Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 8, 1994 TAG: 9401080083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Keith Neely was convicted last March of using his law office to help smuggle drugs and launder drug profits. A jury also found him guilty of possessing cocaine for his own use, and of giving marijuana to a court reporter who slipped him secret grand jury testimony.
At a hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, defense attorney Tom Blaylock accused federal prosecutors of withholding information that could have helped Neely during the trial.
Blaylock, who has 17 years of experience as both a commonwealth's attorney and defense lawyer, called it the "dirtiest prosecution that has ever come to this valley."
He asked Judge Jackson Kiser to dismiss the charges against Neely based on prosecutorial misconduct - a request that Kiser had earlier denied.
Neely, who faces up to 12 years in Neeley prison, was to be sentenced Friday. But the sentencing was rescheduled to Jan. 28 after Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Peters asked for more time to respond to Blaylock's allegations.
Blaylock argued that prosecutors repeatedly violated court rules by failing to give him evidence he could have used to discredit witnesses who testified against Neely.
The issue of prosecutorial misconduct has come up before during Neely's case; Kiser barred the testimony of one witness after ruling the defense was not properly informed of his drug activity.
"It stinks," Blaylock said. "It is not fair. It is a violation of every principle this court stands for.
"The prosecution has lost their objectivity because they want Mr. Neely so bad," Blaylock said. "They don't care about fairness. . . . All they want is a conviction so they can send him off."
Peters has denied defense allegations that she was out to get Neely because of his flamboyant, flashy lifestyle and aggressive representation of clients, including many drug dealers.
As for the allegations that prosecutors withheld evidence, Peters said she gave Neely's defense thousands of pages of documents pertaining to the case.
Peters said she also gave them tips that were ignored "simply so they could come into court and yell and scream" about being denied information.
At last year's trial, the key evidence against Neely came from several convicted or admitted drug dealers who were given immunity or reduced sentences for their testimony.
They testified that Neely acted as a middleman, helping drug suppliers and buyers arrange deals - often from his Christiansburg office. The key witness was Donald Kimbler, a former federal firearms agent from Florida who testified that he brought cocaine to Montgomery County with Neely's help. Since the trial, Kimbler has died of cancer.
Kimbler claimed that Neely got one-third of the profits of a business that imported about 19 pounds of cocaine from 1986 to 1989.
Witness credibility was a key issue throughout the trial.
Responding to complaints that she withheld information on some witnesses, Peters said Neely was in the best position to know. "Keith Neely is in a far better postion than [the FBI] to find all of this dirty laundry," she said.
by CNB