THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996 TAG: 9603260326
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CAPE CHARLES LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
More than 13 years after Dick Myers sent his clam boat Mary Jane out to sea to rendezvous with Latin American marijuana smugglers, the 66-year-old seafood plant operator has exhausted his appeals and will go to prison.
It was the night of Nov. 22, 1982, when the Mary Jane met the Colombian freighter Lago Izabal and brought in about 60,000 pounds of pot to Cape Charles.
It took prosecutors a long time to put a case together, but almost a decade later - in May of 1992 - Myers was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Since then, Myers' lawyers have filed a number of appeals that succeeded in keeping him free on bail.
In February, they tried one last time, arguing that Myers, a diabetic, shouldn't serve time because his health is failing and he could die in prison.
But on Monday, Circuit Judge Frederick B. Lowe of Virginia Beach rejected Myers' plea to substitute community service and electronic monitoring for the prison sentence.
``I feel relieved,'' said Commonwealth's Attorney Bruce Jones, who prosecuted the case. ``I think it would have struck a very serious blow to the perception of equal justice in Northampton County, had another decision been made.''
Jones said Myers could beeligible for parole in less than two years.
The court record of Myers' case is peopled with Colombian drug lords, observant senior citizens and turncoats.
On the night the Mary Jane met the Colombian freighter, Myers had two tractor-trailers, several moving vans, conveyor belts and men stationed on his large dock on the Cape Charles harbor. It is within sight of a Coast Guard station.
The ocean was rough that night, and as the pot was being loaded by crane onto the Mary Jane, the vessels crashed against each other. The Mary Jane was damaged.
When the clam boat returned to Cape Charles, the marijuana was unloaded quickly and shipped to Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to court records. But Myers refused to send the boat back out to the Lago Izabal for the rest of the shipment - about 28,000 pounds.
During the Eastern Shore operation, the drug runners had a mobile communications unit at Cherrystone Campground near Cape Charles.
A retired couple noticed the unit's large antenna, and they searched a trash can after the communications camper left. The couple found three pages of radio codes stuffed in a garbage bag, and notified the police.
Meanwhile, Wilfredo Cejas, identified by authorities as an organizer of the shipment and who was offered immunity in Virginia to testify against Myers, was forced to take the Lago Izabal with the remainder of the shipment to Georgia.
Cejas and his crew were arrested as they were trying to land the pot. Federal authorities seized the Lago Izabal; the Gigi, a shrimp boat; the communications camper; and seven other vehicles. Thirty-eight people were indicted in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio on conspiracy charges by a federal grand jury.
The trail led back to Virginia's Eastern Shore, where a jury found Myers guilty of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, and recommended a 10-year sentence. He was released on a $100,000 bail, pending appeal.
Since 1992, Myers has exhausted the appeals process. The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld his conviction. The state Supreme Court at first dismissed his appeal, then heard it twice. Myers was unsuccessful both times. Later, the U.S. Supreme court denied his request for a hearing.
Finally, in February, Myers was picked up and put in the Northampton County Jail. His lawyers tried another time, telling Judge Low on Feb. 27 that Myers wasn't healthy enough to survive in prison.
``This is not the case of a rich man asking for special treatment,'' said Myers' attorney, Richard Brydges of Virginia Beach. ``It's an old offense and it's not worth the death penalty.''
The prosecutor, Bruce Jones, argued that the Department of Corrections is able to care for the medical needs of prisoners. Besides, said Jones, Myers had spent the past several years, while on bail, traveling the U.S. and abroad.
``I don't want this case to justify a cynical view of the criminal justice system,'' said Jones. ``What would it say to the public to let this man out? They could fairly interpret it, that if you have enough resources, maybe you don't have to go (to jail) at all.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Dick Myers, 66, was sentenced in 1992 to 10 years. He's been free
pending appeals.
KEYWORDS: ARREST MARIJUANA APPEAL POT SMUGGLING by CNB