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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 7, 1990                   TAG: 9003071723
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

EX-TECH PLAYER ADMITS DRUG COUNTS

A former Virginia Tech football player pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of heading a drug ring that provided marijuana to Montgomery County residents and Tech students.

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 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 Tuesday to those charges.

Giacolone faces a maximum sentence of 130 years in prison and a $7 million fine.

by CNB