Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 25, 1994 TAG: 9410250082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Manuel Rodriguez, 34, admitted in U.S. District Court in Roanoke that he was one of two suppliers for a drug operation run out of Franklin County by Ricky Allan Smith and Calvin Eugene Smith.
The Smith brothers, along with about 20 other defendants, have already been convicted for their roles in the drug ring.
Rodriguez, however, had been on the run since December 1992, when he failed to show up for his drug trial scheduled in Roanoke. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Bondurant said Rodriguez was caught this summer in Tampa, Fla.
Rodriguez's girlfriend, Madaline Duran, pleaded guilty Monday to helping Rodriguez arrange drug deals. She, too, was a fugitive until federal agents recaptured her in July.
Bondurant said that shortly after Ricky Smith was released from a Florida prison in 1984, he contacted Rodriguez and another drug supplier in the Miami area.
Then, aided by a $20,000 loan that Calvin Smith took out against his Franklin County farm, the brothers started buying cocaine that was resold by distributors in Franklin, Pittsylvania and Campbell counties.
The Smith family has a history of moonshining and drug running in Franklin County.
Three other Smith brothers - George Clinton "Blinky" Smith, Terry Ivan "Baby" Smith and Gerald Randolph Smith - were convicted in 1985 of running the "Sugar Shack" cocaine ring out of a country store in the Doe Run section of the county.
Ricky Smith was sentenced to six years in prison and Calvin Smith was sentenced to 30 years for their roles in the drug scheme.
Rodriguez faces from 10 years to life in prison for supplying roughly 300 pounds of cocaine to the ring. Abad Valdes, the other main drug supplier from Florida, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
by CNB