THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 21, 1995 TAG: 9510210310
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 235 lines
If Ivan Fitzherbert Lovell had served even one-sixth of the time he was sentenced to spend in prison, he would still be behind bars and would not have been driving through Maryland this week.
A Maryland state trooper would not have been able to pull him over for speeding. And the trooper's 7-month-old daughter might still have a dad.
Instead, the 25-year-old Outer Banks drug dealer who has been in and out of jail for seven years was paroled from North Carolina prisons in June 1994 after serving less than a year of a 12-year sentence.
And on Tuesday, Lovell and a companion were arrested about 30 miles north of the Virginia border and charged with first-degree murder in the trooper's death. Officers found a pound of crack and powder cocaine in the car. They recovered a .45-caliber handgun near where they apprehended Lovell.
``If that guy had been in jail like he should've been, that officer would still be out there, working to keep the streets safe,'' said North Carolina Highway Patrol Sgt. P.D. Scheppf. ``Instead, I've got a dead brother trooper in Maryland now who was murdered by a known criminal in our area.
``It's demoralizing to see this happen,'' Scheppf said from his Kill Devil Hills station. ``We're risking our lives to get these people off the streets. Then, we have no control over what happens to them.
``This case is an opportunity to expose the problems with our criminal justice system - and, hopefully, correct some of them.''
Maryland authorities said Lovell was delivering drugs from New York to North Carolina when Maryland State Trooper Edward A. Plank, 28, pulled over a car with North Carolina license plates for speeding on U.S. 13 about 1 a.m. Tuesday. The driver signed one name on the ticket, then scratched it out and signed another. The trooper became suspicious and returned to his car to call for backup.
When Plank approached the suspects' vehicle a second time, shots were fired from the driver's side of the car - hitting the trooper in the face. Plank died a few hours later at a Maryland hospital. He is survived by a wife and child.
Police charged Lovell, the driver, and passenger William Smith Lynch, 21, who also lived on the Outer Banks, with first-degree murder.
On Friday, more than 1,000 law enforcement officers turned out for Plank's funeral. Lovell was in satisfactory condition in a Maryland hospital, suffering from wounds that Plank's partner, Dennis Lord, inflicted by shooting him in the head and right arm. Lynch was in a Maryland jail, being held without bond.
Maryland officials have said both men could face the death penalty.
Lovell's ability to avoid long terms behind bars upset Outer Banks officers who knew him.
``It's very frustrating to see this happen,'' said Assistant District Attorney Robert Trivette, who lives in Kill Devil Hills and prosecuted Lovell during a 1993 trial for cocaine distribution. ``We have taken care of this guy the best we could in our system. But the system's not working well. It's a huge problem.
``This guy pled guilty to three 10-year felonies in 1988. He was tried and convicted of two drug charges in 1993. Over the past seven years, he was sentenced to serve 34 and a half years in prison,'' Trivette said.
``But he was released on parole against our objections. It's crazy. Even the people who work in the system become somewhat cynical when all their efforts just feel like a waste of time.''
Apparently a native of Elizabeth City, Lovell has lived on the Outer Banks since at least 1988. Court records show he dropped out of school in 10th grade and listed his profession as ``musician.'' He also goes by the name Donovan Ault.
Lynch, 21, had recently been staying with Lovell - and a giant boa constrictor - in a Kill Devil Hills trailer. Although he was not as well known around town as his roommate, Lynch also had a police record after being convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession in April. In August, Lynch was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and was scheduled to be tried in that case next month.
Since 1988, when he was 18, Lovell has been charged with five counts of possession of cocaine with the intent to sell and deliver, four counts of delivering cocaine and at least six other cocaine-related crimes in Dare County alone.
Lovell pleaded guilty to three counts of selling cocaine and one count of maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of selling a controlled substance. A jury found him guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to sell and deliver and keeping a dwelling for selling controlled substances. A parole board released Lovell from prison on June 11, 1994 - just eight months after the jury sentenced him to 12 years behind bars.
Less than a year later, three acquaintances charged Lovell with three separate counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Lovell was on supervised parole until 1999 and was not supposed to leave the state without permission. He was scheduled to be tried for two assault cases on Oct. 26 and for the third one on Nov. 16. Despite all of his convictions, he was not considered a ``habitual offender'' in North Carolina because some of the new crimes were committed before the old ones had been prosecuted.
For the courts to label someone a ``habitual offender,'' the person has to have committed a crime and been convicted of that crime three times. But each crime has to be committed after the person was convicted of the previous crime, Trivette explained. Lovell committed some of his crimes before he was convicted of the earlier offenses.
``He made so much money selling crack that going to jail was just part of doing his business,'' Trivette said of Lovell, who was assigned court-appointed attorneys because he claimed he was indigent. ``This guy knew the system. And I can tell you why he kept getting out of prison: They just don't have any room.''
North Carolina Parole Commission Director Sam Boyd agreed with the prosecutor's assessment. ``We've had to do a lot of unloading of the prison system in the interest of keeping inmate numbers down,'' Boyd said Friday from his Raleigh office.
``It's not highly unusual to parole someone like this who doesn't have any violent crimes on his record,'' Boyd said. ``He gets earned time by working and gains time for good behavior. You have to parole people you probably wouldn't ordinarily want to because of the space requirements.''
``If we get 500 people coming into our prisons, we have to let the same number out. We opt toward letting the less violent, non-assaultive population out first,'' the state's parole director said. ``That's part of our dilemma, though. The prison population just has to keep pace with the available cell space.''
Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said he doesn't blame the police, the prosecutors or the prisons. He faults the entire system. And he agrees something needs to change to keep repeat offenders from committing more crimes.
``I, along with all of the other people in Dare County, am upset that a trooper with a wife and kid had to be blown away for drug money,'' Owens said Friday. ``There's an enormous amount of drugs coming into the Outer Banks. The situation down here is worse now that it's ever been.
``Drugs are rampant in our school system. They're all over the corners of our communities. I know there's a serious problem,'' said Owens. ``But I'm not sure what to do. The system has broken down. What gets me is that law enforcement officers know who these guys are, they arrest them, but we can't keep them in jail.''
Kill Devil Hills Police Chief James Gradeless agrees. ``It's infuriating to get someone behind bars - only to have them let out again so they can commit more crimes,'' said the chief. ``It's unreal. The whole situation is very spooky.''
Scheppf called it scary.
``Our criminal justice system is all we've got. And we've got to make the best of it until it's improved,'' said the trooper.
``The way it's going right now, though, it's got to make the law-abiding, tax-paying public wonder what will happen five or 10 years down the road.'' MEMO: CHRONOLOGY OF CHARGES\ This list of legal actions in Dare County
against Ivan Fitzherbert Lovell, 25, a/k/a Donovan Ault, was compiled
from court, police, prison, parole and prosecutors' records. Criminal
records, if any, in other areas were not known.
SEPT. 20, 1988 During State Bureau of Investigations undercover
operation, Lovell sells 0.6 grams of cocaine to an undercover officer.
SEPT. 21, 1988 As part of the same sting, Lovell sells 12.9 grams of
cocaine to the same officer.
OCT. 14, 1988 Trying to get Lovell on trafficking amounts of cocaine,
the officer asks to buy more than 28 grams. Lovell agrees to sell that
amount, but shorts the bag.
DEC. 5, 1988 Warrants are issued for Lovell's arrest. He is charged
with three counts of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute,
three counts of selling cocaine, and three counts of delivering cocaine.
But officers cannot locate him to serve the arrest warrants.
JULY 2, 1989 An informant tells police that Lovell is outside an
Elizabeth City pool hall. Officers apprehend Lovell and retrieve a bag,
which contains 3.7 grams of crack cocaine. Lovell goes to jail for 83
days, until his court date.
SEPT. 25, 1989 Lovell pleads guilty to selling cocaine on Sept. 20,
Sept. 21 and Oct. 14. In exchange for the guilty plea, the district
attorney drops the possession and delivery charges from those dates and
the possession charge from July. Lovell is sentenced to six and a half
years in jail and ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution and fines.
MAY 6, 1991 Lovell is let out of prison. He does not have any parole
conditions or any mandated supervision.
SEPT. 9, 1992 Lovell sells 1.8 grams of cocaine for $100 to an
undercover Dare County sheriff's deputy. He is not arrested at this time
because officers hope to get him on trafficking charges.
MAY 2, 1993 Lovell was known to be operating a ``crack house'' in
Southern Shores. Officers stake out the house and use informants to
monitor activities. Police issue a search warrant and find 7.4 grams of
cocaine in the house. Lovell wasn't home at the time.
JUNE 1993 (exact date not available) Dare County Grand Jury indicts
Lovell. It charges him with possession of cocaine with intent to sell
and deliver, maintaining a dwelling for selling a controlled substance
and manufacturing cocaine in the Sept. 9 incident. Grand jury charges
him with possession of cocaine and maintaining a dwelling for the
purpose of selling a controlled substance in the May 2 incident. Lovell
is arrested and sent to the Dare County jail.
NOV. 5, 1993 A jury finds Lovell guilty of possession of cocaine with
intent to sell and deliver in the Sept. 9 incident. He is sentenced to
10 years in prison and given credit for 145 days he spent in jail
awaiting trial. The jury also finds Lovell guilty of a misdemeanor for
keeping a dwelling for the keeping and selling of controlled substances.
He is sentenced to two years in prison, to be served after the 10-year
sentence expires. He is ordered to pay $400 in restitution.
JAN. 18, 1994 Lovell pleads guilty to selling and delivering cocaine
and maintaining a dwelling for selling a controlled substance in the May
2 incident. In exchange for the guilty plea, the district attorney drops
the manufacturing charge. Lovell is sentenced to eight years in prison,
to be served simultaneously with the 10-year sentence. He is given
credit for 148 days he spent in jail and ordered to pay $557 in
restitution.
JUNE 11, 1994 Lovell is paroled from prison. He is to be supervised
by a parole officer until his parole expires in April, 1999. As part of
his parole provisions, Lovell is told not to leave the state without the
permission of his parole officer; not to commit any crimes; to allow his
residence to be searched without a search warrant; to perform 32 hours
of community service per month for at least six months; and to pay
$1,200 in fines.
MAY 20, 1995 An acquaintance swears out a warrant against Lovell for
assault with a deadly weapon. According to the warrant, Lovell stabbed
the man with a screwdriver ``several times in the chest, shoulder and
arm.'' Lovell is released on $200 bond. His case is scheduled for Sept.
14, then postponed until Oct. 12, then postponed until Nov. 16.
SEPT. 3, 1995 A female acquaintance swears out a warrant against
Lovell for assault with a deadly weapon. According to the warrant,
Lovell tried to force her to drive off the road. Lovell is released on
$500 bond. His case is scheduled for Oct. 26.
SEPT. 5, 1995 A different female acquaintance with the same last name
as the woman in the Sept. 5 incident swears out a warrant against Lovell
for assault with a deadly weapon. According to the warrant, Lovell drove
into oncoming traffic and tried to hit her car head-on. His case is
scheduled for Oct. 26.
SEPT. 6, 1995 The same women who charged Lovell with the Sept. 3 and
5 incidents swear out a warrant against him for communicating threats
and second-degree trespassing. The communicating threats warrant is not
served on Lovell. The trespassing case is scheduled for Oct. 26.
OCT. 17, 1995 A Maryland state trooper stops Lovell for speeding on
U.S. 13, just north of the Virginia border. When the trooper comes back
to the driver's side of the car, shots are fired from inside. The
trooper is hit in the face and dies in a hospital a few hours later. His
partner apparently shoots Lovell in the head and right arm. Police find
a pound of crack and powder cocaine and some marijuana in the car.
OCT. 18, 1995 Maryland police charge Lovell with first-degree murder.
Under state statutes, the crime is punishable by the death penalty.
Lovell is in satisfactory condition in a Maryland hospital.
ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Ivan Fitzherbert Lovell
William Smith Lynch
KEYWORDS: MURDER PAROLE HABITUAL CRIMINAL DRUG DEALER by CNB