THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 21, 1994 TAG: 9410210608
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
A Virginia Beach real estate agent, portrayed as a cocaine dealer in an Oliver North campaign ad, filed a defamation suit against North on Thursday, saying he never sold drugs.
The 52-year-old businessman, Alex S. Hargroves III, seeks $3 million in damages and a court injunction to remove his name from the television ad.
Hargroves filed two lawsuits - one for damages, another for the injunction - in Norfolk Circuit Court. Both suits name as defendants North personally and the Oliver North for U.S. Senate Committee.
Hargroves' attorney, Richard H. Matthews, accused North of ``sloppy homework'' in making the ad. ``And for that,'' he said, ``my guy, who's worked very hard to get his life straight, is now being dragged through the wringer for the sake of political expediency.''
North's campaign said Thursday it could not comment until it had seen the lawsuit.
Hargroves was never charged with drug dealing. He was convicted of a lesser drug-related charge in 1987.
The television ad, which started running last week throughout Virginia, attacks the honesty of Sen. Charles S. Robb. A narrator begins, ``Why can't Chuck Robb tell the truth - about the cocaine parties where Robb said he never saw drugs - then four of his party friends were sent to prison for dealing cocaine?''
As the narrator talks, the screen shows a newspaper clipping with the headline, ``Robb reported at parties where cocaine used.'' The dateline is Virginia Beach.
Then the ad shows the word ``Imprisoned,'' followed by four names, one of which is ``A. Hargroves.''
The other three men were convicted in the 1980s of drug dealing in Virginia Beach. Hargroves was convicted in 1987 of a different crime: misprision of felony, or failure to report an employee who was dealing drugs. Hargroves served 90 days in a federal prison camp.
Hargroves was never charged with drug dealing. ``It's an absolute lie,'' Matthews said.
In the same year, 1987, Hargroves also was involved in the criminal investigation of Systems Management American Corp., a Norfolk defense contractor. He was not charged with a crime but, in a plea agreement, agreed to testify about his ``involvement and knowledge of a kickback scheme involving'' SMA and its officers.
In an interview Thursday, Hargroves said he kicked his drug habit in 1987 and has been clean since. Now, the North ad ``has made it very difficult to talk to people, to mention my name. . . . There are very few people I've spoken to who haven't brought it up,'' he said.
Hargroves said he had no warning that the ad was coming until he saw it early one morning last week. He said his lawyer demanded a correction from the North campaign but never got a reply.
Hargroves said that he ran into Robb at several parties years ago but that they were not friends. ``I have never seen Chuck Robb do drugs, and I have never seen drugs done in his presence,'' he said Thursday.
Hargroves said his lawsuit was not politically motivated. He said he has never been involved in politics and has not talked with Robb's campaign workers.
On Thursday, Robb said he had not seen Hargroves' lawsuit and declined to comment. Last week, Robb called the North ad ``the most blatant lie'' he had ever seen.
On Tuesday, North said he had stopped running the ad, in part because his mother and wife didn't like it. But the ad was still running on some TV stations as late as Wednesday night.
North's press secretary said it is impossible to yank a TV ad immediately. ``It should have been off TV yesterday (Wednesday), but it's not a perfect science,'' said Mark Merritt, North's press secretary.
A hearing on Hargroves' request for a temporary injunction will be held Friday of next week. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Alex S. Hargroves III is seeking $3 million in damages and a court
injunction to remove his name from the ad.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES CAMPAIGN
ADVERTISING LAWSUITS by CNB