Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 16 · column 4 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
(Continued from Page 1) all county prosecutors and other law enforcement officials involved in the special grand jury investigation have been ordered not to release any information about the investigation.
Fauquier County’s Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney J. Gregory Ashwell refused to comment on Dr. Peper’s arrest. He also refused to reveal whether any other local residents are under investigation.
Mr. Luke did confirm Mondaythat the Fauquier County Commonwealth Attorney’s office is cooperating in the investigation.
He added that he hopes that the knowledge that state and local law enforcement agencies are cooperating and aggressively combatting drug trafficking in Rappahannock and surrounding counties might dissuade anyone who has thoughts of becoming involved in the illegal activity.
He said that the scope of the investigative capabilities of the special grand juries far exceeds that of individual counties working alone. The inter-jurisdictional grand juries, “relatively new creatures in Virginia,” in Mr. Luke’s words, can coordinate investigations among a number of cities and counties. They are particularly useful in drug investigations, he said, because networks of drug traffickers usually spread across many jurisdictional boundaries.
He also pointed out that the secretive nature of the drug trade makes it difficult to establish cases against high-level dealers. And, the limited resources of small law enforcement agencies leaves them at a disadvantage against dealers with seemingly bottomless cash reserves. But, using the inter-jurisdictional approach, an individual charged in one locality may provide investigators in another county with information which might make a case for them.
In the only recent drug-trafficking investigation in Rappahannock County, Ronald Lee Nicholson of Washington pleaded guilty last month to one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He was arrested in the early morning hours of last Dec. 13 at his home on the Fodderstack Road. A search of the house turned up approximately six ounces of cocaine and a small amount of marijuana.
That arrest apparently resulted from the cooperation of several law enforcement agencies, according to an affadavit filed in Rappahannock
95.4%