
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 29, 1990                   TAG: 9003290294
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: MARION                                LENGTH: Medium

21 ARRESTED IN SMYTH DRUG SWEEP

The Tri-County Drug Task Force had arrested 21 people in the Smyth County area Wednesday on 36 indictments returned a day earlier by a grand jury.

Those indicted this time included two men charged in 10 drug-related arrests two weeks ago in Smyth and Washington counties - James Charles Robbins of Chilhowie, charged with possession and distribution of cocaine and misdemeanor possession of marijuana, and Jerry Lee Mitchell of Saltville, two counts of cocaine distribution.

James Rickey Kestner of Saltville was charged with two counts of cocaine distribution, one of cocaine possession and one of misdemeanor marijuana possession; Jackie C. Frye Jr., Saltville, two counts of marijuana distribution and one of methamphetamine distribution, and David Evans, Seven Mile Ford, distribution of methamphetamine and cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Charged with distribution of cocaine were Steven M. Blevins, Chilhowie, two counts; Edward Earl Pickle, Seven Mile Ford; Janet Long Watson, Marion; Glen and Rita Able, Chilhowie; Stanley Arnold, Saltville; and James Dean Testerman, Marion.

Charged with distribution and conspiracy to distribute cocaine were Mark Wade Hayden, Marion; Drew B. Feigley, Atkins; and Edgar Bryan Parks, Marion.

Greg Satterfield, Seven Mile Ford; Rickey Allen Gillespie and Mackie J. Debord, both of Saltville; and Lacy Franklin Farmer, Marion, were charged with distribution of marijuana. Farmer and Keavon Roosevelt Thompson, Marion, were charged with attempted distribution of marijuana, and Gregory Allen Barr, Chilhowie, misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

The indictments and arrests followed a year-long undercover operation and included the seizure of five vehicles valued at a total of $28,000.

Wythe County Sheriff Wayne Pike said Wednesday that recent mass drug arrests stem from a pact made by him, Smyth County Sheriff Jerry Archer and Bland County Sheriff T.J. Roseberry to bring regional drug distribution problems under control.

"Our cocaine situation now outdistances our marijuana situation about two-to-one, and it used to be just the opposite," Pike said. "You don't have one major supplier, you've got lots of suppliers . . . If we arrest 10 people for drug distribution, they might have 10 different suppliers."

by CNB