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Mosley High School's principal used School stationary to point out the good work done by Hubert "Buck" Hutchinson, a 59-year- old who dealt prescription pills from his Cedar Grove oyster bar. Hutchinson pleaded no contest Wednesday to several felony charges of possessing and selling prescription drugs -- primarily Lortab, a powerful painkiller. In a letter written Jan. 18, Principal Bill Husfelt pointed out that Hutchinson had coordinated a fish fry for the family of Emily Tuthill, a Mosley senior who died in a car accident during the first day of School. "Not only did he totally organize and run this event for the family, he donated a substantial sum of money as well," Husfelt wrote. "Without any doubt, I know that he did this from his heart and with an attitude of caring and compassion. While this is only a single incident, I feel that it is reflective of Mr. Hutchinson and a side of him that should not be overlooked." Bay District policy requires that student drug dealers be turned over to the authorities and expelled under a zero- tolerance system. Drug and alcohol users are sometimes not expelled and put into treatment. Husfelt said Friday that he wrote the letter after getting a request from Hutchinson's attorney. He added that he often writes letters on behalf of people in trouble and likened it to testifying in court. "I'm not judging him," Husfelt said. Husfelt said that he had no knowledge of Hutchinson's side business as a drug dealer at B & S Seafood. "I wouldn't have let a fish fry happen down there if we thought any kind of drug dealing was going on down there," Husfelt said. Former Bay County Sheriff LaVelle Pitts and W. E. Miller, a retired colonel with the Bay County Sheriff's Office, also wrote letters on behalf of Hutchinson. Their letters begged for leniency in sentencing. Pitts said Hutchinson would not last long in prison. "I believe this man is worth saving, not just for himself but for a family that needs him," Pitts wrote. Hutchinson was sentenced to two years of community control and 13 years of probation, sparking a brief squabble this week between Sheriff Frank McKeithen and State Attorney Steve Meadows. McKeithen was distressed by the plea deal, complaining that his department was "totally left out of the loop." Meadows snapped back, calling McKeithen's diatribe to the local media a reaction to "a great deal of stress and intense public and media scrutiny due to other issues facing his office." Although those issues were not explained, the Bay County Sheriff's Office has been dogged for three months by questions regarding the death of a 14- year-old at its boot camp. However, neither the Sheriff's Office nor Bay District Superintendent James McCalister took issue with Husfelt's letter. "I don't see anything, in my opinion, wrong with it," McCalister said. "I think he had a right to write it." When a Bay District student commits an act that could get them expelled they are granted a hearing in front of the School Board. The board receives evidence, listens to testimony and then votes on a punishment. Husfelt said that he often points out good things about students while in those hearings. "I just give the facts out," Husfelt said. "Then we answer questions about the incident." Husfelt added that it would not make sense for him to write a letter on personal letterhead when the fish fry involved him in his professional capacity as principal. "Everybody should tell the truth about everything they know," Husfelt said. "All I did was tell the truth about what Mr. Hutchinson did (for Mosley High School)".