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

DATE: SATURDAY, April 23, 1994                   TAG: 9404240009
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MOONSHINER GUILTY IN MARIJUANA CASE

A jury in U.S. District Court in Roanoke found Paul Andrew Henson guilty of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, possession of marijuana and possession of an illegal firearm, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott said.

Henson was found innocent of using a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime, possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Federal authorities argued during the four-day trial that the drug ring Henson was involved with brought about $7 million worth of marijuana into Southwest Virginia from 1989 to 1993.

The other nine defendants in the case pleaded guilty to a variety of drug and firearms charges prior to Henson's trial.

Henson was convicted in November of operating an illegal distillery made of 36 800-gallon casks. The still, the largest found in the state, was about 100 yards from a house Henson rented at Smith Mountain Lake.

On Jan. 6, 1993, police officers who found the still raided Henson's home, where they found marijuana plants, traces of cocaine, numerous firearms and a large quantity of marijuana.