Pubdate: Fri, 09 Aug 2002 Source: Times Union (Albany, NY) Copyright: 2002 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation Contact: http://www.timesunion.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/452 Author: Andrew Tilghman Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) WIRETAPS PRODUCE DRUG CHARGES Albany -- Indictment Alleges Dirt Race Car Team Owner, Others, Sold Hundreds of Pounds of Marijuana The owner of a racing team at the Lebanon Valley Speedway and six others are facing federal charges that they sold hundreds of pounds of marijuana in the Capital Region and western Massachusetts. Closing a yearlong federal wiretap investigation, authorities arrested seven people -- one in New York, three in Massachusetts and three in Arizona -- last week, and also seized cars, cash and real estate worth more than $1 million. A federal grand jury indicted the suspects Wednesday. On Thursday, two men -- Thomas Overbaugh, 40, owner of Overbaugh Motorsports who lives in Hancock, Mass., and Bernard O'Neil, of Stephentown - -- pleaded not guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to possess and sell marijuana. Federal agents said they found $262,972 in cash stored behind a wall in the Rensselaer County home that O'Neil rents from Overbaugh. The government plans to seize the Stephentown property, a mountaintop estate estimated to be worth more than $800,000. Prosecutors said from 1998 to 2002 the men purchased between 400 and 700 pounds of Mexican-grown marijuana from a man in Arizona, who would periodically deliver the drugs to a "stash house" in the Columbia County town of New Lebanon. The local men allegedly sold the marijuana in multiple-pound bundles to local drug dealers. U.S. Magistrate Judge Randolph Treece set bail for Overbaugh and O'Neil at $300,000. If convicted on the single count of conspiracy to sell drugs, the men could face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine. Overbaugh, the father of two children ages 11 and 9, also is the owner of Taconic Valley Trucking Co. in Pittsfield, a hauling company with about 40 employees serving upstate New York and western Massachusetts. The trucking business has fallen deeply in debt, and Overbaugh "was using marijuana money to make payroll at his business," Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian said in court on Thursday. Overbaugh's attorney, Dennis Schlenker of Albany, said last week's searches had found no large quantities of drugs in Overbaugh's home and said the government was pressing the flimsy case against Overbaugh "based on relationships with people he has had over the years." As the owner of a racing team, Overbaugh sponsors two dirt race car drivers and employs a manager and crew members. The team fields entries at Lebanon Valley and at racetracks throughout upstate New York. Also included in the federal indictment were two Pittsfield, Mass., residents. Shane Power, 31, and Charles Smith, 41, appeared in federal court in Springfield, Mass., on Wednesday and were released on $50,000 bail pending their arraignment in Albany. Three others from Tucson, Ariz. -- Kevin Driscoll, 41, his wife, Terry Driscoll, 41, and James Womble, 41 -- are expected to appear today federal court in Tucson and may be extradited to Albany to face the charges. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager