NEWS RELEASE

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

John L. Brownlee
United States Attorney

Patricia A. Grisetti
Media Contact

June 25, 2002

United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that Felipe Aurelio Hernandez, Michael Dean Bare, Richard Lee Richie, Kevin Dale Harper, David Travis Fitzgerald, Jennifer Ellen Gladwell, Randolph Bare, Dennis Wayne Knight, David Kishner, James Gilbert Berry, Arnold Odell Dove, Jr., Roger Lee Ayres, David Roscoe Berry, Margarito Hernandez-Sanchez, Adolpho Ramirez, Charles Anthony Alloway, Ralph Leroy Helmick, Jeffrey Lloyd Alloway, and Frank Crider were indicted by a federal Grand Jury sitting in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The defendants were charged with conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine in the Shenandoah Valley. Most were also charged with related firearms offenses.

If convicted on all counts, the maximum penalty faced by each defendant is life in prison and a fine of $4,000,000.

"Operation Tweaking Valley," the year-long investigation of this case, was conducted jointly by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, the Virginia State Police, and the Harrisonburg Police Department. In the course of the investigation, law enforcement officials seized approximately two pounds of methamphetamine, a pound and a half of cocaine, fifty firearms, and $60,000 in cash. Mr. Brownlee would like to recognize in particular the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office for their hard work and dedication to this investigation. Assistant United States Attorney William F. Gould will prosecute the case. For further information, please call AUSA Gould at (434) 293-4283.

A Grand Jury indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt, and the defendants are entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.