ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 17, 1996 TAG: 9607170046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FINCASTLE
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
When Botetourt County deputies searched the Coyner Springs-area apartment of Thomas Byers, all they found was a small marijuana-growing operation and about six ounces of pot - hardly evidence that Byers was the big-time marijuana dealer authorities believed he was.
Investigators had learned of a four-day trip Byers took to Minnesota to pick up 20 pounds of pot. They couldn't find the marijuana, but they already had the telling residue of Byers' trip.
"The evidence was gone, but the network was there," Botetourt Sheriff Reed Kelly said. "He knew we had him. We knew who he was selling to."
When that became apparent to Byers, he made a detailed confession to Detective Kenny Parker, Kelly said in an interview.
Tuesday, Byers pleaded no contest to one count of conspiracy to distribute more than five pounds of marijuana, three counts of distributing marijuana and one count of manufacturing it. He faces up to 90 years in prison when he's sentenced Oct. 17.
Three other people - Christopher Giles, Richard Keeling and Tommy Meredith - have been indicted on charges relating to the network, and Kelly indicates more charges may be on the way.
Botetourt Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom called the investigation an excellent job of playing people against each other.
"It's a crime that's completed, gone," Branscom said. "There's not much evidence left, but through good investigation you piece it all back together."
Branscom summarized evidence that showed how Byers received a call from a supplier in Houston who could set him up with 20 pounds of pot to sell. Byers and Meredith headed for Chicago on Feb. 13. After several phone calls, Branscom said, Byers and Meredith finally met with a man who handed Byers a key to a hotel room in Minnesota and told him if he could get to the room in six hours - or before the maid came to clean - the pot was his to sell with no money down.
Byers was back in Botetourt on Feb. 17 and sold more than half of the pot that day, according to Branscom. Within three days, it was all gone.
"This is a pretty substantial operation when you can bring in 20 pounds and get rid of it like that," Kelly said. "He's as big as it gets for marijuana distributors in Botetourt County."
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