ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
Eric McCoy, considered by authorities to be a major drug supplier to the rave scene, and two others were indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on charges of dealing LSD, Ecstasy, cocaine and methamphetamine.
McCoy, 21, was arrested last month by federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents as he allegedly attempted to pick up $6,100 owed him for drugs. He is free on bond, but must wear an electronic monitor.
Also indicted were Eric J. Halprin and Thomas B. Frederick. The three are charged with conspiracy and with possession with intent to distribute the drugs.
Police have suspected McCoy of being a major supplier on the rave scene, where all-night dance parties are sometimes fueled with hallucinogenic drugs such as Ecstasy and LSD. This is the first case in Roanoke that has been taken to federal court, where the sentences can be much stiffer than in state court.
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.
Halprin, 23, and his mother, Linda K. Howard, 51, of Wirtz, were charged in May with holding an unauthorized rave at the American Legion Hall on Apperson Drive in Salem.
Police charged them with two misdemeanor offenses - failure to obtain a dance hall permit and operating a public dance hall after 2 a.m.
Halprin and Howard were listed on an American Legion contract as organizers of the "D-Day" rave May 4. On the contract, the event was listed as a graduation party for Radford University. Undercover police arrested a Raleigh, N.C., man on drug charges and broke up the rave at 4 a.m.
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