Judge Mattice Said Former Sheriff "Betrayed The Trust Of The People Of This County Spectacularly"
posted November 19, 2008
Former Sheriff Billy Long, on Wednesday afternoon, was sentenced to serve 14 years in federal prison.
Federal Judge Sandy Mattice said Long "betrayed the trust of the people of this county spectacularly" and committed "some of the most egregious venal behavior that I have observed" during his brief term in office.
The judge added, "No sheriff has been involved in anything like this in the state as far as I am aware of."
Long spoke briefly at the end of an all-day hearing, saying, "I take full responsibility for my actions."
He said, "I hurt a lot of people - especially my wife and kids and all my friends and family."
He told the judge, "I never intended for this to happen. I just got caught up in all of this. I don't really have an answer why."
Long said, "I just ask forgiveness and ask mercy. I've asked God to forgive me and I've asked my family to forgive me."
Defense attorney Jerry Summers said Long was "in over his head" after he won a surprise victory over incumbent John Cupp in 2006. He said he quickly fell under the sway of the Rev. Eugene Overstreet - "a charlatan preacher and undertaker."
He said Long, who is 55, "will be an old man when he gets out of jail."
Attorney Summers said he likely will be sent to a federal prison over 500 miles away that has a special wing for former law enforcement officers.
Prosecutor Gary Humble said Long had been involved in the DARE drug program during his 31 years with the county sheriff's office, and he said members of law enforcement "were just shocked" that he got involved in a drug trafficking operation.
He said the fact that Long actually helped Overstreet load some kilos of cocaine for shipment "is just stunning" and "almost unimaginable."
The prosecutor said the criminal acts did not come at a down time for Long, but "he was on top of the world. This was good times for him."
He said Long, a short time before "took an oath to uphold the law, went to sheriff school and got ethics training."
Judge Mattice said he received 37 letters in the defendant's support, including one from Long. He said, "I have sympathy for his family and friends." He said Long betrayed them, and "regardless of what sentence I give him, he will have to live with that for the rest of his life."
Prosecutor Humble questioned Long's "acceptance of responsibility," which the judge gave him credit for. He said Long "continually tried to put it off on Overstreet." He said Long was active in the crime, including raising the amount sought from Indian store owners to $100,000 and seeking to raise the percent paid by the drug dealers from 4 to 10 percent.
A psychological examiner said Long got away from his core group of friends and began following the dictates of Overstreet, who was working closely with the FBI. He said Long did not tell anyone what he was doing, including his wife and chief deputy.
He said his involvement with Overstreet "kept getting worse and worse and worse. He made bad judgments and then even worse judgments."
Judge Mattice had ruled against Long on all counts as his sentencing hearing opened on Wednesday morning.
Long was facing 14 years to 17 years and six months after pleading guilty to bribery, extortion, money laundering and providing a gun to the government's cooperating witness, Rev. Overstreet.
However, the judge had the authority to lower the sentence based on certain factors.
Judge Mattice ruled with the government on all motions brought up by defense attorney Summers in the early going.
The judge said the fact that Long provided two guns to Overstreet "prevent giving the safety valve" that attorney Summers hoped would lower the sentence below 10 years.
Judge Mattice said the sentence would be based on the amount of drugs Long thought was being bought from a Mexican drug dealer. Actually, the FBI made up the scenario about the large-scale drug trafficking.
Prosecutor Humble pointed out that the FBI was not involved in the early going when Long was "shaking down" Indian convenience store owners who owed him campaign money.
Judge Mattice also said there may be moral debate over the validity of such government "reverse stings," but he said "there is no legal debate on its validity."
Attorney Summers, in prior motions, had hammered away at what he called the unsavory background of Overstreet.
The judge said that despite the validity of the method used, he had "no sympathy" for Overstreet. Noting that attorney Summers said the government be considering giving Overstreet an award for his work, the judge said, "If they are going to give this cooperating witness a medal, they can keep their invitation for me to the ceremony."
Attorney Summers said the government staged the case so that Long would be facing 10 years or more in prison. FBI Wayne Jackson denied the charge, saying that was not a consideration.
He said that in order to make the scheme believable, the government started out with small amounts of cocaine and gradually went to larger deals.
Another FBI agent, Jim Melia, said Long received $47,000 in what he thought was drug money during the operation, including $24,000 he had on him when he was arrested Feb. 2. Attorney Summers said Long has paid back $1,500 of the $23,000 he actually got.
Prosecutor Humble said the government will ask that Long repay $21,500.
Attorney Summers said Long is not a wealthy man. He said, "About the only luxury he had was his motorcycle, and it has been sold."
Agent Jackson said that on one occasion, Long came riding up on a motorcycle with his wife on the back when he was picking up drug money from Overstreet.
He said Mrs. Long was with him another time, and she stayed in the vestibule of Overstreet's Family Mortuary while the sheriff picked up stacks of cash.
The agent said the FBI tried to find out if anybody else was involved. He said the conclusion was it was "nobody but him."
Agent Melia said he was working with Overstreet on another probe and was in his office when a call came in from Sheriff Long. He said Overstreet kept his phone on a loud sound, and he could clearly hear what was said.
He said the discussion was about getting the Indian store owners to pay up.
The agent said afterwards he told his boss as well as prosecutor Humble about the call, and the probe of Long was begun.
The former sheriff was brought into court in a red jail uniform, and he was wearing handcuffs and leg irons.
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