DATE: Tuesday, October 21, 1997             TAG: 9710210237

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   94 lines

FORMER PENINSULA REAL ESTATE TYCOON ON TRIAL FEEBLE AND SHAKING AND IN A WHEELCHAIR, HE IS ACCUSED OF HELPING DRUG GANG.

Richard W. Teagle dominated the Peninsula real estate market in the 1970s, selling millions of dollars in residential and commercial real estate. At its peak, Teagle Realty Inc. had 250 employees in offices stretching from Williamsburg to Hampton to Smithfield.

But Monday, Teagle was feeble, pale and shaking as he faced a jury in federal court to answer charges that he used what was left of his real estate empire to help a Jamaican gang import tons of marijuana into Hampton Roads.

Despite arguments that Teagle, who suffers from a liver disease and cancer, was too ill to sit through weeks of trial, the 70-year-old sat attentively in a special therapeutic reclining chair, an oxygen tank by his side.

Teagle even took notes as prosecutors told the jury that he laundered money for members of the gang, collected more than $100,000 in drug money for rent, and even argued over the purchase price for marijuana when buying it himself.

``Teagle was a crucial member'' of the gang, federal prosecutor Fernando Groene said. ``He was needed by them to operate. Without Teagle, there could have been no business.''

But Teagle's attorney, Murray Janus, told the jury that Teagle was ``naive'' to the drug-dealing ways of a younger generation. ``What he is not is a large marijuana dealer in the mail shipping business,'' Janus said.

Janus said Teagle had purchased the marijuana for a sick friend, believing he could do so under current medical marijuana laws.

Teagle rolled into the courtroom in a wheelchair Monday morning, then was transferred to a prescription chair ordered by his doctor for the trial. A plastic tube ran from his nose to an oxygen tank. During breaks, his son, Realtor Dickie Teagle, offered him drinks through a straw from a purple plastic cup.

Judge Henry Coke Morgan, who denied Teagle's earlier request that his trial be delayed due to his illness, ruled that Teagle can remain seated during the proceedings.

Before making his decision, Morgan called a security officer to the stand. The officer said that at an earlier hearing, Teagle had walked unaided into the courtroom, then stopped at a courtroom door to ask for assistance.

Teagle's appearance Monday was in sharp contrast to the scenes painted by Groene during opening arguments. Groene said Teagle provided numerous apartments for the Jamaican drug gang knowing the gang members were using the apartments to package and distribute marijuana.

Of 42 alleged gang members, only four remain to be tried. They include the alleged local head of the gang, the alleged Los Angeles supplier, Teagle and another alleged gang member. Most other gang members have pleaded guilty or negotiated plea bargains and are expected to testify during the two-week trial.

Among those expected to testify are Teagle's secretary of 35 years, Groene told the jury Monday. She will tell of writing checks to a gang member for painting that was allegedly never done, an act she believed was wrong, Groene said.

The check was one example of money laundering in the case, Groene said. The gang member allegedly handed Teagle $400 in cash each week, in exchange for a paycheck.

Federal agents used extensive wire-tapping and surveillance to collect evidence of $13 million in cash payments to Los Angeles suppliers, much of it wired via Western Union, and thousands of pounds of marijuana shipped through the postal service.

``This case started by following the money,'' Groene told the jury Monday. ``By following the money, the government was able to identify and eradicate one tentacle of a large marijuana-shipping business.''

Wiretaps allegedly captured Teagle purchasing marijuana for ``a sick old lady,'' Groene said. When quoted a price of $1,300 a pound, Teagle argued about the price, saying he could get it for $900. Federal agents also have tapes of Teagle saying, ``I don't care what you do (for a living), I just want my money.'' Groene said at the very least Teagle was guilty of ``willful blindness.''

The government plans to seize more than $1 million in real estate owned by Teagle Realty Inc., including Teagle's former office building on the Peninsula, which is assessed at $661,100. Additional properties worth about $350,000 could also be seized, court papers show.

Groene said the properties Teagle provided had been vacant and could not be rented because they were in undesirable areas. Teagle made over $100,000 in rent, he said, often by charging exorbitant late fees. Teagle also made it possible for the gang members to have utilities and telephone service, Groene said. Many were illegal aliens, did not have credit or even identification to apply for those services, he said.

``He knows what they're up to,'' Groene said. ``He's seen them count money, seen them smoking marijuana and taken rental payments in $20 bills.''

On one surveillance tape, Groene said, a gang member calls out a warning to others that ``a white guy'' is outside. The others reassure him that ``it's just Teagle. He knows all about it,'' Groene said, quoting the tape. ILLUSTRATION: ALBA BRAGOLI illustration

Key participants in the trial of Richard W. Teagle Monday were, from

left in foreground, federal prosecutor Fernando Groene; defendants

Anthony Sims Jr. and Roger Stewart; Teagle, with oxygen tube, seated

right in background; Judge Henry Coke Morgan; and defense attorneys

Murray Janus and Sam Meekins. KEYWORDS: EMBEZZLEMENT DRUG ARREST TRIAL

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