ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300027
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
Authorities arrested a 74-year-old man and his 59-year-old wife Wednesday in connection with the alleged sale of crack cocaine from their home in the Craig Mountain neighborhood.
William Bernice Smith and Josephine Price Smith were in the Montgomery County Jail on Thursday under $75,000 bond each. Both were convicted of selling crack in 1992 and served time in prison, according to court records. A second conviction could bring a maximum of life in prison.
The Montgomery County Drug Task Force, with assistance from the Christiansburg Police Department, arrested the Smiths at their apartment in the 600 block of Lyle Lane in Christiansburg.
Each is charged with one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony, possession of a firearm while in possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana, according to a task force member.
The task force seized about 10 grams of crack cocaine worth an estimated $1,000 from the Smith home along with a van, a car, about $7,900 in cash, a 12-gauge shotgun, a 28-gauge shotgun, a .380-caliber pistol and a small amount of marijuana.
"For this area, they were a major source; we believe they supplied street-level dealers," a task force member said. Task force members spoke to the press on the condition of anonymity, because most of their work is conducted undercover.
Five homes neighboring the duplex where the Smiths lived with their 15-year-old granddaughter have "for sale" signs planted in the front yards. The well-kept middle-class homes are accompanied by swing sets and bicycles - evidence of the many children who live there. Some neighbors contacted Thursday by reporters declined to comment about the arrests, saying they feared violent repercussions.
Lt. Gary Brumfield of the Christiansburg police said numerous complaints aided the officers in their investigation of the Smiths. The investigation leading up to Wednesday's arrests had gone on for more than a year, he said.
"I was on the task force in '90 and we were looking at them then," Brumfield said.
One task force member defended the length of time it took to yield arrests.
"The way [the Smiths] were operating made it difficult. They were extremely careful who they sold to," the officer said. "It took awhile to get the evidence needed for a conviction."
According to a search warrant filed in Montgomery County, the task force used informants to buy crack from the Smiths several times. Sometimes the sale would take place at the Smith home and at other times from a van Josephine Smith was driving.
Given the four charges, including a possible conviction for second-offense possession of crack with intent to sell, both Smiths could face a maximum of life in prison and up to $500,000 in fines, said Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith.
Keith said William Smith also was convicted of manslaughter in 1985 and distribution of cocaine in 1992. Keith could not say exactly how much time Smith served, but he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the manslaughter and two years for the drug charge.
Josephine Smith was convicted of two counts of selling cocaine in 1992 and sentenced to serve five years and two months in prison, according to court records. Before that, however, Keith said Smith was convicted of felony welfare fraud.
Both husband and wife are diabetic and Josephine Smith relies on three dialysis sessions each week to clean her blood. A neighbor, who would not give a name, described her as a "nice lady ... a grandmother."
Four days after she went to prison in 1992, Josephine Smith wrote a letter to a circuit judge pleading for her release because her mother was ill and needed her care. "After this experience, you never have to worry about seeing me in your court ... again," she wrote.
In a letter dated nearly a month later, Smith pleaded again on her mother's behalf and stated that because of her crime "I now am facing the loss of my disability and Medicare benefits." She acknowledged the loss of benefits was her own fault, but she told the judge her mother relied on the income.
But an earlier letter to Smith from her attorney explained she would serve prison time for selling crack despite her medical problems that include two knee replacements, high blood pressure and renal failure. The judge said a previous felony conviction for welfare fraud and the seriousness of the crack charge outweighed her age and health problems.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff. Items ranging from cash to guns wereby CNBseized and put on display after the bust by authorities. color.