THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090294
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Robert Veal, father of convicted Portsmouth drug kingpin Robert Winfield, has pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of threatening a witness.
Veal was taken into custody during his son's trial in March after a witness said Veal threatened him during a lunch break.
Veal, 42, is being held without bond awaiting his sentencing May 15. He faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
The Winfield trial was surrounded by fear and intimidation that the FBI called the worst ever seen in Hampton Roads. Three witnesses said they were threatened, and at least one witness was temporarily jailed on contempt charges after he told a judge he was afraid to testify.
Five members of Winfield's River Edge Gang, which operated a violent open-air drug market in Portsmouth, were convicted on drug conspiracy charges. Their sentencing is scheduled for July 29.
Walter DuPree, the witness threatened by Veal, testified that the drug gang used his house to cut up rocks of crack cocaine for sale on the street and used his shed to store their guns.
DuPree told federal authorities that Veal told him ``something else may happen to you'' after Veal found out that DuPree would testify against his son. The following weekend, DuPree got a call at home. The caller - who did not identify himself - said he intended to follow through on Veal's threat.
DuPree was moved to a safe location.
After Veal was in custody, he recanted alibi testimony on the stand, saying he wasn't with his son the day of a drug murder. His attorney apparently argued that this admission represented a new-found respect for the court. However, court papers filed with Veal's guilty plea indicated the court did not believe the argument.
``The court views this conduct differently and infers that Veal was prepared to perjure himself until he was arrested,'' Judge Henry C. Morgan said in his case opinion, according to papers filed in the court. by CNB