ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 9, 1996 TAG: 9608090054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
The owner of a now-closed car wash in Roanoke was found guilty of dealing cocaine by a Northern Virginia jury last week.
Ronald L. Jones was found guilty of conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a gun as a convicted felon and using a gun during a drug transaction.
Jones' brother, Jackie McGeorge, pleaded guilty to cocaine charges this spring, after the men were arrested in Quantico for buying two kilograms from undercover agents. As part of his plea agreement, McGeorge testified against Jones.
The brothers owned the now-defunct Mac Brothers Complete Car Care on Melrose Avenue Northwest.
They still are the target of separate drug investigations here and in Northern Virginia, police say.
Roanoke police and Drug Enforcement Administration agents have investigated the brothers for two years, according to court documents, but a raid on their car wash last summer turned up no drugs. After the raid, the brothers closed the car wash and moved away.
Their arrests in Prince William County, unrelated to the local investigation, were based on information from an informant who had been asked by Jones' girlfriend, Doris Lynch, to find two kilograms for the pair.
Jones, McGeorge and Lynch were arrested March 12 at a restaurant in Quantico with $37,000 in cash. McGeorge had a loaded semiautomatic handgun in his waistband, and Jones had a loaded revolver in his car, police say.
McGeorge's plea agreement assures that he will serve 10 years. Jones could face 20 years or more in prison.
Lynch pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison.
The local investigation focuses on allegations of drug dealing in the Roanoke area and on suppliers of drugs, possibly from outside the country, police said.
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