29 SUSPECTED DRUG DEALERS INDICTED

Plano targeted as market for heroin

PLANO - More than two dozen suspected drug dealers have been indicted
under a special federal conspiracy law in connection with the
heroin-related deaths of four teenagers with ties to Plano, officials
announced Wednesday.

A federal grand jury in Sherman issued the 36-count indictment. It
alleges that the 29 targeted Plano as a new market for heroin. The
defendants knew that the drug was killing young people but continued
selling it to them, the indictment charges.

"The defendants intentionally, in a very calculated and coldblooded
way, distributed" heroin and cocaine, said U.S. Attorney Mike Bradford
of the Eastern District of Texas in announcing the indictments Wednesday.

"We will be seeking the maximum punishment under federal law," he
said.

Although some of the defendants have been named in previous
indictments on charges of heroin delivery on a single occasion, the
latest indictment charges all 29 as a group in activities that include
everything from smuggling black tar heroin into the United States to
selling it on the streets of Plano.

Because they were charged as a group, the suspected dealers can be
prosecuted together, and the punishments possible are much more
severe, given the resulting deaths, Mr. Bradford said.

All but five of the 29 could face a maximum term of life in prison
because of a rarely used sentencing-enhancement provision under
federal law that was not available at the state level.

"This is the first time we've used this provision of the law in the
Eastern District to specifically link drug dealing to drug-overdose
deaths," Mr. Bradford said.

The Eastern District includes 43 counties across Texas but excludes
Dallas County.

"To date, throughout the U.S., something to this degree has never been
attempted," said Paul Villaescusa, a special agent with the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration in Dallas. "Efforts similar to this one
have been tried before on a much smaller scale" in two other states.

The indictment was the result of a yearlong investigation begun by the
Plano Police Department and expanded to include a task force of
federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Officials from several of those agencies on Wednesday praised the
Plano community and Plano police for an innovative approach to
tackling the heroin problem.

At least 18 youths with Plano ties have died heroin-related deaths
since September 1994, authorities said.

Police traditionally categorize drug-related deaths as accidental, due
to overdose, and consider the case closed, Mr. Villaescusa said. But
Plano went beyond that, he said.

In June 1997, Plano Police Chief Bruce Glasscock assigned a homicide
detective to investigate the deaths along with the narcotics unit.

Although the chief said he wanted to pursue murder charges against the
drug dealers, he was thwarted by state laws. Unless a drug dealer
actually injects or otherwise administers the fatal dose, he or she
can't be charged with homicide, under state laws, the chief said.

But the federal sentencing enhancement may be a way around that
roadblock, authorities said.

"It's the next best thing," Chief Glasscock said. "These indictments
and arrests send a clear message to those individuals who would import
and traffic in illegal narcotics. Their actions will not be tolerated,
and we will continue to use every means at our disposal to identify

those suppliers and take appropriate steps necessary to prosecute them."

"I think the federal prosecution in this type of situation is really
the way to go," said Collin County District Attorney Tom O'Connell,
noting that most of the defendants would face a maximum of 20 years in
prison at the state level.

Mr. Bradford declined to reveal the evidence that directly links the
indicted individuals to the deaths of four Plano teens. The indictment
alleges that the dealers used various methods to import the heroin and
cocaine from Mexico, including hiding it in shoes with false
compartments. They distributed large quantities to individuals and
through a house known as the Blue House in east Plano, authorities
say.

All but two of those indicted are in custody. One is in a
rehabilitation center and will be transferred to jail; another remains
at large.

Named in the criminal indictment on a variety of charges related to
the possession and distribution of cocaine or heroin are: Ecliserio
Martinez Garcia, 38; Aurelio Mendez, 36; Salvador "Chino" Pineda
Contreras, 26; Jose Antonio Pineda, 22; and Irma Lopez Vega, 24, all
of McKinney;

Hilario "Cocho" Merlan Solis, 30; Jose Cleotilde Solis, 24; Marcruz
Baldonvines Pineda, 26; Arturo "Junior" Meza, 22; Jose "Beefy" Alberto
Meza, 20; and Francisco "Dreamer" Favela, 20; Edward Martinez, 32;
Santiago Mejia, 18; John Aaron Pruett, 19; John Raymond Hancock, 29;
Brian Eric Swann, 23; Christopher Erik Cooper, 19; James Lee
Wigginton, 21; Lloyd Steven Tilghman, 20; Stanley Edward Belch, 20;
and John Huges Woodward, 20, all of Plano;

Justin Michael Miller, 21, of Allen and Steven Craig Kapp, 20, of
Dallas.

The following four were indicted on a lesser charge of using a
telephone with the intent to distribute heroin and could face a
maximum of four years in prison and a $250,000 fine: Thomas Anthony
Fedele, 20, and Brian Kirpal Hutson, 21, both of Plano, and Benjamin
Collins, 21 and Cruz Ramirez, 19, both of Dallas.

Jason Ryan Deshong, 21, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1
million fine on a charge of possessing heroin and cocaine with the
intent to distribute.

"For us, this doesn't end it," Chief Glasscock said.

Lowell Hill, whose 19-year-old son, Rob, died of a heroin overdose on
Aug. 20, 1997, said he was pleased with officials' quick action.

"We just don't want other people to die," he said, stressing that he
and his wife were in favor of drug testing for children as early as
the fourth grade.

Donna Scott, whose son, Wes, 19, died from heroin on July 24, 1997,
said she was not seeking justice.

"But I did breathe a deep sigh of relief," she said, knowing that
authorities "didn't just get the kids who were partying."

"I'm glad there's something they can use to shut down the operations.
I feel very bad for the victims who are caught in the spider web" of
drug abuse," Ms. Scott said.

Jean Aguanno, whose son, Jay, 19, died of a heroin overdose on July 7
after having been sober for eight months, said that she was in favor
of strong prosecution but that it came too late for her family.

"I kind of wish all this had happened a year ago so whoever was able
to supply Jay that night was already in jail," she said.

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"