When business was good, the illicit drug enterprise of Roanoke rap artist Oshay “G Code” Jones dispensed some of the best crack cocaine available in the area up and down the streets of northwest Roanoke.
Orders arrived by phone or text. A driver behind the wheel of a classy rental car drove out to meet the purchaser. Jones had so much wealth, he flaunted piles of cash in rap videos and dangled expensive bling in a photo on the cover of a new CD, according to testimony and evidence.
Tuesday night, it all came crashing down when a federal jury convicted the 22-year-old Jones, his brother, sister and two others of a drug trafficking charge that carries a mandatory five-year prison sentence for each member of the ring.
They were convicted based in part on the testimony of a sixth drug-ring member, 21-year-old Joshua Tyree Poindexter, who defected, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and cooperated with authorities. Poindexter fingered Jones as the producer of the ring’s crack, saying he cooked powder cocaine into crack in the microwave of his grandmother’s kitchen.
The ring had about a three-year run before key players were arrested in 2013, but authorities suspect members of the group who have not been charged may still be selling. Crack cocaine, along with powder cocaine, methamphetamine, prescription pills and synthetic drugs, are the region’s “priority drug threats,” according to a recent federal assessment of drug crime in Roanoke, which said availability of illegal drugs has been increasing.
Over the six days of the Jones trial, jurors heard testimony from drug addicts, informants and police officers who testified before as many as 40 spectators. The case drew more spectators than any criminal trial at the Poff Federal Building in downtown Roanoke in recent memory, court personnel said.
By reviewing text messages extracted from seized telephones, investigators found evidence of thousands of drug orders totaling at least $40,000, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Freeman told jurors in his closing statement. That’s not counting drugs ordered by phone. Each member of the conspiracy had a role — answering the “dope phone” to which orders were placed, meeting buyers, driving, and safeguarding the cash, according to testimony.
The primary recipient of the drug ring’s money was Jones, his former partner told jurors.
“Do you know what he did with it?” asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Bassford.
“Spent it on his rap career,” Poindexter replied.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia charged the group with engaging in a conspiracy to distribute or obtain for distribution 280 or more grams of crack, punishable by a mandatory 10-year sentence. Jurors found Jones, his 24-year-old brother Domonique Maurice Jones, his 25-year-old sister Kearrah Monique Jones, 29-year-old Qwanesha Tyann Morris, and 20-year-old Jawaan Donte Turner, all of Roanoke, guilty of the felony conspiracy charge.
However, in a significant rejection of one aspect of the prosecution theory, jurors ruled the drug weight involved was a much lower 28 or more grams, which is punishable by five years in prison.
Supporters of the accused privately expressed deep distrust over the fact that the prosecution’s case relied on the testimony of several people who face criminal prosecutions themselves and who admitted they hoped for reduced sentence in exchange for snitching on Jones.
One, Justin Berger, 25, told jurors he sold Jones powder cocaine that, when mixed with baking soda and heated, produces the small chunks of white material characteristic of smokeable crack. The buy began at a Plantation Road apartment, where Berger counted an assortment of small bills with which Jones intended to pay, Berger said. The men then went to a nearby car wash to meet another party, where Jones paid $45,500 for one kilogram, or 1,000 grams, of powder cocaine, Berger said.
Jones, who is facing five to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced, figured prominently in other testimony as well.
In February 2011, Roanoke police Officer George Hanger pulled over Jones’ vehicle, found $719 cash in a search of Jones and put Jones handcuffed in his squad car. In Jones’ car, he found a plastic baggie with a missing corner that he suspected might have been possibly bitten off. Checking on Jones, Hanger found vomit laden with small white chunks splashed on the squad car rear seat. Suspecting Jones to be its source, the officer field-tested the vomit and discovered the chunks were likely cocaine, Hanger said.
Looking distressed, with his facial muscles twitching, Jones asked for immediate medical attention, admitting he had “eaten a 20 rock,” a reference to two-tenths of a gram of crack, Hanger said.
In October 2012, Hanger watched with binoculars as three “hand-to-hand” transactions occurred at a car parked at Ferncliff Apartments, which Hanger noted is near William Fleming High School. Police later found Oshay Jones, Turner and Poindexter inside, Hanger testified.
All but Morris and Poindexter are being held in jail; a sentencing hearing date hadn’t been announced. When the case returns to court, the six have more to worry about than prison time, however. Prosecutors have announced their intent to seize as much as $500,000 from the defendants through asset forfeiture proceedings that go after the assets used to conduct criminal activity, such as homes and vehicles, and the proceeds, according to court records.