HOTEL OWNERS AGREE TO BEEF UP SECURITY

Gulfton-area business plagued by drugs acts to fend off seizure

The owners of a southwest Houston hotel, where drug dealers allegedly sold
dope from rented rooms and parked cars, agreed Friday to beef up security
to fend off seizure of their property by federal agents.

Acting U.S. Attorney James DeAtley said his office agreed to drop
forfeiture proceedings if the owners of the Red Carpet Inn, 6868 Hornwood,
fortify the property against drug dealers within 60 days.

But attorney Matt Hennessy, who represents the hotel's owners, said the
agreement only puts into words a goal his clients have always strived to
meet.

"What the agreement does is formalize what we've been doing all along --
providing security to a business in a bad part of town," he said.

Federal prosecutors filed a forfeiture complaint against the property in
February -- one of the first times such an action has been taken against a
commercial enterprise not financially tied to narcotics trafficking.

The hotel's owners, GWJ Enterprises Inc. and Hop Enterprises Inc., were
accused of giving "tacit consent" to illegal activity by failing to act to
stop it after being notified by police and city officials.

Local defense attorneys were critical of the forfeiture complaint because
they feared seizing a commercial business with no drug ties -- but where
drug activity merely occurred -- would unfairly impact law-abiding persons
who operate businesses in blighted areas.

DeAtley said the unusual effort was meant to put business owners on notice
that they must operate in a way that does not facilitate illegal activity.

The agreement, which must be approved by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal,
calls for increased lighting at the hotel, an on-site security guard and
24-hour monitoring of surveillance cameras.

Hotel personnel are also required to report drug activity to a Houston
Police Department liaison.

In addition, pay phones on the property must be altered so they cannot
receive incoming calls, and exterior doors must be locked after sunset.

Hotel desk clerks will also be required to ask patrons for a driver's
license or photo identification before renting rooms.

But although the list of agreed stipulations is lengthy, Hennessy said only
three are new -- putting up two lights, putting up a sign announcing there
is security on the premises and locking one door at sunset.

"Everything else in the agreement is what we've been doing all along," he said.

The forfeiture complaint was filed as part of an effort by residents and
law enforcement to reclaim Gulfton, an area decimated by high crime,
unemployment and poverty, prosecutors said.

According to the complaint, the HPD reported 32 calls for service that
resulted in narcotics or currency being seized from the hotel's property
during a nearly two-year period that began Jan. 1, 1996.

During that time, police seized about 8 kilograms of powdered cocaine and
small amounts of crack cocaine and marijuana with an estimated street value
of nearly $800,000.

And in January, two HPD officers arrested a juvenile with 50 rocks of
crack, according to the complaint.

Officers have also been called to the premises for reported incidents of
aggravated robbery, kidnapping and sexual assault.

"Whether through a prostitute exchanging sex for drugs in the hotel room or
a crack dealer using the defendant property as a distribution point where
he can transact business, there has been a substantial connection between
drug trafficking in the Gulfton area," the complaint states.

It cites statistics indicating that the situation worsened after new owners
took over the hotel on Oct. 27, 1994.

From March 30 to Dec. 31, 1993, there were three drug-related calls to
police from the hotel. However, there were 10 such calls from April 3 to
Dec. 31, 1995.

Prosecutors said police complaints to the owners fell on deaf ears until
the property was seized.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)