ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 18, 1996 TAG: 9610180066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on October 19, 1996.
Richard Quarles, who was arrested on drug charges this week, was a
corrections officer at Botetourt Correctional Unit, a Department of
Corrections spokeman said. His place of employment was incorrect in a
story Friday. Quarles quit his job Thursday.
A state correctional officer suspected of using his cordless phone to set up drug deals was arrested Wednesday, after a radio buff who overheard his conversations on a scanner turned him in, according to police.
Richard Quarles of the 3000 block of Northside Road in Roanoke County was arrested after police found 33/4 ounces of powder cocaine and a pound of marijuana in his home, said Dick McEnany, resident agent in charge of the Roanoke office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Police used a tip from a man who called the Virginia State Police Drug Hotline Oct. 6 and said he had overheard several cordless phone calls by someone named Richard Quarles, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Roanoke County Circuit Court.
The tipster said Quarles talked about what he interpreted to be drug deals, the affidavit says. Quarles also identified himself as a corrections officer during calls, the tipster told police.
In listing their probable cause for a search warrant, police acknowledged to a Roanoke County judge that they didn't know who the scanner buff was.
But his information was bolstered by surveillance DEA agents had conducted on Quarles in July. According to the affidavit, DEA agents watched a man get into Quarles' vehicle on Williamson Road and emerge with a quarter-ounce of cocaine, which he then gave to an informant.
McEnany said Quarles' arrest, along with six others Wednesday night and Thursday morning, wrapped up a six-month investigation. Two or three more arrests are expected, he said.
Quarles worked at the Staunton Correctional Unit. McEnany said he did not know if Quarles had lost his job as a result of the arrest. McEnany said he had no evidence that Quarles dealt drugs in prison.
Quarles, who was released on bond after his arrest, would not talk to a reporter who called him at home Thursday.
All the defendants were charged federally because of the amount of cocaine allegedly involved. McEnany said the group was moving 6 ounces a week of crack and powder cocaine in Roanoke. Because of that, and the criminal histories of some of the defendants, all are facing between five and 20 years on charges of possession with intent to distribute, he said.
Staff writer Diane Struzzi contributed to this story.
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