ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 2, 1996 TAG: 9610020055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Above
SWEPT UP along with 10 co-defendants in the Sandy Level raids last spring, Darius Perkins faced a precarious legal situation.
While awaiting trial, Darius Perkins watched each of his 10 co-defendants - including his stepfather - plead guilty and agree to testify against him.
As his federal trial was set to begin Monday in Danville, the 23-year-old leader of a crack cocaine ring in a small Henry County community accepted a plea himself.
He faced a mandatory life sentence plus 85 years if found guilty by a jury. So he agreed to a lengthy prison term that at least offers him the chance of freedom someday.
With overwhelming evidence against him, at least two prior convictions and strict federal sentencing guidelines for dealing crack, a 35-year sentence was the best Perkins could negotiate, his attorney said.
"I never thought I'd hear myself say those words," Terry Grimes of Roanoke said. But, "I guess it beats a mandatory life sentence plus 85 years."
Perkins' trailer in the Sandy Level community - known as ``Log Town'' to locals - served as the base for a crack-dealing ring that the government believes was bringing up to 2 kilograms (about 4 1/2 pounds) of crack a week into Henry County. The group also was heavily armed.
During a raid on the trailer and two other locations in May, law enforcement officers confiscated 20 guns - including an AK-47 assault-style weapon and semiautomatic handguns - as well as crack, marijuana and about $20,000 in cash. The 11 defendants were charged with crack distribution, conspiracy and gun violations.
The case received more attention than usual after U.S. News & World Report highlighted the small community on the North Carolina border as an example of a rural area overwhelmed by drug violence.
Politicians seized on the Sandy Level story as a reason to demand more money for law enforcement, while local and federal drug agents hoped the attention wouldn't jeopardize an undercover operation that had been going on since January.
The Henry County Sheriff's Office sought help from federal agents when investigators realized how big the group was.
"Sandy Level still has problems, but probably less than other parts of the county," Sheriff Frank Cassell said Tuesday. "This certainly made a dent, a huge dent."
He said the investigation did not catch all the big crack dealers in Sandy Level, but did get the most violent ones. He expects the stiff federal sentences to have an effect on other young people who have stepped in to take the convicted dealers' place.
"I think they'll shock some people into reality," Cassell said.
Steve Dickerson, a 21-year-old who police believe was second in command, faces a sentence of between 20 and 30 years. The other defendants, who range in age from 16 to 50, face lesser sentences. The one juvenile in the case could be kept in federal custody until he reaches 21, Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Wolthuis said.
Although the 11 defendants will not be sentenced until later this year, judges usually abide by the sentences negotiated in plea agreements.
No charges have been filed against the dealers' New York suppliers or against the killer of a North Carolina crack customer in Sandy Level, but investigations continue. Cassell said he doesn't think any of the 11 defendants is the killer, but that they have information they may be willing to share in exchange for lighter sentences.
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