EX-SEMO BASKETBALLER SENTENCED

Former Southeast basketball player Lakeo Y. Keller was sentenced to six years in prison Monday for dealing in marijuana and cocaine.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor Morley Swingle called it one of his most significant drug cases, based on the amount of narcotics Keller said he could sell.

"Keller told the undercover officer on tape that he would distribute eight pounds of marijuana within 24 hours and would want to buy additional pounds in the near future," Swingle said.

In the same conversation, Keller had asked the undercover officer how much it would cost if he bought 20 pounds of marijuana at a time, since his regular supplier in Louisiana was in jail.

Keller, a point guard who saw limited action at Southeast Missouri State University, had pleaded guilty to delivery of a controlled substance and conspiracy, both felonies.

In court on Monday, defense attorney Paul D'Agrosa of St. Louis asked Judge John Grimm to follow the recommendations of a pre-sentence investigation by the Missouri Department of Probation and Parole. It suggested Keller, having only one prior conviction for credit card fraud, be put on a restrictive probation.

"He is an individual who can step up, accept responsibility and do what's right," D'Agrosa told the court.

In addition to the pre-sentence investigation, D'Agrosa pointed out letters of support written in Keller's behalf by his family and the Rev. Jeffrey Sippy of Hanover Lutheran Church.

Keller had stayed at the pastor's home, and acted as a baby sitter for Sippy's three children.

Keller worked well with children, D'Agrosa said, and if put on probation, would be able to complete his education. He was a communications major at SEMO.

Keller had transferred to SEMO from Southern Idaho Junior College in 1996. He averaged fewer than seven points a game with the Indians, although he was named Mr. Basketball in Louisiana in 1993 as a high school player.

"It's always hard when sentencing someone with great potential who blows it by doing something incredibly stupid," Grimm said.

Transcripts from recorded conversations show Keller had talked with undercover narcotics investigators several times before a meeting was arranged on Aug. 2 at the Rhodes convenience store at 1036 N. Sprigg St.

After meeting the undercover investigator, Keller became suspicious police were watching, said a transcript in court records. Keller moved the meeting across the street to Show-Me Laundry. He had the undercover investigator raise up his shirt to check for wires leading to audio recording devices.

But Keller failed to notice the closed-circuit security cameras at the laundry.

Keller agreed to buy eight pounds of marijuana for $600 a pound. He paid for it with $3,000 in cash, 11.3 grams of cocaine, and an agreement to make up the difference of $200 on a future deal.

Keller told the undercover investigator it was the smallest amount of marijuana he had purchased, because he was used to larger shipments from Louisiana.

After trading the cash for marijuana, Keller had two other men take his purchase out in a cardboard box and drive off, while he and the undercover investigator went to his residence to complete the transaction.

At this point, investigative records show surveillance officers lost track of the marijuana, because they were not aware it had left in another car. This was partly because of Keller changing meeting places four times, investigators said.

All of the marijuana was later recovered.

Keller completed the deal by retrieving 11.3 grams of cocaine from his residence in the 400 block of North Street.

He told the undercover officer they could continue to trade in cocaine, because Keller could buy it in bulk for $1,700 a kilogram.

During the incident, Keller had also bragged of keeping a gun.

"We got a gun just in case the police try to grab us," Keller is reported as saying in the transcript. "We'd have to shoot the crap out of one of them."

D'Agrosa told Grimm Keller had not bought an unusual amount of narcotics. Besides, trading cocaine for marijuana was the investigator's idea, not Keller's.

Assistant Prosecutor Angel Woodruff told Grimm Keller was not a "corner peddler."

Grimm found Keller guilty on both felony charges, sentencing him to six years for delivery of a controlled substance and five years for conspiracy. The sentences will run consecutively.

Although it's uncertain, Keller might be able to seek probation in two years, D'Agrosa said.