THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 30, 1996 TAG: 9607300256
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 65 lines
A former state undercover narcotics agent who consumed $1,500 worth of crack cocaine confiscated in drug raids pleaded guilty Monday to four counts of destroying evidence related to a criminal investigation.
James Lewis Wagoner Jr., 37, of Kill Devil Hills, was given a suspended sentence of 24 to 32 months. He was put on probation for five years and ordered to continue psychiatric and drug rehabilitation.
Superior Court Judge Jerry Tillett also ordered Wagoner to pay more than $14,000 in restitution, and perform 250 hours of community service work. The money will go to the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement and the three counties involved in the sting operation from which evidence was taken.
The drugs Wagoner consumed were 5 grams of crack - slightly more than one-half ounce. Officials said the cocaine had a street value of $1,500.
The sentence was part of a plea agreement worked out between the prosecution and defense.
Dressed in khaki trousers and a short-sleeve blue plaid shirt, Wagoner wept softly as Tillett imposed punishment under North Carolina's structured sentencing guidelines.
``We couldn't put him in jail under these guidelines,'' prosecutor Robert Trivette said after the sentencing. ``He has no prior record, and given that destroying evidence is a Class I felony, the lowest level of felony, we could not give him jail time.''
Wagoner resigned from his job as an agent with the ALE in September 1995. When he was unable to turn over crack that had been purchased in a three-county undercover drug sting, the ALE began an investigation.
The drugs would have been used as evidence in some 70 drug cases in Dare, Camden and Currituck Counties. Prosecutors and his defense attorney said Wagoner, a model officer prior to the charges, became a prisoner to the substance he was trying to eradicate.
``I worked with his dad as an agent 20 years ago,'' said ALE Deputy Director Randy Knight. ``His dad retired as an ALE supervisor. His family is super people. Lew is a good guy. He simply made a mistake.''
Wagoner suffers from bipolarism, an hereditary mental disorder that causes wild mood swings, defense attorney Keith Teague said. The disorder and stress at home and on the job forced his client over the edge, he said.
Wagoner's home burned on April 23, 1995. On April 24, he received drug evidence back from the state crime lab, where it had been sent for processing.
``When someone is engaged in that position of being an undercover agent, and being exposed to people who engage in the drug trade, there are stresses involved,'' Teague said. ``Those stresses and the medical condition led him in an abusive situation. The drug problem he tried to do away with as an officer just swallowed him up.''
Teague said doctors say Wagoner's bipolar condition was triggered after he inhaled smoke from the burned salt-treated lumber which was caused by the house fire.
Teague called Wagoner's case a tragedy.
``I think at this point, he's trying not to focus on what he has lost, but instead on what he has - a loving wife, a child that needs his father, and a lot of friends in and out of law enforcement that are being supportive of him,'' Teague said.
Wagoner, a law enforcement officer since 1979, worked for the Kill Devil Hills Police Department, the Dare County Sheriff's Department and the Allegheny County Sheriff's Department prior to joining ALE.
He was four credit hours away from receiving a degree from Elizabeth City State University, Teague said. Since his resignation and indictment, Wagoner has worked as a commercial fisherman.
KEYWORDS: DRUGS ILLEGAL GUILTY PLEA SENTENCING by CNB