DURHAM HABITUAL FELON SENTENCED 19 TO 24 YEARS FOR DEALING HEROIN

By JOHN STEVENSON, The Herald-Sun November 28, 2001 10:59 pm

DURHAM -- In nine years, Torry Reid of Durham has advanced from confinement
on bread and water for a simple misdemeanor to a prison sentence of at
least 19 years for dealing drugs.

Reid, 29, was sentenced to 19 to 24 years Wednesday after he was convicted
of multiple heroin charges and of being a "habitual felon," meaning he had
at least three previous felony convictions. His earlier convictions
included cocaine offenses, a sex crime and various assaults. Prosecutor Jim
Dornfried said Reid was caught in February with nearly 40 bindles of heroin
and on March 9 with 100 bindles, which made him "more than a street-level
dealer."

A bindle is described as a single "dosage unit." The 100 bindles
collectively involved 3.9 grams of heroin -- about a seventh of an ounce.

"He's at the top," Dornfried said of Reid. "He's poisoning the streets of
Durham. This is an individual that needs to go away a long time. He's
profited from other people's addictions. Now it's time to pay the price."

Defense lawyer Robert Harris took issue with Dornfried's contention that
Reid was a high-level drug dealer. He also said Reid had trouble finding a
regular job.

Reid made national headlines in 1992 when District Court Judge William Y.
Manson, now retired, placed him on a diet of bread and water for three days
for attacking a jail guard.

The bread-and-water punishment was unprecedented in Durham, and it did not
last long. A higher judge overturned it within hours, saying it "appears on
the face of it to be unconstitutional."

In the cases that ended Wednesday, even the FBI was after Reid and
considered him to be a major drug supplier, Dornfried said.

Dornfried said a police informant was offered money not to testify against
Reid, then was shot at when he turned the deal down. In addition, threats
were made against the informant's family, Dornfried added.

The informant testified anyway and may be in danger, he said.

But the prosecutor said "measures have been taken" to ensure the person's
safety, even though North Carolina has no formal witness-protection program.