Pubdate: Fri, 30 Dec 2005 Source: News & Advance, The (VA) Copyright: 2005 Media General Contact: http://www.newsadvance.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2087 Author: Dionne Waugh Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) HANDLING 'NEXT BIG DRUG PROBLEM' When Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy first began prosecuting methamphetamine cases, he didn't know much about the drug. Now, Heaphy knows the homemade drug is cheap to make, can be injected or snorted and that it hooks people easily. He's also seen the devastating consequences for upstanding community members who never intended to lose their money, their relationships and lives to a drug rising in use across the country - including Central Virginia - and quickly becoming the next big drug problem. "I was surprised and discouraged at how addictive and how quickly it changed people's lives," Heaphy said as he sat in a conference room inside his Charlottesville office. "It's like they fell off a cliff. It affects every relationship, their livelihoods. It ages them. I didn't fully appreciate it until I saw it." Heaphy, 41, is the key federal prosecutor in the case of the first large Central Virginia meth ring that several local law enforcement agencies busted in 2003 after a more than three-year investigation. Fifteen people were initially arrested and charged with federal drug possession and distribution, but the bust led to several other spin-off investigations and even more arrests.Those arrested have either pleaded guilty, been convicted or are still awaiting trial in the Lynchburg Federal Courthouse. "The case was built largely on insider information. There was some physical evidence, but (for the most part) people were charged, pleaded guilty and told us about others," Heaphy said. The cases differed from others Heaphy has worked on because they relied on the word of felons, which is harder to prove to a jury. But those charged corroborated some of the other's stories, he said. The original 15 people charged have been convicted and most have already been sentenced. "It's been very successful. All have been held accountable, even those that helped us," Heaphy said. FBI Special Agent Mark MacKizer, who worked closely with Heaphy on the case, said Heaphy sees the prosecution as a team effort. "He relies on us to fully gather all the facts and make a determination of their level (of culpability) and he asks us point blank for our opinion," MacKizer said. "During the prosecution phase, he's very cognizant of our view so there's great communication between law enforcement and him as a prosecutor, which effectively makes the team approach more viable." MacKizer also calls Heaphy aggressive, in the sense that he's willing to try the tough cases, even by himself if necessary. "He's well informed, in the sense that he really knows his cases," MacKizer said. "He takes a personal involvement, not (like he has) a stake in the case but that he takes the time to really know the cases and be prepared. He's extremely thorough and has a strong sense of justice."Heaphy said he's always wanted to do something that had an impact on people's lives. "This does. It's really satisfying and interesting. The human dimension is like no other," he said. "You see real courage. You see real pain." Heaphy graduated from the University of Virginia in 1986 with a Bachelor's Degree in English and earned his law degree in 1991. After that, he served as a law clerk for the Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., before working for a private law firm in San Francisco. He returned in 1994 to Washington, where he worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney for nine years. He transferred to the U.S. Attorney's Charlottesville division, which is one of three offices in the Western District of Virginia, three years ago. Heaphy said he didn't know much about meth before prosecuting the cases here because the drug wasn't a big problem in Washington. The chemically addictive drug makes people feel exhilarated, allowing them to stay awake for hours, and even days, he said. But after such a ride, users will crash hard, often sleeping for a 24 hours straight, MacKizer said. The drug impairs a person's cognitive abilities and can cause physical problems, such as skin ulcers. And, unlike cocaine or heroin, which have to be imported, meth can be made by mixing common household products. Some of the people prosecuted in the Central Virginia meth ring were truck drivers, Heaphy said, who first used meth just to stay awake. Then they began to need the drug. "It's a hard drug to use selectively. Once it gets its claws in you, it pulls you down," he said. Not only does the government need to prosecute meth users and dealers, but it also needs to provide proper recovery treatments, Heaphy said. He hopes that his federal prosecution has made an impact on people. "I don't believe we've stopped people from using," he said. "But I hope that people now have to calculate into their decision to do this the risk involved. Now they have to factor in (the possibility of) federal prosecution." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom