ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
A young man who once bragged publicly about dealing Ecstasy - but escaped drug-dealing charges twice - was arrested Tuesday and charged again, this time by federal agents.
Eric Q. McCoy, 21, was arrested at a friend's house in Salem after the friend dropped $3,000 into his car as partial payment for drugs, according to a Drug Enforcement Administration agent's affidavit filed in federal court.
No drugs were found, but he faces three charges of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and Ecstasy. Possible penalties depend, in part, on the amount of drugs involved, which has not yet been determined.
Police have considered McCoy a major supplier on the rave scene, where all-night dance parties are sometimes fueled with hallucinogenic drugs such as Ecstasy and LSD.
The friend who helped set up McCoy's arrest was caught with five kinds of drugs after agents searched his Salem apartment two weeks ago, according to the DEA. He claimed he had gotten the cocaine, methamphetamine and Ecstasy from McCoy and that he owed McCoy $6,100.
The friend taped several conversations with McCoy about the money and had to reassure him that he wasn't trying to set him up, the DEA affidavit says. McCoy had been "acting paranoid" about getting caught, it says.
McCoy is being held in the Roanoke City Jail and will appear before a federal magistrate today.
His attorney, Jeff Rudd, said he hadn't been able to talk to his client about the arrest but said he believes that federal agents were involved because federal drug charges carry stiffer penalties than do state drug charges.
McCoy, a former high-school football star, found raves an enticing environment.
In a July 1995 interview with The Roanoke Times, he talked about traveling the East Coast rave circuit, the lure of Ecstasy and the thrill of the drug life.
"I had the best Ecstasy and people want to do the best," he said last summer. "I showed something to people they've never seen before. I gave them an opportunity to try something. It's a crime under society, but it's not a crime under my eyes. I've never done anything to intentionally hurt or incriminate anyone."
McCoy said he stopped dealing after narcotics detectives in Greensboro, N.C., arrested him on charges of dealing Ecstasy outside a rave last spring. He later plea bargained to simple possession and received three years' probation.
But two months later he was in trouble again. This time, Roanoke vice detectives arrested him at the Radisson Patrick Henry Hotel on charges of dealing marijuana.
Detectives expected to find Ecstasy and LSD. At least four informants named McCoy as a dealer of the drugs, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Instead, detectives found two pounds of marijuana in McCoy's hotel room. Police charged him with selling the drug. The charge was later dropped after a judge threw out an improperly worded search warrant. A Roanoke General District judge ruled that to get the warrant, police had inaccurately portrayed informants' statements.
McCoy's arrest marks the first time any charges related to the Roanoke rave scene have been taken to the federal level. Don Lincoln, who heads the Roanoke DEA office, said Wednesday he thinks it could affect the future of the parties in Roanoke.
"This is a fairly good indicator that this is not a wonderful, pristine [event] where kids are spinning around to music," he said.
Staff writer Diane Struzzi contributed to this story.
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