's chief of staff in Norman.

Hunter said the congressman denied a story his sister allegedly told
Oklahoma City bailbondsman Monty Davis as she was being taken back to jail
in December.

Davis said Darlene Watts said she had been with the congressman in
Washington and in New York City and was attempting to talk to a lawyer and
work things out.

Davis conceded that he could not verify her story.

According to the congressman, Hunter said, he has not seen his sister for
more than a year, but he has talked to her by telephone. It was unclear
exactly when those calls took place. J.C. Watts Sr., a Democrat running for
the post of state labor commissioner, agreed to talk about his daughter but
said he knew little about her case.

Like his son, Watts Sr. said it has been more than a year since he has seen
his youngest child.

``Well, the only thing I can say is I just hate it for her,'' he said.
``Naturally, I would. She's my daughter. I just hate it for her. ``There's
nothing I can do about it. . . . I just have to accept what they (the
authorities) do.''

Watts Sr. said he hasn't seen or spoken to his daughter in more than a year.

While he has no plans to see his youngest daughter at this time, Watts Sr.
went to Oklahoma City to take her 14-year-old son home to Eufaula with him.

``He's doing fine. We got him in school,'' he said of his grandson. Darlene
Watts is one of six children: three boys and three girls.

``The rest of them are doing real good,'' said Watts Sr., a minister and a
former police officer.

In addition to the congressman, he said his other children are a teacher, a
telephone company supervisor, a rancher and an airplane factory worker.

According to court documents, Darlene Watts is facing six charges in two
parallel cases, one stemming from a raid conducted by Oklahoma City police
and another from a case brought by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics
and Dangerous Drugs Control.

Court records show that Darlene Watts and two others were arrested on July
7, 1997, after officers, acting on a search warrant, raided the Oklahoma
City home where Darlene Watts was living.

The arrest report says that inside the home, officers found, among other
things, marijuana, rolling papers; a cigarette rolling machine; loose
marijuana seeds; razor blades, ashtrays, straws, a plastic vial and bag,
and scales that all tested positive for methamphetamine residue.

Darlene Watts was charged with one count of marijuana possession, one count
of methamphetamine possession, one count of possession of drug
paraphernalia and one count of maintaining a dwelling where a controlled
substance is kept.

In a separate case, Watts is charged with trafficking in illegal drugs and
conspiracy to traffic a controlled dangerous substance. Court records state
that Watts provided methamphetamine on May 30, 1997, to an Oklahoma City
man who provided the drugs to an undercover agent.

Darlene Watts has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Her attorney, Irven
Box of Oklahoma City, declined to discuss the case, saying the charges
carry a maximum of life in prison. The six charges are the only state
charges Darlene Watts has faced, according to an Oklahoma State Bureau of
Investigation background check.

A source said state agents knew Watts only by her ``street name'' of
Chocolate and did not realize they had arrested the sister of a congressman
until she told them. Watts was scheduled to appear Nov. 10 for a hearing in
Oklahoma County District Court but failed to show up, records state.

``We chased her all over the country,'' Davis said, adding that an
informant eventually turned her in to his firm.

Watts told authorities she was employed by PB's in Oklahoma City. The
western Oklahoma City establishment is a strip club.

On July 16, 1996, Watts was one of 11 employees arrested at the club,
records show.

Officers were investigating allegations that some of the dancers were
accepting food stamps in exchange for table dances.

"While inside the club, we observed several morals violations," the arrest
report said. "These violations were being committed by the dancers during
their table dances."

Three dancers were arrested for food stamp trafficking and engaging in an
act of lewdness. Officers confiscated $315 worth of food stamps.

Watts was among seven other dancers who were arrested for engaging in an
act of lewdness, according to the arrest report.

She was charged in Oklahoma City Municipal Court with public indecency,
according to the Court Clerk's Office. The maximum penalty is $753, 180
days in jail, or both.

At least twice, Watts failed to appear in municipal court on the nudity
charge and was subsequently charged with failure to appear, records state.
The failure to appear charge carries a maximum penalty of $753 and 180 days
in jail.

Once Watts resolves her state drug charges, she will be held to face the
municipal charges, officials said.

Copyright 1996, World Publishing Co.