Prince George’s School Official Indicted in Drug Ring Probe
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Three dozen people have been indicted on federal charges in connection with what authorities say was a multimillion-dollar drug distribution and money laundering ring based in Hampton Roads and extending to Texas and New York. A court document said the ring handled more than $20 million worth of cocaine and marijuana between September 1996 and Jan. 14. Four of those named in the 324-count indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court on Monday were charged as kingpins - operating a criminal enterprise. The indictment said a handful of men imported drugs largely from Mexico to Texas and distributed them throughout the East Coast. Drugs were stashed in numerous locations in Hampton Roads, the indictment said. Arrests began Monday on the Peninsula and in South Hampton Roads and Richmond in Virginia, in Charlotte, N.C., and in Baltimore, Houston, Dallas, Indianapolis and Lexington, Ky. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Norfolk said late Tuesday she did not know how many suspects had been taken into custody. The ring handled more than 10,000 pounds of marijuana, more than 300 kilograms of cocaine and 20 kilograms of crack cocaine, court papers say. One of the defendants, Pamela Yvette Hoffler-Riddick, is a regional assistant superintendent for Prince George’s County, Md., schools and a former school administrator in Virginia Beach. She is accused in court papers of depositing large sums of money into banks and credit unions. Four defendants connected to the ring were arrested last year and have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with authorities. Source : wtopnews.com |