Pubdate: Thu, 08 Jan 2004
Source: Dominion Post, The (Morgantown, WV)
Copyright: 2004 The Dominion Post
Contact:  http://www.dominionpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1426
Author: Misty Poe Phillips

DRUG TASK FORCE BENEFITS FROM FORFEITURES

Officers Win Award for Law Enforcement

Ten of 11 Fairmont heroin traffickers are behind bars serving a
combined sentence of 358 months following an 11-month investigation by
the Mon County Drug Task Force, U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Johnson
announced Wednesday.

Crime didn't pay for the traffickers because Johnston presented a
forfeiture sharing check to the task force Wednesday in the amount of
$10,970.30, as well as the Award for Excellence in Law
Enforcement.

The forfeiture check and the award recognize the efforts of the task
force in stopping what Johnston referred to as a "pocket" heroin
problem in Fairmont.

The investigation that led to the arrest of 11 people in the Fairmont
and Monongah areas of Marion County was known as "Operation
Bricklayer" and concluded in November 2002.

The check Johnston presented is the task force's share of money seized
under the forfeiture laws of the United States. The money is the
profit from a piece of real estate surrendered by Eric Everhart, who
was sentenced in May 2003 to 110 months imprisonment for his role in
the distribution of heroin in Fairmont.

"The forfeiture laws allow law enforcement agencies to hit drug
dealers where it hurts, in the wallet," Johnston said.

The money will be used to continue the fight against drug use and
distribution in north-central West Virginia, Fairmont Police Chief Ted
Offutt said.

The Mon Valley Drug Task Force, established in 1991, is made up of
undercover officers from the Marion and Monongalia county sheriff's
departments and the Fairmont and Morgantown police departments. The
federal Drug Enforcement Agency also participated i* the
investigation.

Operation Bricklayer resulted in indictments that included heroin and
cocaine possession and distribution charges, conspiracy to distribute
heroin, interstate travel in aid of racketeering conspiracy and
several counts of maintaining a residence for the purpose of
distributing and using controlled substances. Approximately 300
"bricks" of heroin were seized during the investigation, which has a
street value of $12,000 to $15,000, Johnston said.

The 10 accused traffickers now serving time in the federal prison
system made plea agreements and are required to participate in the
ongoing investigation of heroin distributing in the area as well as
surrounding states., Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Parr said
Wednesday. The 11th defendant has signed a plea agreement and will be
sentenced in court today.

"We can quantify the drug trade in terms of dollars, in terms of
bricks of heroin and we can assign numbers to those items to get a
sense of the scope of an individual's drug trade. However, there is no
way to fully understand the extent of the damage done by the
activities of these drug dealers in this community," Johnston said.

Offutt said that when a drug ring is present in a community, the
number of related crimes increase dramatically from theft to assault
to prostitution, all to feed ever-increasing drug habits.

"The variety of drug crimes run the whole gamut of what we deal with,"
Offutt said.

The task force began to investigate a possible drug trafficking ring
in Fairmont when autopsy reports linked the deaths of seven people to
heroin overdoses in 2001, he explained.

"Heroin is an especially evil drug. It is both extremely addictive and
extremely deadly," Johnston said. "Unfortunately, it has come to this
community, addicting people and ruining lives."

The officers on the task force know that their work isn't complete.
The seized money will go far toward the task force's continuing
efforts to investigate and prosecute drug dealers in Marion and Mon
counties, Marion County Sheriff Junior Slaughter said.

"I feel we're winning the battle, but there will be other battles,"
Slaughter said.

But the arrests and prosecution of the drug ring in Fairmont will go
further toward stopping the drug trade in the area, Johnston said.

"There are others who are still dealing drugs in this and other
communities throughout the Northern District of West Virginia,"
Johnston said. "Those who have not been charged have a message now.
Your drug trade is not welcome here. Not in Fairmont, not in Marion
County, not in Northern West Virginia. And if you do bring your drugs
here, you will find that you face excellent, committed law enforcement
and a strong and determined community that will shut you down and
prosecute you."
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