EX-PERRY DEPUTY ENTERS GUILTY PLEA

Nine of the 10 charges against a former Perry County sheriff's deputy were dropped Monday after he pleaded guilty to the remaining charge.

Daniel R. Bowman, 39, of 605 Parkview in Perryville, was arrested in August and charged with four counts of possession of Xanax, a controlled substance; four counts of misdemeanor stealing from the Perry County Sheriff's Department, and two counts of feloniously stealing weapons from the sheriff's department.

Bowman pleaded guilty to one count of possession of Xanax, a depressant related to Valium, and the other charges were dropped.

The state is recommending a five-year suspended sentence, probation and 60-days shock detention for Bowman.

Bowman, who has been incarcerated in the Cape Girardeau Jail since Sept. 25, waived his right to a pre-sentence investigation and asked Cape Girardeau Circuit Judge William Syler to sentence him immediately.

Syler refused the request, ordered an investigation done into Bowman's background and set sentencing for Nov. 3.

Bowman was a Perry County 911 director and chief deputy sheriff in Bollinger County. He resigned from the sheriff's department in April as a result of Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf's investigation of the theft of drugs from the prisoner drug locker in the Perry County Jail. Jailers keep inmates' prescription drugs in the drug locker.

Schaaf said he set up a hidden camera to monitor the locker and caught Bowman in the act four times from April 19 to April 22.

Bowman was charged with four counts of possession of Xanax. The charges ranged from five tablets, three tablets and two charges of one tablet each. Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said it is a felony to possess even one tablet of the controlled substance but in all he had Bowman charged with possessing 10 tablets of Xanax.

He said Bowman was not going to see more time in prison for possessing all 10 tablets instead of the five tablets he was charged on in count one. Swingle said the misdemeanor stealing charges amounted to a small amount of money, possibly $5 worth of pills.

Swingle said the two counts of stealing weapons, a Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun and a Ithaca 12-gauge shotgun, were weaker cases.

"He was caught on videotape stealing the drugs; there was no question about that case," Swingle said. "But he's always denied stealing the guns and has said he borrowed them from the sheriff's department."

Swingle said Bowman wore one of the weapons to work and didn't seem to hide them.

Bowman was released on bond after his arrest. Swingle said his bond was revoked and Bowman was put back into custody after he began to exhibit some "mental instability" from the "overwhelming stress."

"He appears to have calmed down," Swingle said. "It was for his own protection as well as the protection of the public."

Swingle will ask Syler for conditions to Bowman's probation including counseling for mental and substance abuse problems.