THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 30, 1995 TAG: 9510280050
SECTION: DAILY BREAK LOCAL PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Profile
SOURCE: By SHIRLEY M. BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 137 lines
WHEN RUSSELL B. SMITH visits his mother in Portsmouth, he drives past familiar street corners where his old friends still gather.
These are the folks who knew Smith when. . .
. . . he smoked reefer with them.
. . . they could count on his selling them crack cocaine.
. . . he was known as one of the biggest drug dealers in the city.
Sometimes, Smith stops to talk with them. But he isn't buying anything anymore, including their habits or lifestyles. Nor is he selling anything.
``I just talk to all the guys I knew in Portsmouth about the Lord,'' Smith said, ``and there's a respect there. I ask the Lord to let people see there is hope; they don't have to keep failing. But it's a choice they have to make.''
Smith's life changed after his third arrest for possessing drugs with intent to sell. He attended a discipleship class in Portsmouth City Jail and began to study the Bible.
A member of the class told Smith ``there was a mark on me - to be a minister.'' Smith's response: ``Go ahead, man. Stop joking!''
After serving his sentence at Tazewell Correctional Unit 31, Smith returned to Norfolk, found a job at the Portsmouth campus of Tidewater Community College as a grounds maintenance man, completed a two-year program at Evans Smith Institute, sponsored by the Virginia Union School of Theology and a one-year program at United Christian Institute in Portsmouth.
Today, Smith is an ordained minister and assistant pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Norfolk. His wife, Elnora, a licensed minister, also preaches at the church.
Smith started a drug abuse-prevention program at Abyssinian and became involved in a ministry at Saint Bride's Correctional Center in Chesapeake. He also is part of ministries at Lafayette Villa and Richardson Nursing Home in Norfolk.
Like his former counterparts, Smith, 38, grew up on the streets of Portsmouth. His mother saw to it that he attend Saint Mark's Baptist Church, but Smith stopped going during his teens.
At 17, he dropped out of Clark Vocational School to live with his widowed aunt in Fort Knox, Ky, where he stayed for five years.
After moving back into his mother's house, Smith completed a mechanical course at Norfolk Skill Center and was hired by an automotive shop in Portsmouth.
In 1984, Smith began to experiment with drugs. He smoked reefer and used heroin and crack cocaine. Soon he was dealing drugs to feed his addiction.
``In the beginning, I could handle it,'' he said. ``After the high was gone, I felt foolish. But the more you smoke, the more you want. It got to a point with me where I could go fine, Monday through Friday. But on Friday, when I got a paycheck, a bell started going off in my head.''
Then a crew leader in the mowing division of the Portsmouth Department of Parks and Recreation, Smith soon began to miss work but failed to call in. After losing his job, he spent his time ``selling and smoking from morning to night.'' With a $1,000-a-day habit, ``I got sick and tired of it and tried to seek help.''
Smith tried three substance-abuse programs and stayed away from drugs for short periods.
``People think they can get away from it, but you can get drugs anywhere,'' he said. ``You can go from downtown to the ghettos to middle-class neighborhoods. . . but it's always there. . . . Until I tried Jesus, nothing worked.''
Smith, 5-feet-11 and 280 pounds, admits to risking his life to sell drugs from a house near Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
``I owed money and had my life threatened by drug dealers,'' he said. ``I knew some in the street that were shot and killed, but I was never beat up. I knew I was in a dangerous business, but when you're in that business, it's bad to be fearful because you might make mistakes.''
In May 1990, a sting operation by Portsmouth Police interrupted Smith's visit with a friend, who was taken into custody. No drugs were found on Smith, and he escaped arrest.
``I had over $2,000 worth of cocaine rolled up in a brown paper bag in my pocket,'' he said. ``When I saw them coming, I ran to the kitchen and stuffed the bag at the bottom of the trash. After they left, I got the drugs, went out and got high.''
Two weeks later, Smith had no drugs in his pocket, but was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When police raided a friend's house, the man pulled a gun, and he and Smith were arrested.
``The police said, `Didn't we see you about two weeks ago?' '' Smith said. ``Then, they told me I had sold some drugs to an agent.''
With no money to pay his $25,000 bond, Smith was jailed for two months before his mother offered her house to get Smith out.
``I got out, moved to Norfolk and went back doing the same thing,'' he said.
A second arrest followed. Smith was told someone had been paid $350 to turn him in.
Then, in October 1990, Smith was arrested a third time. His transformation followed.
``They told me I was going to the penitentiary for 40 years,'' Smith said. ``I didn't care. I had such a peace in my life. ''
Smith asked his lawyer to seek trial by jury. ``The Spirit of the Lord was so powerful in the courtroom,'' he said. ``Everyone knew my life had changed.''
The jury recommended three years in the penitentiary. A judge sentenced Smith to 12 months on another charge, so the total was four years, with two years probation.
Smith entered the state prison in Tazewell in July 1991, and was paroled on Oct. 16, 1992. ``Staying off drugs wasn't easy,'' he said. ``I couldn't socialize with my old friends.''
Smith applied to Tidewater Community College - detailing his former drug habits and imprisonment, although he knew five others had applied for the job.
``God was moving in the situation,'' Smith said. ``I was chosen.''
In 1993, Smith married Elnora, a former nurse for both his mother and grandmother at a local hospital.
At that time, Elnora was captain of an evangelistic team at Abyssinian Baptist Church that conducted revival services for the Committee Against Drug Related Activities. (CADRA).
Elnora asked him to come and tell his story. ``I saw a pastor in him when I first met him,'' she said. ``One day, I believe Russell will be a pastor of a church. He's growing in the ministry, and he's very faithful.''
An associate pastor to the Rev. Dr. Frank Guns, Smith is often asked to teach a Wednesday evening class in addition to his other ministries.
``Russell is a very fine person,'' Guns said. ``Whatever I ask him to do in the church, he is more than willing to do it. He's there when you need him. The Lord has blessed him. Since he's been in our church, he has grown tremendously.''
``I tell guys, `I used to sit in the seat where you're sitting' '' Smith said. ``Sometimes, they say, `There ain't no hope for me.' I say, yes, there is hope, as long as you're living.
``I've asked the Lord to fix me so my life might help somebody else. I don't want the glory.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN / The Virginian-Pilot
ABOVE: Russell B. Smith now visits his old neighborhood in Ida
Barbour as a minister.
BELOW: Smith leads Shanika Gorham, left, and others in Bible study
at Abyssinian Baptist Church.
by CNB