Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 19, 1995                   TAG: 9509190069
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: New York Times
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

RICHMOND COUNCILMAN RESIGNS SEAT

The councilman, Henry W. (Chuck) Richardson, was a hero to many despite almost annual brushes with the law. He lent money to constituents and elicited contributions from developers who nonetheless saw him as a disgrace.

``The last dinosaur is gone,'' said Mayor Leonidas B. Young, a Baptist minister.

But Richardson's power was still apparent at City Hall, where many wondered who would get his support to succeed him. Some constituents said they viewed the videotaping and subsequent charges as revenge by the establishment.

``He was our Robin Hood,'' said Karen A. Williams, 30, a single mother of three who receives public assistance. ``It must be a setup. They don't want a good man to help us.''

But James B. Hughes, 29, a chef who said he had voted for Richardson at least three times, said: ``He stepped into the trap. He messed up for himself and for the whole black race.''

Toby Vick, the chief prosecutor in suburban Henrico County, said Richardson was charged Sunday night with possession of heroin, distribution of heroin and conspiracy. Vick said the councilman had been under investigation for several months and was arrested after a transaction that was videotaped at 10:30 p.m. Sunday at a private home in the county. The authorities said he sold drugs to an undercover informer.

Young said Richardson, who was released on bond, would enter drug treatment immediately. Richardson's lawyer, James E. Sheffield, said he had no comment on the charges.

Richardson, 47, was the city's longest-serving councilman. He took office in 1977, when he was part of an election mandated by the Justice Department that gave Richmond its first black mayor and first council with a black majority.

He called himself a public relations consultant and real estate agent, but has recently had no known clients or sales. The FBI once looked into how he could support his admitted drug habit without a full-time job, but reached no conclusion. The job on the council was part time and paid $15,000 a year.

In 1988, Richardson was convicted of possession of dangerous drugs after being arrested with cocaine and heroin. He said at the time that he had an addiction that dated back to his service with the Marines in the Vietnam War, but that to give up his seat ``would mean giving up on hope for others'' with drug problems.

At different times, Richardson was convicted of assaulting a police officer, speeding and causing an accident in a city car. He was acquitted of drunken driving and trespassing at a school after dark. In 1990, his wages as a councilman were attached after he failed to pay a hospital for drug treatment.

When some constituents sought a recall of Richardson in 1994, he compared it to a lynching, saying, ``They're trying to put a rope on me.''

After drug treatment in 1988, Richardson called a news conference to show off 200 letters of support and said, ``For me to use drugs again, I might as well put a gun to my head and pull the trigger.''