The owner of a defunct ******ia Beach nightclub who has ties to the rap stars Clipse has been charged in U.S. District Court with leading a $10 million drug ring.
An unnamed police officer also is listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 60-page indictment.
Federal authorities say the six-year drug operation was based at the former club Encore Lounge and led by the club's owner, Anthony Gonzalez.
The indictment says Gonzalez bought the club at 1889 ******ia Beach Blvd. in November 2007 from an unidentified co-conspirator for 40 pounds of marijuana and about $80,000 in drug proceeds. The club closed earlier this year after more than 100 incidents of violence, shootings, drug dealing and disorderly conduct.
The 82-count indictment charges Gonzalez, 34, of Chesapeake and six others in a drug conspiracy that stretches from Hampton Roads across the country to South America and back. Police and federal agents were still searching for Gonzalez, also known as Geezy, as of late Monday.
Two suspected underlings, brothers Raymond D. McCoy, 24, and John Lee McCoy III, 26, were in court Monday and ordered jailed pending bond hearings on Wednesday. Another suspect, Richard W. Hoggard, 25, who was arrested Friday, will have a bond hearing today.
The indictment says the operation has distributed more than a ton of marijuana and more than 100 pounds of ******* since 2003 throughout Hampton Roads. The suspects obtained drugs mostly from Panama, Arizona, California and Florida, and either flew them here or drove them with cars containing hidden compartments, the indictment says.
The indictment also says an unidentified police officer, who sources say is from Norfolk, fed information about the drug inquiry to Gonzalez. A Norfolk police spokesman declined to comment on the matter Monday.
Gonzalez and other suspects lived lavishly, staying at a ritzy Arizona resort while obtaining multiple kilos of ******* and hundreds of pounds of marijuana at a time, according to the indictment. Gonzalez bought himself a $127,000 Bentley sedan and a $90,000 Mercedes-Benz.
He's also accused of laundering proceeds through various businesses, including Soul Providers Management, Soul Providers Entertainment, D&A Trucking and the nightclub. Soul Providers Management is listed as the booking agent for Clipse on Clipse's ******* Web page.
The suspects held "themselves out as music producers, rappers, entrepreneurs, club owners, clothing designers and other legitimate occupations in order to conceal the true source of their income," the indictment says.
This is not the first time the club, between Laskin and First Colonial roads, has been linked to narcotics trafficking. Onetime Olympic gold medal winner Tim Montgomery, who had been a partner at the club, was charged and convicted of selling heroin from the club in 2007. He's serving a five-year prison term.
It's unclear whether there's a connection between this case and the Montgomery case, though both were led by the Drug Enforcement Administration with help from the ******ia Beach Police Department, and the alleged sales by Gonzalez cited in the indictment were occurring at the same time and at the club.
Officials with the DEA, the U.S. attorney's office and the Beach police declined to comment.
Federal agents recorded many of the drug sales, according to the indictment.
In one call, Gonzalez is told by one of his suppliers that, "I'm here with my boy and he's giving me something right now... it's really nice... like half in buds... half in shake," the indictment says.
In another recorded call, Gonzalez refers to himself as the "Last of the Mohicans" because he had not yet been caught, further stating, "They know that I ain't crazy enough" to be dealing with "hand-to-hand stuff," the court papers say.
Gonzalez oversaw some of the biggest drug shipments while underlings traveled the country making smaller deals, the indictment says. In one transaction, Gonzalez is accused of purchasing 625 pounds of marijuana for $540,000 in May 2007 from a supplier in Arizona. In another, he's accused of buying 10 kilos of ******* for $200,000.
Gonzalez had been the manager of the rappers Clipse at least through 2006, according to news reports. Clipse is brothers Pusha and Malice - Terrence and Gene Thornton - from ******ia Beach. Efforts to reach the rap stars were unsuccessful Monday.
Clipse is still featured on Encore's ******* page.
The other suspects in the ring were identified in the indictment as Charles A. Sanderlin, 25; Shawn J. Branch, 35; and Ron Q. Williams, 32. Williams is in federal prison on an unrelated crime. Branch and Sanderlin had not been arrested as of Monday.
yikes
An unnamed police officer also is listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 60-page indictment.
Federal authorities say the six-year drug operation was based at the former club Encore Lounge and led by the club's owner, Anthony Gonzalez.
The indictment says Gonzalez bought the club at 1889 ******ia Beach Blvd. in November 2007 from an unidentified co-conspirator for 40 pounds of marijuana and about $80,000 in drug proceeds. The club closed earlier this year after more than 100 incidents of violence, shootings, drug dealing and disorderly conduct.
The 82-count indictment charges Gonzalez, 34, of Chesapeake and six others in a drug conspiracy that stretches from Hampton Roads across the country to South America and back. Police and federal agents were still searching for Gonzalez, also known as Geezy, as of late Monday.
Two suspected underlings, brothers Raymond D. McCoy, 24, and John Lee McCoy III, 26, were in court Monday and ordered jailed pending bond hearings on Wednesday. Another suspect, Richard W. Hoggard, 25, who was arrested Friday, will have a bond hearing today.
The indictment says the operation has distributed more than a ton of marijuana and more than 100 pounds of ******* since 2003 throughout Hampton Roads. The suspects obtained drugs mostly from Panama, Arizona, California and Florida, and either flew them here or drove them with cars containing hidden compartments, the indictment says.
The indictment also says an unidentified police officer, who sources say is from Norfolk, fed information about the drug inquiry to Gonzalez. A Norfolk police spokesman declined to comment on the matter Monday.
Gonzalez and other suspects lived lavishly, staying at a ritzy Arizona resort while obtaining multiple kilos of ******* and hundreds of pounds of marijuana at a time, according to the indictment. Gonzalez bought himself a $127,000 Bentley sedan and a $90,000 Mercedes-Benz.
He's also accused of laundering proceeds through various businesses, including Soul Providers Management, Soul Providers Entertainment, D&A Trucking and the nightclub. Soul Providers Management is listed as the booking agent for Clipse on Clipse's ******* Web page.
The suspects held "themselves out as music producers, rappers, entrepreneurs, club owners, clothing designers and other legitimate occupations in order to conceal the true source of their income," the indictment says.
This is not the first time the club, between Laskin and First Colonial roads, has been linked to narcotics trafficking. Onetime Olympic gold medal winner Tim Montgomery, who had been a partner at the club, was charged and convicted of selling heroin from the club in 2007. He's serving a five-year prison term.
It's unclear whether there's a connection between this case and the Montgomery case, though both were led by the Drug Enforcement Administration with help from the ******ia Beach Police Department, and the alleged sales by Gonzalez cited in the indictment were occurring at the same time and at the club.
Officials with the DEA, the U.S. attorney's office and the Beach police declined to comment.
Federal agents recorded many of the drug sales, according to the indictment.
In one call, Gonzalez is told by one of his suppliers that, "I'm here with my boy and he's giving me something right now... it's really nice... like half in buds... half in shake," the indictment says.
In another recorded call, Gonzalez refers to himself as the "Last of the Mohicans" because he had not yet been caught, further stating, "They know that I ain't crazy enough" to be dealing with "hand-to-hand stuff," the court papers say.
Gonzalez oversaw some of the biggest drug shipments while underlings traveled the country making smaller deals, the indictment says. In one transaction, Gonzalez is accused of purchasing 625 pounds of marijuana for $540,000 in May 2007 from a supplier in Arizona. In another, he's accused of buying 10 kilos of ******* for $200,000.
Gonzalez had been the manager of the rappers Clipse at least through 2006, according to news reports. Clipse is brothers Pusha and Malice - Terrence and Gene Thornton - from ******ia Beach. Efforts to reach the rap stars were unsuccessful Monday.
Clipse is still featured on Encore's ******* page.
The other suspects in the ring were identified in the indictment as Charles A. Sanderlin, 25; Shawn J. Branch, 35; and Ron Q. Williams, 32. Williams is in federal prison on an unrelated crime. Branch and Sanderlin had not been arrested as of Monday.
yikes
I just put that in the title because I figured it would get more responses that way
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