Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502150068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There were tales of drugs, hidden microphones and informants at Tuesday's preliminary hearing for Robert W. Bess and Marty R. Stacy. Drug conspiracy charges against Bess and Stacy were certified to a May grand jury.
Eric Reich, 18, testified that he was the co-conspirator.
Reich, then a second-year student at Roanoke College, was arrested Nov. 19 for possession of marijuana, Prozac and Valium with intent to distribute. After receiving a tip, Salem police found Reich in a Crawford Hall dorm room with a "stack of plastic bags with marijuana in plain view," said Salem Detective Mike Green.
Reich pleaded guilty Tuesday to the misdemeanor charges of Prozac and Valium distribution, and the felony charge of marijuana distribution was certified without a preliminary hearing.
Although Green testified that Reich was promised nothing for his cooperation, Reich said he was hoping for leniency for his role in the investigation.
"It's easier just to come clean and tell the truth," he said.
Weeks after Reich's arrest, he agreed to cooperate with police in setting up a sting operation, he said.
They wanted Reich's supplier. He named Bess and Stacy, and agreed to wear a body microphone the night of Dec. 1 to prove that they were the primary suppliers for his three-month stint as the marijuana dealer on Roanoke College's campus that "everyone knew about."
During those three months, Reich testified, he bought directly from Bess several times and Stacy twice.
Reich's cooperation yielded an hour and a half of secretly taped conversations between Bess and Reich in which they discussed their involvement in a three-man drug ring, said Commonwealth's Attorney Fred King.
Bess and Stacy, who is suspected of growing the marijuana, were arrested the next day.
Police found 30 Valium tablets and several empty prescription bottles in Bess' Chalmers Hall office.
Bess, who advised freshmen and some sophomores and taught a writing course, no longer works for the college, said Teresa Thomas, director of public relations.
Immediately after he was charged, Bess was suspended from his duties, and his cases were reassigned, Thomas said. However, she would not say if Bess, a college employee for more than five years, had been fired.
by CNB