ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 1996 TAG: 9606270066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on June 28, 1996.
Most people charged with drug offenses in Roanoke Circuit Court plead
guilty, thereby avoiding being tried and sentenced by a jury. A story
Thursday about the conviction of Billy Fisher, manager of the
now-defunct Black Angus Business Men's Club, contained incorrect
information.
The manager of a private nightclub in Roanoke was convicted Tuesday of possessing cocaine that police found during a raid of the establishment.
A jury in Roanoke Circuit Court recommended a five-year sentence for Billy Fisher, manager of the now-defunct Black Angus Business Men's Club on Patterson Avenue Southwest, according to Regional Drug Prosecutor Dennis Nagel.
Fisher, 46, was arrested on a charge of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute after Roanoke police and agents with the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Department raided the nightclub last August.
Authorities were investigating reports that mixed drinks were being served illegally at the club. But after a drug-sniffing dog led police to a refrigerator truck that had been converted to a camper in the club's parking lot, police obtained a search warrant for drugs.
Inside the camper, which Fisher had been seen driving earlier in the evening, police found about 10 grams of cocaine wrapped in a handkerchief, stuffed in a duffel bag and placed under a seat, Nagel said. A set of scales, small plastic bags, Fisher's driver's licence and a loaded handgun were also found, he said.
Defense attorney Melvin Hill argued that prosecutors had not proven that the drugs belonged to Fisher.
In addition to giving Fisher the minimum sentence of five years, the jury fined him $1,200 - the amount that witnesses said the seized cocaine was worth.
Last August's raid also led to administrative charges by the ABC Board against the Black Angus club. The club's license to sell alcohol was revoked in January, ABC spokesman Robert Chapman said, for a variety of violations that included selling alcohol to nonmembers and failing to keep adequate records.
Fisher's trial was only the second instance in the past year that a Roanoke jury has sentenced a drug dealer. Nagel said jury trials in drug cases have become more rare since a new law allowed juries to learn about a defendant's prior criminal record before deciding on a sentence.
Most drug defendants now opt for what's known as a bench trial, in which the judge alone determines guilt or innocence and sets the sentence. Juries typically are tougher on drug dealers than judges are.
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