ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997 TAG: 9704250068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS|
Coast-to-coast ring based in Los Angeles used Virginia as a distribution point.
A woman accused of being a kingpin in a coast-to-coast marijuana ring pleaded guilty to federal charges Wednesday and agreed to reveal what she knows about the operation and its participants.
Overwhelming wiretap and surveillance evidence against Cassandra Crumble, 22, persuaded her to enter the plea, said Jon Babineau, her court-appointed attorney.
Crumble pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to operating a continuing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to launder money. Sean A. Rainey, 21, of Virginia Beach, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
Other charges against Crumble and Rainey have been dropped, and plea negotiations are under way with other defendants in the case, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Fernando Groene
Crumble faces a fine of up to $4 million and 20 years to life in prison, and Rainey could receive 10 years to life. But because they are cooperating with prosecutors, both could receive reduced sentences.
Sentencing is scheduled for October.
In all, 43 people were indicted this month in what prosecutors said was a Los Angeles-based, Jamaican-led drug ring that used Virginia as a distribution point for thousands of pounds of marijuana.
Since 1991, the ring has sent more than 25,000 pounds of the substance through the mail to the East Coast, prosecutors said.
The Los Angeles contingent of the ring would buy marijuana for about $250 a pound from Mexican sources and ship it - packed in Vaseline, ammonia and mustard to mask the smell - to Newport News, Groene said.
Virginia members of the ring repackaged and sold the marijuana for about $1,500 a pound, officials said.
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