DEALING CRACK AT 96? NEIGHBORS SAY NO WAY

But Cleveland Sheriff's Office Says All Suspects Must Be Handled Same

KINGS MOUNTAIN - Who knows what to expect when you're on your way to
see someone lawmen have charged with dealing crack -- and she happens
to be a woman in a wheelchair who's never before been arrested in her
96 years of life?

Part of you expects Ma Barker, and the other part is picturing your
grandma.

Authorities have implicated Julia Roberts, two of her sons and a
neighbor in a scheme to trade crack for stolen property, mostly
jewelry and guns. They said the information came from burglary suspects.

Alfred Hitchcock used to say you're only as good as people think you
are.

Here in rural Ebenezer, one of Cleveland County's oldest African
American communities, Roberts is considered the backbone of the community.

Roberts and her late husband, Marvin, owned a farm there. As a
midwife, she delivered more than 200 babies. More recently, she moved
into a mobile home across the street from her son William. She has
outlived four of her eight children.

Her granddaddy was the first pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church when it
was founded 124 years ago, and Roberts has been an active member for
most of her life. Her second cousin, the Rev. Calvin C. Miller, 80, is
associate pastor.

The church is the heart of this close-knit community of
200.

"Nobody around here believes she's involved in drugs," said Miller.
"The community and the church are behind her."

"There is nothing to this charge," said retired teacher Myetta Oates.
"Lord, what is justice and what is this world coming to?"

Authorities say they just go where an investigation takes
them.

They say the March 12 search was the third time Cleveland County
deputies had seized crack cocaine at Roberts' home, which she shared
with a son who now is charged with possession of stolen goods.

Frankly, she struck me as a nice old lady, rambling one minute, clear
the next. She's clear about this: She says she doesn't know where the
crack deputies found her sitting on in her wheelchair came from.

When I met Roberts in her singlewide, she chewed Freedent gum and
talked about losing her right leg to diabetes 10 years ago.

Then, as I drew my chair closer, she told me what happened just after
supper on March 12. Deputies handcuffed her and hauled her to the
Shelby magistrate "just like I'd killed somebody." She'd been
fingerprinted and had her mug shot taken "just like a common criminal."

"This is the awfulest thing that has ever happened to me," she said.
"This has hurt me so bad. I've cried all my tears out."

Capt. Bobby Steen of the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office said
Roberts got the same treatment as anyone charged with a felony,
including the handcuffs.

I can't say whether she's guilty, but the people who've known her a
long time are convincing character witnesses.

A good name is a fragile thing. It can be trashed in an instant, by
yourself or anybody, no matter how old you are.