JUVENILE COURT EX-EMPLOYEE ADMITS LINK TO DRUG RING

Court Secretary Admits Charge In Drug-ring Case

A former secretary for Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court admitted yesterday
that she tipped off heroin dealers about the arrest of a teenager who was
carrying their drugs.

Cheryl Hruby, 44, of North Ridgeville, pleaded guilty in U.S. District
Court to conspiracy to distribute heroin throughout West Side
neighborhoods. She was among 18 people accused of running a local link in a
nationwide drug ring.

Across the country, more than 200 people were arrested and accused of
selling heroin that came out of Nayarit, Mexico. The Los Angeles-based
group set up houses in cities from Bakersfield, Calif., to Nashville, Tenn.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald B. Bakeman said yesterday that the group
sold the drug in Cleveland between February and June. Hruby distributed
between 20 and 40 grams of the drug and used some of it herself.

Bakeman said Hruby used records from Juvenile Court on June 1 to tell the
head of a local ring, Richard Sanchez, that authorities had arrested a
17-year-old girl with about a pound of heroin.

Bakeman said Hruby also warned Sanchez about the girl.

"[You] had better hope that she doesn't cooperate with law enforcement,"
Bakeman quoted Hruby.

U.S. Judge Donald C. Nugent will sentence her Dec. 14. Federal drug agents
said yesterday the girl was found guilty of the charges in Juvenile Court
and ordered held until she turns 21.

Hruby's attorney, Daniel W. Taylor, declined to discuss the case.

In the past three weeks, police here have seized nearly 3 pounds of the
potent heroin, known as "black tar" because of its color and texture.
Nationally, officers have seized 41 pounds of the drug, which was 60
percent to 90 percent pure. Most heroin is just 3 percent pure.

Jim Hummel, agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's
Cleveland office, said the group sold heroin to 20 to 30 customers a day in
parking lots throughout the West Side, usually about a gram or half a gram
per customer. He said it charged about $300 a gram, earning as much as
$42,000 a week.