Sheriff who investigated Phelps gets 'pot shots'

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina sheriff who investigated Michael Phelps after he was photographed smoking from a marijuana pipe says he's ready for "pot shots" from pundits and the media.

With that, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott donned a bulletproof vest, several medals and a blond wig on Monday in a Rotary Club speech that combined good humor with a sober warning about illegal drugs.

Lott had been widely criticized for pursuing a criminal case against the Olympic swimmer with 14 gold medals after a British tabloid published a picture of him smoking from a marijuana pipe at a party in Columbia last November.

Last week, the sheriff announced there was not enough evidence to charge Phelps, who acknowledged using "bad judgment" but never said he smoked marijuana.

"It doesn't matter if it's Michael Phelps or who it is. If you break the law, you've got to be held to the same standard," Lott said Monday. "That's what the law's all about."

In a video posted on The Columbia State newspaper's Web site, Lott responded point-by-point to much of the criticism he heard. The wig was a dig at an article inaccurately calling him blond.

Fifteen minutes of fame? He said he turned down interview requests from Jay Leno, Geraldo Rivera, Diane Sawyer and Larry King.

"If I wanted 15 minutes of fame, I could have got about 35 hours if I wanted to," he said. But, he decided, "This wasn't about publicity. This wasn't about me. It was about what was doing right."

The eight arrests made in the investigation?

"We arrested eight people who were stupid enough to have drugs on them at the present time when we went to go talk to them," Lott said; none were in the Phelps photo.

That marijuana is harmless?

"I have seen how it has brought destruction on individuals and in families and as a community," he said. "You know what? Maybe that's why it's illegal."

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Information from: The State,







Children play on top of rocky desert cliffs at sunset. AP Photo/Hasan Jamali