Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 6, 1990                   TAG: 9003062286
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

2ND FORMER TECH STAR PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG CHARGES

Michael John Giacolone, 30, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Roanoke to seven counts of possessing and intending to distribute 154 pounds of marijuana between 1987 and 1989.

Giacolone's plea comes one day after his partner, Jamel Agemy, 24, pleaded guilty to six counts of possessing and intending to distribute the same amount of marijuana as Giacolone. Both men disputed the government's estimates of the amount of marijuana involved.

Giacolone, a former split-end standout for the Tech football team, and Agemy, a former star linebacker, were two of 23 people indicted last November in a drug ring distinguished by its characteristic of allotting large amounts of marijuana in football-shaped packages. The indictment stemmed from an ongoing investigation of drug dealing in Montgomery County.

Giacolone also was charged in a second indictment with possessing and intending to distribute four ounces of high-grade cocaine in 1988. He also pleaded guilty today to those charges.

Giacolone, now the owner of a Blacksburg tanning salon, and Agemy were accused of being the main suppliers to a loosely organized group of street-level drug dealers.

Gerald Fayed, a special agent with the FBI, testified today that Giacolone and Agemy headed a three-tier system in which they would supply marijuana to James A. Regan Jr., a middleman who supplied drugs to 20 or so individuals. Regan turned himself in to state and federal authorities last April and agreed to cooperate with them by wearing a wire during a meeting with Giacolone, Fayed said.

For the last two months, guilty pleas of all 23 people who were indicted have been trickling in, the last of which was Giacolone's. Those involved represent a broad cross-section of Montgomery County residents - from college students to construction workers. They were involved in a scheme that ran from November 1987 - one year after Agemy's last season with the Hokies - to June 1989. Giacolone's last year on the team was 1982.

Giacolone faces a maximum sentence of 130 years' imprisonment and a $7 million fine. Agemy faces a maximum sentence of 120 years' imprisonment and a $6 million fine.