THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220374
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 74 lines
By the time Bruce Howell stopped confessing to the feds, he'd turned in everybody from his old college chums to his white-haired mother.
Before that, the low-key, middle-aged former flower child had always minded his own business: a 25-year-old marijuana ring that distributed tons of pot throughout Hampton Roads.
Tuesday, Howell lost it all - his freedom, his Croatan home and the millions he hoarded for retirement - when he was sentenced to 13 years without parole and forfeited all of his assets.
That the sentence will ultimately be reduced due to his cooperation did not make it any easier for Howell, who saved family members from prosecution by taking responsibility for their actions.
Howell's mother, who is in her 70s and received immunity for a minor infraction, sobbed as her gray-haired son turned for a final goodbye and waved to her, just before U.S. marshals escorted him from the courtroom. Other family members - including Howell's brother and sister, who were implicated but not prosecuted - gathered around their mother afterward.
Despite Howell's cooperation, ``he's still a criminal,'' prosecutor Kevin Comstock told federal Judge Henry C. Morgan, ``who . . . orchestrated family members, including his mother, which is unconscionable. He got family members to do things they never would have done otherwise.''
Howell's estranged wife, Shoreh Howell, 44, was sentenced to six months' home detention Tuesday for her role involving millions of dollars in cash stashed in safety deposit boxes around Hampton Roads.
Morgan refused to sentence her to probation only, saying, ``She lived off the proceeds for many years.''
Six other members of the gang, who pleaded guilty in October, will be sentenced in the next two weeks. The co-defendants are Stanley McDonald, Robert and Terry Morris, Michael Evans, Irish Peele and David Frederick.
Several key members, including Howell, became friends while attending Old Dominion University in the 1970s. Through the years, they shared the ideals of the hippie generation, and the good times and huge profits that pot provided. Comstock said federal agents could not have dismantled the ring without Howell's help.
Howell ``started smoking marijuana when he was 19 when Vietnam was going on,'' his attorney, Franklin A. Swartz, told the judge. ``They talk about potheads and how marijuana destroys the mind. By his own admission, he smoked pot every day for 25 years and his memory was keen. He saved investigators untold hours of investigation because of the specificity of detail of his memory.''
The details include a history of the ring's marijuana running that began with junkets to Jamaica and Cuba to sail back small loads of marijuana or hire trawlers to transport the drug. Tuesday, Howell forfeited a long-term lease-hold on property in Jamaica.
The last scheme, which led to exorbitant profits, involved buying thousands of pounds of marijuana, allegedly from a former college buddy in Tucson, and driving the drugs to Hampton Roads in large motor homes. The buddy - David Charles Sullivan - is in a local jail awaiting trial this spring. Since 1989 alone, authorities believe the ring distributed more than 6,000 pounds of marijuana in Hampton Roads.
Over the years, the marijuana runners avoided detection by maintaining modest lifestyles, driving older model cars and, in some cases, holding respectable jobs. One was a teacher at Granby High School. Another was an insurance adjuster. Many were involved in community life, working with civic organizations, Scout troops and athletic leagues.
Howell was a ``very decent guy,'' attorney Swartz said. ``No violence. No weapons. No strong-arming.'' When police seized a ton of marijuana in March, Swartz said, Howell was visiting a young girlfriend in Cuba.
``He could have stayed,'' Swartz said. ``There's no extradition. He had access to large sums of money. He could have lived the remainder of his days in comfort based on the standard of living there. He could have turned his back on his family and the 5-year-old son he loves.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Bruce Howell
KEYWORDS: SENTENCING DRUG ARREST MARIJUANA