THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, May 24, 1995                TAG: 9505240512
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                     LENGTH: Short :   31 lines

COUNTY OFFICIAL'S TRIAL WILL INCLUDE CONTROVERSIAL TAPE

An effort to keep out of his federal drug conspiracy trial the tape recording of a telephone conversation - a conversation allegedly laced with references to cocaine and marijuana - failed for Craven County Commissioner Gerald Parker.

U.S. District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle affirmed an earlier ruling by a Raleigh magistrate judge that the 20-minute tape was made legally.

Federal prosecutors contend the tape corroborates evidence of meetings between Parker and the drug dealers.

The trial began Tuesday with the selection of a jury and is expected to last all week.

Before the hearing, Parker pleaded innocent to one count of conspiracy, one count of possession with intent to distribute and aiding and abetting and two counts of maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance.

For the first two charges alone, Parker faces a prison term of five to 40 years if convicted, said Richard Broughton, resident agent in charge of the Raleigh office of the Drug Enforcement Administration. by CNB