ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: Associated Press
A jury has recommended that a man never convicted of a drug crime spend 90 years in prison and be fined $1 million for smuggling 1 kilogram of crack cocaine into Virginia.
Eugene ``Quick'' Smalls, 27, of Virginia Beach, heard the sentence recommendation Tuesday after he was found guilty of smuggling the drug into Virginia from the U.S. Virgin Islands with intent to distribute it.
Jurors on Monday heard 12 tape-recorded telephone conversations during which Smalls bragged that he owned a hotel and had recently invested $175,000 in a business. He also boasted of other drug deals in the tapes.
Two men claiming to be Smalls' deliverymen also testified against him.
One kilogram of crack cocaine has an estimated street value of $200,000.
The recommended sentence would be one of the stiffest ever for a drug case in Virginia Beach, prosecutor David Laird and defense attorney James O. Broccoletti said.
``It is demonstrative of the public's attitude toward drugs,'' said Broccoletti, who has years of experience defending accused drug offenders.
``Virginia Beach juries have always been very, very, very harsh in the imposing of sentences in drug cases,'' he said. ``They are known for that.''
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