Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 6, 1995 TAG: 9507060083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Roanoke and Roanoke County police, state police, and Franklin and Botetourt County sheriff's offices - along with out-of-state authorities - were planning to arrest seven people Wednesday.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court, real estate broker Victor R. Layman II is believed to be the head of the operation, which used sophisticated horticultural techniques to raise high-quality pot in the basements of "grow houses" around the region.
A federal grand jury returned a sealed 12-count indictment June 23 charging Layman with being part of a continuing criminal enterprise, structuring his income to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service and cultivating marijuana.
It also names nine other people, including his wife, Dayna Layman, who was arrested Wednesday evening along with her husband, according to Al Henley, head of the Roanoke office of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. The indictment will remain sealed until the suspects are arraigned this morning.
Layman was arrested in December by Roanoke County police on drug conspiracy charges, but federal authorities became involved because of the scope of the reported operation. He was released on $50,000 bond after his December arrest and has denied any involvement in a drug ring.
In January, federal agents seized $50,592 from a bank account belonging to Layman under a law that allows the government to take money believed to have been earned through criminal activity.
by CNB