Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 Source: Augusta Chronicle, The (GA) Copyright: 2001 The Augusta Chronicle Contact: http://www.augustachronicle.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/31 Note: Does not publishing letters from outside of the immediate Georgia and South Carolina circulation area Author: Kate Wiltrout (Morris News Service) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption) CHARGES TORMENT OFFICIALS Ex-Bacon County Commissioner Is The Latest To Be Indicted On Federal Drug Charges ALMA, Ga. - Marijuana has clouded the reputation of another south Georgia politician. Former Bacon County Commissioner Ronald "Butch" Smith was indicted by a Savannah grand jury last week on federal drug charges. Mr. Smith, 55, was almost halfway through a four-year term when he resigned his commission post last fall, saying he couldn't fulfill his duties. After two years of FBI and state investigations, Mr. Smith was arrested Jan. 12 at home in Mershon and indicted the same day. He's charged with conspiring to manufacture marijuana and conspiring to possess cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute it. If convicted, Mr. Smith could face 10 years to life in prison and up to $6 million in fines. Drug charges have ended the careers - and in one, the life - of a number of officials in nearby counties in recent years. In October, the sheriff of neighboring Coffee County, Carlton Evans, killed himself after police officers arrived to arrest him. He faced similar charges of participating in a scheme to grow and distribute marijuana. As with Mr. Smith, authorities found more than 1,000 marijuana plants being grown. Mr. Evans' former chief deputy and a captain in the department also were indicted last fall, along with a half-dozen other men. They are being tried together in federal court; the trial is scheduled to begin in February. After Mr. Evans' suicide, GBI Deputy Director Roy Harris said the agency would continue hunting marijuana growers in the region, about 100 miles southwest of Savannah. Some cases required more surveillance, he said, but they hoped for additional arrests. The U.S. attorney's office in Savannah, which is handling the Smith case, doesn't think the Coffee and Bacon county busts are directly related. But both counties are hard hit by drought. Mr. Harris said farmers' crops and profits have suffered, and some might turn to marijuana as a result. Danny Stanaland, the Bacon County extension agent, deals with struggling farmers daily. Traditionally, farmers grew cotton, corn, soybeans and tobacco. But state laws forced the county to cut its tobacco acreage in half since 1997, which has made matters worse. They have gotten some relief cultivating carrots and blueberries, he said. But neither crop compares to the $1,000 to $1,500 farmers could reap from a single acre of tobacco. Mr. Stanaland knew Mr. Smith as a county commissioner and as a part-time farmer. Mr. Smith didn't grow crops; he raised goats, hogs, guineas and chickens on his land, Mr. Stanaland said. He didn't know Mr. Smith was allegedly growing marijuana in Bacon and Appling counties. The indictment also accuses Mr. Smith of possessing 500 grams of cocaine and 100 kilograms of marijuana, and he faces a third count for using a Western Union wire to facilitate his illegal work. The three men named as conspirators in Mr. Smith's indictment have already been prosecuted in state or federal court. Mr. Smith's bail was set last week at $35,000. Dan Drake, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's Savannah office, said cases typically go to trial within three months. Neither the GBI nor the U.S. attorney would comment on Mr. Smith's case. Mr. Stanaland was philosophical about the bust. "As you go back in time, you always had a few people that did a little moonshining, or things they shouldn't have," he said. "I think for the most part, people here are trying to make an honest living." Other drug busts involving south Georgia officials: Nine men were charged with conspiracy to manufacture and possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 marijuana plants in October. Coffee County Sheriff Carlton Evans killed himself moments before he was to be arrested on federal drug charges. His brother, brother-in-law, and a former deputy and former captain, were indicted for growing more than 1,000 marijuana plants. Their trial is scheduled for February. The Coffee County deputy and former captain had previously been arrested for manufacturing marijuana in adjacent Irwin County, along with a sheriff's department lieutenant. In that October 1999 case, Irwin County deputies seized about 350 marijuana plants growing near the Irwin County-Coffee County line.