In an undercover sting on 8 February 2000, a Chatham County narcotics team of FBI agents and county officers seized 4,840 pounds (about 2,195 kilograms) of marijuana from a barn three miles southwest of Siler City.[1] Deputies stored the bundles in a 2.5-ton Army surplus truck, the only place big enough to hold the evidence, according to Sheriff Ike Gray.[1]
On 28 September 2000, more than seven months later, deputies noticed that three-fifths of the marijuana had been stolen through a mesh window of the truck.[1] Later that day they buried the remaining marijuana at the old county landfill, and weeks later officials noticed the buried marijuana had been stolen as well.[1] The FBI had been investigating the thefts since December 2000 and was offering a 40,000-dollar reward for information leading to the culprits’ arrest.[1]
Former deputy Dan Phillips later sued, saying Sheriff Gray fired him in January 2001 because he took an informant to the FBI about the missing marijuana and tried to draw attention to racism at a county high school.[2] Gray said he cooperated with the FBI investigation and volunteered to take a lie-detector test while agents interviewed his deputies.[1]
