
DATE: Friday, April 18, 1997                TAG: 9704180605

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ,STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  128 lines

PENINSULA REAL ESTATE BARON AMONG 43 INDICTED IN DRUG RING BROKER IS ACCUSED OF PROVIDING SAFE HOUSES

Richard W. Teagle, once the Peninsula's pre-eminent real estate broker, is one of 43 people charged in what federal agents describe as a nationwide conspiracy that peddled millions of dollars in marijuana in the 1990s.

Teagle's role was providing about a dozen safe-houses - rental properties from his once-flourishing real estate empire - for a Jamaican drug gang that imported tons of marijuana from Los Angeles for distribution in Hampton Roads and elsewhere, according to a 181-page indictment unsealed Thursday.

Teagle, 70, was arrested Thursday at Cale & Co. Realtors on J. Clyde Morris Blvd. in Newport News, where he is a salesman and broker. Federal agents seized boxes of records pertaining to Teagle Realty Inc., a separate business Teagle owns. Cale & Co. was not involved in the criminal case.

Agents filed forfeiture papers in order to seize more than $1 million in real estate owned by Teagle Realty Inc., including Teagle's former office building at 12284 Warwick Blvd., which is assessed at $661,100. Additional properties worth about $350,000 could also be seized, the indictment said.

Also implicated in the scheme was the owner of a Los Angeles-based record company, Kulcha Beat Records, which allegedly shipped much of the marijuana, sold mostly on the East Coast.

Thursday's raid was one of dozens that took place simultaneously in California and Virginia. By day's end, most of the 43 defendants were in custody.

The indictment alleges that Teagle provided drug dealers with homes owned by his real estate company for drug distribution. They were provided with leases, and used fictitious names to hide their identities, the indictment said.

Teagle looked out of place during a hearing Thursday morning in Norfolk's federal court - an elderly man in suit, tie and glasses. The other defendants, many alleged members of the Jamaican gang, were all much younger and wore a variety of colorful jackets and street clothing.

Teagle was the only defendant to be granted bond, set at $100,000. His family, however, was unable to post bond by the end of the day Thursday, court records show, and he spent the night in jail. The other defendants were held without bond.

Friends and colleagues of Teagle were shocked to hear the news Thursday. All said they could never have imagined the once-prominent real estate broker being involved in a drug conspiracy. Many said they hoped federal authorities had made a mistake.

Prosecutor Fernando Groene said Teagle was not personally involved with the importing or resale of marijuana. But the indictment says Teagle ordered a quantity of marijuana from ``his supplier'' and received delivery in his 1991 Cadillac at one of the properties he provided for the gang.

The indictment includes 323 counts that outline a business that had operated since 1991 and brought 25,000 pounds of marijuana to Hampton Roads and other locations, most shipped through overnight mail services. Hampton Roads was the largest distribution point, with drugs being sold out of Newport News, Hampton and Virginia Beach. Other outlets included Richmond; Harrisonburg, Va.; New York City; and Charleston, S.C.

The gang shipped a total of $13 million to Los Angeles for drugs, including 3,000 Western Union transactions, the indictment said. The money was shipped to Los Angeles, New York, North Carolina, Florida and Jamaica.

Twenty-four of the 43 indicted were in the Los Angeles area, the indictment shows. Fifteen were in Hampton Roads, one in Richmond, one in Baltimore and two in New York. Thirty-two were in custody Thursday night.

Most, including Teagle, were charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, with a possible sentence of up to life in prison.

Four people, who were charged with operating a continuing criminal enterprise, were the core of the group, records show. Junior Anthony Simms, 29, allegedly operated the Los Angeles headquarters, while Trevor George Smith, Cassandra Crumble and Frederick Dixon allegedly were the key operatives on the Peninsula, the indictment said.

Local defendants include Patrick S. Crooks, Michael Crumble, Idrissa Diop, Terrence Lenard Everett, Leticia Renee Hicks, Tina Louise Harrell Holland, Dichelle Jackson, Marlon Novell Johnson, Ian Kilburn, Sean Antonio Rainey and Kelvin Martice Thomas.

The drug gang used ``the real estate expertise and properties of . . . Richard Teagle in order to facilitate their unlawful drug trafficking and money-laundering activities,'' the indictment said.

The indictment lists 13 Newport News and Hampton properties owned or managed by Teagle and allegedly used in the conspiracy. While residing at those properties, the gang members allegedly laundered about $3.5 million in illegal drug proceeds, the indictment says.

Several members obtained Virginia driver's licenses using fictitious names, the indictment said.

One of those indicted was Courtney Minors, owner of Kulcha Beat Records in Los Angeles, a shop specializing in hard-to-find reggae and ska music. The indictment alleges that the record company was a distribution source for drugs.

Minors was part of a move to revitalize urban Los Angeles, especially areas where ornate, run-down storefronts drew artists. Minors, a Jamaican native, suggested hanging colorful banners along L.A.'s major thoroughfares to coax commuters to ``Bring your business here,'' The Los Angeles Times reported in 1994.

Agencies involved in the investigation include U.S. Postal inspectors, the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Secret Service, U.S. Customs, Virginia State Police and Newport News, Hampton and Virginia Beach police. MEMO: Staff writer Juanita Raisor contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

ALBA BRAGOLI

Richard W. Teagle, standing center, once a powerful Peninsula

real-estate broker, is one of 43 people charged Thursday in a

nationwide sweep of alleged marijuana traffickers. Others, in

federal court in Norfolk, from left, are Terrence Lenard Everett,

Tina Louise Harrell Holland, Cassandra Crumble, Dichelle Jackson,

Leticia Renee Hicks, Patrick S. Crooks, Sean Antonio Rainey and

Michael Crumble.

Graphic

Color photo

MARK MITCHELL/The Virginian-Pilot

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