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

DATE: SATURDAY, February 2, 1991                   TAG: 9102020184
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

COCAINE RINGLEADER SENTENCED TO 6 YEARS

A Roanoke man, characterized as the organizer and leader of a cocaine ring, was sentenced Friday to six years in federal prison.

James Arthur "Ben" Muse, was convicted last year in U.S. District Court in Roanoke of federal drug conspiracy charges.

The charges stemmed from his arrest during a cocaine raid in July on his home in the 4300 block of Bristol Road in Southwest Roanoke.

Roanoke vice officers seized five ounces of powdered cocaine, $16,000 in cash and $30,000 worth of stolen goods - boxed and neatly stacked in a basement.

Muse; his brother, Paul D. Muse; Robin Webb; and James A. Claytor, all of Roanoke, were subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury.

A jury convicted the Muse brothers and Webb but found Claytor innocent.

U.S. District Judge James Turk sentenced Paul Muse to two years and 10 months in prison. He sentenced Webb, described as the "little fish" in the organization, to six months of house arrest.

by CNB