Pubdate: Tue, 09 Jul 2002
Source: Virginian-Pilot (VA)
Copyright: 2002, The Virginian-Pilot
Contact:  http://www.pilotonline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/483
Author: Tim Mcglone, The Virginian-Pilot
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

JUDGE TOSSES OUT CHARGES AGAINST MAN IN DRUG DEATH

NORFOLK -- Lloyd B. Tankersley Jr. walked out of federal court a free man 
Monday after a judge dismissed charges that he supplied the club drug 
Ecstasy to a young woman who later overdosed and died. This is the third 
time prosecutors have failed to successfully bring drug charges against 
Tankersley.

``Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God,'' Tankersley said after his release 
from custody Monday.

Family and friends who gathered at the steps of the U.S. District Court 
awaiting Tankersley's release condemned the government's actions. They said 
Tankersley has never dealt drugs.

Tankersley was accused of supplying Ecstasy to several people, including 
Shenley Streeter, 21, a sailor from Michigan who was stationed in Norfolk. 
Streeter was found dead in her car on Sept. 12 in the parking lot of a 
small shopping center on East Bay View Boulevard in Norfolk. An autopsy 
showed she died from Ecstasy poisoning.

Tankersley was charged last week with manufacturing, distributing or 
dispensing Ecstasy. He was not directly charged with Streeter's death. 
However, the prison time for a conviction on the charges increases -- from 
a maximum of 20 years to 20 years to life -- if the government can show 
that the drug dealing led to someone's death.

The government said Tankersley had served in the Navy, but that could not 
be confirmed. Friends said Monday that he served in the Coast Guard and had 
jobs with a local radio station and as a cook.

Court records said that several unidentified witnesses told agents that 
Streeter purchased Ecstasy from Tankersley on Sept. 9, took one of the 
pills on Sept. 10 and then went back to Tankersley for more on Sept. 11. 
The records do not indicate that Streeter purchased more than two pills 
from Tankersley. When confronted by Norfolk police and federal agents, 
Tankersley denied ever selling drugs, according to court records.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents first learned of Tankersley by 
sifting through the garbage of a couple in Chesapeake who were arrested and 
later convicted of manufacturing Ecstasy in their home.

As the investigation unfolded and more Ecstasy dealers were arrested, 
several unidentified suspects named Tankersley as a dealer, court records 
said. One informant told agents that Tankersley sold about 220 Ecstasy 
pills during six months last year, the records said.

A complaint filed in federal court last week said Tankersley cried when 
confronted by one of Streeter's friends about her death. He told the friend 
he had given her only one pill, the complaint said.

Prosecutors on Monday were in court for a preliminary hearing to determine 
whether there was enough evidence to present the case against Tankersley to 
a grand jury.

Magistrate Judge Tommy E. Miller ruled that the government failed to 
produce enough evidence, and ordered Tankersley freed. He did not explain 
or elaborate on his decision.

When Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa R. McKeel tried to ask a question after 
the decision, the judge snapped at her, ``Sit down.'' She declined to 
comment afterward.

The government can now try to obtain an indictment from a grand jury, 
bypassing the preliminary hearing stage. Officials in the U.S. attorney's 
office said later Monday that a decision had not been made.

Earlier Monday, federal prosecutors dismissed a related charge against 
Tankersley in favor of pursuing the drug charge that included Streeter's death.

Additionally, drug charges stemming from the same investigation and filed 
June 3 in Virginia Beach Circuit Court were dismissed last week in favor of 
the federal prosecution, officials said.

Tankersley's attorney, Larry M. Dash, an assistant federal public defender, 
said he wasn't surprised by the judge's decision.

Friends and family were outraged that the government had brought a case 
against him.

``I think it stinks,'' said Tankersley's mother, Laura Chapman. ``I just 
give all praise to God,'' she said. ``I know he will bring the truth out.''

Tankersley ``did not ever sell drugs,'' said friend Chris Rabalais.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom