ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996 TAG: 9610220079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
MEMO: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
Six people accused of being part of an amphetamine ring in Southwest Virginia have been charged with federal crimes after an investigation that followed the discovery of a methamphetamine lab in Franklin County this summer.
The group is charged with cooking and selling large quantities of amphetamine and methamphetamine, also known as speed or crank. The group operated in Franklin County, Martinsville and elsewhere in Southwest Virginia for at least 11 years, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
Recently, the group is believed to have sold its drugs mainly in Martinsville, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott said.
Jerry W. Stevens, 38, of Tazewell County was indicted on a drug kingpin charge as well as conspiracy to make and sell amphetamine, methamphetamine and marijuana. He and five others were indicted last week, but the indictment was sealed until Monday. Bond for Stevens was set at $150,000, but he had not made bond as of Monday.
Franklin County sheriff's investigators and federal drug agents were pulling up pot plants in the southeast part of the county in August when they ran across one of the most sophisticated amphetamine laboratories ever found in this region. It was in an old tobacco barn in the woods, surrounded by bales of hay.
Its water and power lines had been hidden underground, running almost 300 yards to a nearby building. There was a ventilation system inside the barn because of the dangerous chemicals involved and a special card-key lock on a trap door that provided access to the two-story lab.
Agents found chemicals, stainless-steel counter tops and refrigerators inside the barn.
Ronnie Meeks, his brother Eddie Meeks and Tracy Hancock, all of Franklin County, were charged at the time with conspiracy and with manufacturing amphetamine and marijuana. They have all been released on bond.
Lonnie Ray "Bulldog" Spencer, 36, of Marion was charged in last week's indictment, and bond was set Monday at $30,000. A sixth defendant, Glenn Nelson of New York, cannot be located, Mott said Monday.
All the defendants face 10 years to life in prison, except Stevens, who faces a minimum of 20 years.
The indictment says Nelson told an undercover law officer in 1990 that he rode with four biker gangs and that "they always wanted his product."
Speed's effects are similar to those of cocaine, but the drug is cheaper and longer-lasting.
The group is charged with cooking as much as 450 pounds of amphetamine at a time, which would have a street value in the millions of dollars. It is accused of hiding the drug trafficking by putting assets in other people's names, creating phony job histories and even burying its money inside PVC piping, according to the indictment.
The ring began in 1985, when Stevens borrowed $6,000 to $8,000 from a friend to buy the necessary glassware and chemicals, the indictment says. He bought his chemicals from a Texas janitorial supply company, always paying cash and always carrying a gun, it says.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: A DEA chemist helps clean out a methamphetamine labby CNBfound inside an old tobacco barn in Franklin County in August.
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