Pubdate: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 Source: Daily Press (VA) Copyright: 2002 The Daily Press Contact: http://www.dailypress.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/585 Author: Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption) PRISON COUNSELOR INDICTED IN CONNECTION WITH DRUG SMUGGLING RING ROANOKE, Va. -- A former counselor at Bland Correctional Center was indicted Wednesday on charges of participating in a drug smuggling ring. Vince T. Wolfe is accused of helping former DEA informant Michael Fulcher run a marijuana ring in the prison, according to an indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Roanoke. Wolfe, of West Virginia, is the second counselor to be charged since October in connection with the case, which appeared to be over until Judge Jackson Kiser ordered a new trial for Fulcher, his mother and his wife. In January 1999, Fulcher was indicted along with 21 others _ including four guards, nine inmates and others--on charges of distributing marijuana at the prison and laundering drug money from 1995 to 1997. Fulcher maintained that he dealt drugs as part of an undercover operation to target corrupt guards. He was convicted, but won a new trial based on the testimony of Don Lincoln, former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in Roanoke. Lincoln, who had worked with Fulcher on previous cases, said he may have inadvertently given the 41-year-old informant the impression that the DEA had approved of the undercover operation at Bland. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott said Wolfe was known to authorities at the time of the initial investigation, but was only recently located in West Virginia. If convicted, Wolfe faces up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. The Fulchers' trial is scheduled to begin April 15. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex