Pubdate: Thu, 11 Nov 2004
Source: Virginian-Pilot (VA)
Copyright: 2004, The Virginian-Pilot
Contact:  http://www.pilotonline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/483
Author: Darren Freeman, The Virginian-Pilot

EX-OFFICER WITH E. CITY GETS 5 YEARS IN DRUG CASE

ELIZABETH CITY - A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former
Elizabeth City police officer to five years in prison for selling
cocaine and Ecstasy while he attended college in Wilmington.

Jae Mond Marcel Whidbee, 23, had served on the force only five weeks
when he was arrested Jan. 28 in Elizabeth City as part of a large
federal investigation.

Whidbee, while studying criminal justice at the University of North
Carolina at Wilmington, had sold at least an ounce of cocaine in three
separate deals set up by authorities, DEA Special Agent Phillip
Kearney said during the sentencing.

Whidbee's arrest was part of a DEA investigation of a drug ring that
sold at least 150 kilograms, or 330 pounds, of cocaine and 60,000
Ecstasy pills over about three years in Wilmington, Greensboro,
Morehead City and Myrtle Beach, Kearney said after the sentencing. The
group also laundered $1.5 million, Kearney said.

More than 20 people have been arrested and seven have been
convicted.

The investigation is ongoing and more arrests could follow, Kearney
said.

Whidbee started as a police officer on Dec. 22, four days after his
indictment, which had been sealed.

The investigation into Whidbee and his indictment were not available
to the Elizabeth City Police Department and could not have been
discovered during a background check, according to a statement Chief
William J. Anderson released after Whidbee's arrest.

Whidbee was fired the day he was arrested; he pleaded guilty to a drug
trafficking charge March 30.

During his sentencing, Whidbee apologized , saying he wanted to obey
the law and help people in the future.

"The action does not make the person," Whidbee said.

Whidbee's friends and family nearly filled three benches in the
courtroom Wednesday.

"I would like to take special notice of the indications of his
character," Whidbee's court-appointed attorney, Charles Robinson, said.

Robinson said Whidbee graduated from Northeastern High School as an
all-conference football player, was the son of a pastor and was a good
employee in previous jobs.

He asked U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle to impose a lenient
sentence, which could have ranged from 4 3/4 years to seven years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Ontjes asked for a moderate sentence .
Though Whidbee did not sell drugs as a police officer, he violated the
public's trust by joining the force after committing crimes in
Wilmington, Ontjes said.

Boyle said he appreciated Whidbee's apology and the support his family
had offered by attending the sentencing.

But Boyle added that Whidbee could have been compromised if somebody
recognized him as a former drug dealer turned police officer. Whidbee
could have been blackmailed, coerced or drawn back into drug
trafficking, Boyle said.

"How much worse would it have been if he stayed a police officer and
became a dirty cop?" Boyle asked.

The five-year sentence "is certainly not a reward or encouragement for
his behavior, but it is not over-punishing him, in light of his
interest in changing his life," Boyle said.

Whidbee started selling drugs after he befriended the leader of the
Wilmington-based drug dealers who had been under investigation,
Robinson said.

Boyle on Wednesday also sentenced the drug ring's leader, Chad Eric
Hollamon, 27, to 40 years in prison for drug trafficking and
money-laundering convictions. Hollamon pleaded guilty on March 29.
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