THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512220534
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Two men who were arrested Tuesday during ``Operation Seasons Greetings'' were released Thursday after posting bail on drug charges, Dare County jail administrator David Cowan said.
Asa Gray IV, a 20-year-old Hatteras resident who was charged with possession with intent to sell marijuana and sale and delivery of a controlled substance, was freed after making his $12,000 bond.
Nags Head resident Quinton Wade Montgomery, 35, was released after a District Court judge dropped his $55,000 bond to $20,000. Montgomery was charged with possession with intent to sell marijuana, sale and delivery of controlled substances, conspiracy to sell and distribute marijuana, and maintaining a vehicle to keep controlled substances.
And a former state Alcohol Law Enforcement officer James, Louis ``Lou'' Wagner Jr., 36, also was released from jail Thursday after a judge reduced his $200,000 bond to $40,000.
Wagner, who lives in Kill Devil Hills, was charged with four felony counts of destroying drug-case evidence. Wagner allegedly destroyed or altered cocaine while he was assigned to the Alcohol Law Enforcement Agency's field office in Nags Head. He resigned from the agency Sept. 11. He turned himself in to the Dare County jail Wednesday after police contacted him at his Outer Banks home.
Also on Wednesday, police arrested Willie Winston Brickhouse in connection with ``Operation Seasons Greetings,'' a four-month undercover investigation into illegal drug sales in Dare County. Brickhouse, a 23-year-old Currituck County resident, was charged with possession with intent to deliver cocaine and sale and delivery of cocaine. He was still being held in the Dare County jail Thursday evening under $40,000 bond.
Of the 38 people arrested so far as a result of ``Operation Seasons Greetings,'' 12 have been released. Police say more arrests are forthcoming.
The reduction of bond for some of those arrested in the raid drew sharp criticism from some officials, but Roland Dale, director of Alcohol Law Enforcement, said judges in the district were ``extremely helpful'' during the four-month investigation.
``Without the help of Judge Tillett, we couldn't have pulled it off,'' Dale said Thursday. ``He is a real supporter of law enforcement.''
Jerry Tillett is a Superior Court judge. by CNB