THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 4, 1995 TAG: 9504040303
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The trial of nine alleged members of an interstate drug gang accused of dealing up to $122.8 million in crack cocaine was postponed in federal court Monday after a defense lawyer unexpectedly dropped out of the case.
Peter M. Abramson, a Norfolk lawyer appointed to represent defendant John Austin Edwards, left a message that he was ``physically and psychologically unable'' to continue the grueling case, expected to last three or four weeks, said U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith at the beginning of Monday's trial.
The case has been continued until April 10 so that another lawyer can be appointed for Edwards, charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Abramson left the message on his secretary's answering machine over the weekend, court officials said. His secretary informed Smith about 30 minutes before the trial was scheduled to begin. Court officials did not know why Abramson suddenly dropped from the case.
Alleged drug quantities and income from street sales indicate the case is probably the largest interstate cocaine ring prosecuted in Hampton Roads. A 62-page indictment accused gang members of killing and maiming seven people along the East Coast and selling at least 5 to 15 kilograms of cocaine a week from the summer of 1990 to January 1994.
According to federal prosecutors, drug sales, violence and money-laundering occurred since 1989 in Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Williamsburg, Virginia Beach and Richmond.
Police said gang members moved drugs from Miami and New York to Richmond, then to the Peninsula, where they virtually controlled the drug market. The gang also was linked to four murders since 1990 in Norfolk, Newport News, Philadelphia and Lorain, Ohio.
In December, a grand jury indicted 21 people alleged to be part of the gang. Since then, 10 defendants - including two of the three alleged leaders - have pleaded guilty. Two defendants are still fugitives.
In addition to Edwards, the other defendants include Samuel B. Kelly, Anthony Merrick, Morris Hayes, James Cousins, David Harry, Jeffrey Maillard, Camille Ford and Alfred Cleveland.
KEYWORDS: DRUGS ILLEGAL by CNB