LANGLEY AIRMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG CHARGES

HAMPTON -- The man authorities believe was at the center of a
loose-knit drug operation pleaded guilty Wednesday to seven drug
charges, including selling ecstasy from his dormitory at Langley Air
Force Base.

Airman 1st Class Jonathon P. Roper pleaded innocent to four additional
drug charges and two charges of trying to hurt someone, and the trial
on those charges began Wednesday afternoon.

Roper pleaded guilty to using ecstasy, ketamine, steroids and
marijuana and distributing ecstasy. He also is accused of using and
distributing LSD and threatening to kill or harm someone.

The 1st Equipment Maintenance Squadron airman could be sentenced to 62
years just on the charges he pleaded guilty to on Wednesday.

The Air Force has released little information about the investigation,
citing a fear of jeopardizing upcoming trials. But a three-month
investigation that started in May ended up implicating airmen, sailors
and civilians on the Peninsula and the South Side.

Twenty-six airmen, all of them lower-enlisted members, are facing
disciplinary action for use, possession or distribution of various
drugs, including Ecstasy, LSD, steroids and marijuana. Nineteen of
those are currently facing possible administrative punishment, which
includes dismissal from the service.

Four sailors and about a dozen civilians, according to Langley
officials, also were implicated in the drug probe. A Norfolk Police
Department spokeswoman said an investigation was ongoing, but any
charges were still weeks away.