                                ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, February 6, 1996              TAG: 9602060066
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: Associated Press

2 CO-DEFENDANTS IN SELECTIVE PROSECUTION CASE GET PRISON TERMS

A federal judge has imposed prison sentences on two people who pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges shortly before another judge dismissed the cases against two co-defendants because of selective prosecution allegations.

A decision Dec. 20 by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson to dismiss drug conspiracy and money laundering indictments against Anthony L. Olvis and Angela D. Palmer did not affect the cases of Raymond S. Paige and Christopher M. Jones.

Paige, who pleaded guilty Oct. 25, was sentenced last week to 14 years in prison. Jones, who pleaded guilty Nov. 2, was sentenced to 171/2 years in prison. Both sentences do not allow parole.

Jackson dismissed the Olvis and Palmer cases after defense attorneys argued their clients were singled out for prosecution because they are black, and because federal prosecutors refused to turn over working papers to the judge.

The government has appealed Jackson's decision to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, and Jackson has postponed the cases of about 20 other defendants until the appeal is resolved.

All of the defendants in the drug prosecutions, including Paige and Jones, are black.

Jones asked U.S. District Judge Henry C. Morgan on Friday to withdraw his guilty plea. But he stood by a confession he gave to police about selling drugs for Olvis, and Morgan denied the withdrawal request.

Paige did not ask to withdraw his plea.

``Either you're guilty or you're not,'' said his attorney, Douglas Fredericks. ``Either you accept responsibility, or you don't.''

All of the defendants are alleged to have been members of one of three drug gangs that divided territories in and around Williamsburg to sell crack cocaine.

The attorneys for Olvis and Palmer contended that several white suspects were given immunity while black suspects were charged. The lawyers also produced records showing that, of 226 crack cases before the Norfolk court since 1992 where the defendant's race was known, 210 defendants were black.

The U.S. attorney's office has denied any selective prosecutions.

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by CNB