ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 1997 TAG: 9701270046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
The proprietor of a Roanoke crack house - or what a prosecutor called a "crack fortress" stocked with guns, drugs and surveillance cameras - was convicted Friday by a jury that recommended he serve 43 years in prison.
If a judge imposes that term on Joe Lewis Brown, it will be one of the stiffest punishments for a crack dealer ever handed down in Roanoke Circuit Court.
And Brown deserves every year of it, said Regional Drug Prosecutor Dennis Nagel.
Brown's two prior convictions for drug dealing, the loss of his brother to an overdose, and the "devastating" effect of cocaine on his friends were not enough to stop the 38-year-old from dealing out of his home at 1526 Golfside Avenue N.W., Nagel said.
"Why should we value this man's life when he didn't value it himself?" he said in asking jurors to consider a life sentence. Brown had every opportunity to go straight after he was arrested several years ago, Nagel said, but he kept dealing - after first taking some elaborate precautions.
Brown equipped his home with five surveillance cameras that covered every angle of approach. An audio monitor was installed to pick up the conversations of people walking up to the house.
Behind the always-locked door of Brown's basement bedroom were a 9mm pistol and a shotgun. Police suspected there were drugs in the room, too, but proving their hunch was difficult.
"This was a fortress that was almost impenetrable to police," Nagel said.
But as residents of the middle-class neighborhood continued to complain about around-the-clock traffic and disturbances at the home, police spent three months watching from a distance before they moved in with a search warrant in September.
They waited for Brown to leave, Nagel said, because drug dealers treat their stash the way a traveler does an American Express card - "They don't leave home without it."
A short distance from the house, police pulled Brown over on an outstanding warrant charging that he had violated his probation on the earlier drug charges. In the back seat of his car, police found a zippered black bag that contained 11 grams of crack - about $1,200 worth.
The drugs were not his, Brown testified Thursday.
He suggested they belonged to a woman who was in the car at the time. "She's a very dear friend, but she's also a user," Brown said. "And she likes to party."
Assistant Public Defender Darren Haley described the woman - who denied the drugs were hers - as a crack addict who was so consumed with getting her next fix that she left her small children home alone.
"Mr. Brown can go to jail for a long time based on the word of a crack addict," Haley said. "If she'll walk away from her kids to get high, then she'll send a man to jail."
The previous two Roanoke juries that have sentenced crack dealers have set the minimum sentence of five years. But those punishments were for middle-aged defendants with no prior record of drug dealing.
Brown's 43-year sentence - 40 for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and three for having a gun as a convicted felon - is "entirely consistent with the sentences we've been receiving for repeat offenders from juries," Nagel said.
The jury also recommended a $50,000 fine, even though Nagel said in his closing argument that $1 would suffice.
Lt. R.E. Carlisle, who heads the Roanoke Police Department's vice division, said he thought the jury was fair to Brown while sending a strong message to people like him.
"He was wreaking havoc in a middle-class neighborhood," Carlisle said. "The drug dealers need to get the message that we intend to restore the tranquillity of the neighborhoods that are affected by the crack problem.
"I hope those who would be like Mr. Brown take heed."
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