ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
Two former owners of a Roanoke car wash have been arrested in Northern Virginia and charged with conspiracy to sell cocaine.
Police said Ronald L. Jones and Jackie McGeorge, brothers who owned the now-defunct Mac Brothers Complete Car Care on Melrose Avenue Northwest, bought 2 kilograms, or about 4 1/2 pounds, of cocaine from undercover agents. They are being held without bond.
The pair has been under investigation by federal drug agents in Roanoke for nearly two years, but a raid on their car wash last summer turned up no drugs. After the raid, they closed the car wash and moved away.
Their arrest in Prince William County last week was unrelated, law enforcement sources in Roanoke and Northern Virginia said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott of Roanoke said he couldn't say much about the case because it is a ``pending grand jury matter'' here.
Police said a Hampton woman with whom Jones was staying arranged the purchase of 2 kilograms of cocaine from a Northern Virginia resident. That person turned out to be an informant for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
Jones and McGeorge arrived at a restaurant in Quantico along with the Hampton woman, Doris Lynch, March 12 with $37,000 in cash to buy the cocaine, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Alexandria by DEA Task Force Officer Rick Munsey.
``Two kilograms of cocaine is far beyond the amount of cocaine normally possessed for personal use,'' the affidavit says. ``Rather, this amount of cocaine is consistent with distribution to other sellers and users.''
After the transaction, McGeorge, Jones and Lynch were arrested as they tried to drive out of the parking lot. McGeorge had a loaded semiautomatic handgun in his waistband, and Jones had a loaded revolver in his car, Munsey's affidavit says.
A federal judge in Alexandria denied them bond on Friday and ordered them held pending action by a grand jury.
DEA agents in Roanoke who raided the Mac Brothers car wash on Melrose Avenue in August came away with no drugs, an attorney for one of the brothers said, but they seized Jones' Mercedes-Benz.
"They never found anything," said attorney Tony Anderson, who represented Jones at the time. "It seemed to me they ran a totally legitimate business. [The DEA raid] closed them down."
The DEA has been investigating the brothers since at least July 1994 on suspicion of both crack and powder cocaine distribution, according to a second affidavit, which was filed in Roanoke federal court by DEA Task Force Officer Danny Brabham.
Anderson said he was told the focus of the investigation in Roanoke had switched from drugs to alleged improper tax filings. He said agents seized employee tax withholding records and other documents from the car wash. The search warrant used to raid the car wash remains sealed.
Jones' ex-wife is fighting to get back the couple's 1984 Mercedes-Benz, arguing that it was not used for or bought with proceeds from illegal activity.
The car was seized based on police surveillance and statements by informants - an alleged buyer from Jones and an alleged supplier, Brabham's affidavit says.
A judge has yet to rule on the forfeiture.
Property used in drug dealing or bought with proceeds from dealing may be seized by the government even when its owners have not been charged criminally. The owners must then prove that the property was not used in the commission of a crime or that they did not know about it.
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