DELI OWNER'S COURT HEARING DELAYED

FRAMINGHAM - A Rte. 9 deli owner accused of illegally selling
marijuana and crack cocaine pipes and other drug-related items was not
arraigned in Framingham District Court yesterday as scheduled.

Ayman Youssef, 42, will now have a show cause hearing in front of a
magistrate in court on March 14, according to court records. A show
cause hearing will determine if there is enough evidence to bring
forward charges.

Youssef, owner of Vera's Foods on Rte. 9, was summoned to appear in
court after the Framingham Police Department charged him with one
count of the illegal possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent
to distribute.

Police said they warned Youssef several times to stop selling the
pipes, water bongs, grinders and other items.

In January, undercover police purchased a pipe after they told Youssef
they were buying it for a friend "who smoked weed."

Police confiscated dozens of the pipes, all hidden from
view.

Youssef argued the pipes were meant to be used for tobacco, and were
given to him by distribution companies.

"Everything could be used for anything you want," he said in an
interview last week. "I'm selling anything that I can to pay the rent,
the electricity. It could be used for drugs, it could be used for
tobacco. Anything you use, you can abuse it, or use it right, but it's
not my responsibility how they're used."

But police said Youssef knew the pipes were being used for drugs.
Several of them had images of marijuana plants imprinted on them, and
police say Youssef demonstrated for the undercover officers how to use
a pipe to smoke marijuana.