Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 19, 1994 TAG: 9411210044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Five Radford University and Virginia Tech students have been charged with possessing marijuana after the regional drug task force confiscated about 18 pounds of marijuana and more than $13,000 in cash. At least one was still being sought by police.
The marijuana was found when officers searched the students' Radford and Blacksburg residences Wednesday evening, police said. An AK-47 rifle and a 9mm handgun also were confiscated from the Radford apartment.
"This is a major operation with the New River Valley," Blacksburg Police Chief Bill Brown said Friday as spokesman for the task force. "We've never seen anything of this magnitude in our tenure."
Police said the marijuana had an estimated street value of $40,000, based on a price of $1,700 a pound or $150 to $200 an ounce. Brown said the weapons, cash and most of the marijuana were seized at the Radford apartment.The proximity of the drugs and particularly the weapons to the campus and to city residents was not lost on Jonny Butler, deputy chief of the Radford Police Department.
"Now you see why residents are so scared of these kids, and they have good reason to be," Butler said.
It's not uncommon to find weapons when uncovering a large drug operation, Brown said. Often, he said, the weapons are viewed as protection from other criminal elements.
The task force believes that as a result of its investigation, it has identified and stopped a conspiracy among the students to "distribute substantial amounts of marijuana in the New River Valley."
The marijuana found in Radford was packaged in 11/2-pound bundles. In Blacksburg, 1 pound of marijuana was broken down into packages of quarter-ounce and 1-ounce bags, Brown said.
The three Radford University suspects are from Burke and lived together in an apartment in the 700 block of Downey Street. They are:
Timothy Richard Irwin, 21, a marketing major, charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a public school. The charges are felonies, each carrying a possible penalty of five to 40 years in prison.
Police had not found Irwin as of Friday afternoon.
Adam C. McCaa, 21, a psychology major, charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
Chad Thomas Moore, 22, enrolled in pre-major studies, charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
The two Tech suspects lived together in the 200 block of Giles Road in Blacksburg. They are:
Steven Allyn Ackerman, 21, a philosophy major from Burke, charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, a felony.
Brandon Matthew McCulloch, 20, a liberal arts and sciences major from Vienna, charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
"I'm not a drug dealer and I was just coincidentally found with a small amount of marijuana," McCulloch said Friday evening. He declined to comment further.
Brown would not comment on the details of the alleged conspiracy to distribute.
"When it's three people in one place, it's pretty difficult to identify the main player," Brown said.
"We don't know whether $13,000 was the result of some of the sales" or for future drug purchases, he said. "There are many angles that can be played on what's been seized. ... I imagine that we will be working with other law enforcement organizations."
According to a search warrant affidavit filed in Radford Circuit Court, an informant told task force members on Wednesday that marijuana had been sold within the previous 48 hours at the Radford apartment.
"This source also advised that they had purchased marijuana numerous times ... at the same residence in past," Detective Sgt. Donnie Goodman wrote in the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, the tipster is "an admitted user and dealer of marijuana ..."
"What really substantiated this case was a good tip," Brown said at Friday's news conference.
After executing the search warrant early Thursday, police recovered the marijuana, $13,198 in cash, the weapons and several other items of evidence from the apartment.
The task force is represented by the Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Virginia Tech police departments, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and the Virginia State Police's Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The Radford Police Department assisted.
by CNB