Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Seven indictments filed in Roanoke Circuit Court charge that the store also does business in a variety of drugs - cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana.
Benjamin E. Willett, owner and operator of Benovie Graphics, is charged with selling the drugs to a police informant who came to his store four times between March and September last year.
An employee of the business, 34-year-old William E. McCray, also is charged with two counts of distributing methamphetamine.
The charges come at a time when Wasena residents are complaining about increased drug dealing and related disturbances in what generally is known as a peaceful, middle-class neighborhood.
About 25 people appeared at a City Council meeting this week, asking for help in combating a drug trade fueled by what they described as three crack houses in the area.
Willett, 32, was in court Thursday for a brief hearing that offered a preview of the evidence against him.
In asking that an April 11 trial be postponed, defense attorney William Maxwell told Judge Robert P. Doherty that he needs more time to examine video and audio tapes on which police say drug deals were recorded during a six-month investigation.
Some of the tapes are of "extremely poor quality," Maxwell said, and have been sent to an FBI lab in an effort to enhance their clarity. "There is no indication of when those tapes will be made available" to the defense under discovery rules, Maxwell said in asking for a continuance.
Regional Drug Prosecutor Dennis Nagel objected to a delay, saying he believes the tapes are sufficiently audible. "We are ready to go forward to a jury," Nagel said.
But Doherty decided to postpone the trial to June 13. Willett, who faces up to four life terms in prison, is free on bond, and his business remains open.
Nagel declined to elaborate on Willett's case outside the courtroom. But in general, he said, it is rare for police to find drug dealing in an established commercial business.
"This is one of the most difficult types of drug dealing to interdict, because the dealers are selling to people they have known for years, and they are doing it in the back rooms of their own businesses," Nagel said. "They take more precautions than you see in a typical drug deal."
Also, the usual telltale signs of drug dealing on the street - frequent comings and goings of customers, the use of pagers and large amounts of cash - are easily intermingled with legitimate business practices.
Benovie Graphics is in the 1100 block of Main Street, just south of the Wasena bridge, in a cluster of businesses that includes a convenience store, a hair salon, a thrift store and a baseball card shop.
The last time Roanoke police charged someone with selling drugs out of his business was in 1992, when the owner of a garage and body shop on 11th Street Northwest was arrested. A jury sentenced Robert J. Ferrell to 20 years in prison for distributing cocaine.
In recent months, city police have been busy in the Wasena area. In addition to investigating Willett's business, vice detectives recently brought charges against two men accused of running a major crack house on Kerns Avenue.
Willett declined to comment Thursday, referring questions to his attorney. Maxwell also declined to comment.
Joe Nash, president of the Wasena Neighborhood Crimewatch, said there were no outward signs of problems at Benovie Graphics, unlike the often-boisterous activities that surround crack houses.
Still, Nash said his group plans to monitor the Benovie case in court. "We're pretty sad about it, because we had hoped it was a thriving business that would draw some people to the area. But not that type of people."
by CNB