Pubdate: Wed, 11 Apr 2001
Source: Flint Journal (MI)
Copyright: 2001 Flint Journal
Contact:  http://fl.mlive.com/flintj/buffer.ssf
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/836
Author: James L. Smith

OLDEST DEALER? MAN, 76, CLAIMS IGNORANCE

Elba Township - Robert E. Rees, 76, knew his tenant had parties, but 
he said he had no idea the parties may have included illegal drugs.

But that is not how police and prosecutors see it. They have charged 
the septuagenarian with maintaining a drug house and say he 
obstructed and resisted arrest.

"In my memory, (Rees) is the oldest person we have prosecuted for a 
drug-related offense," said Lapeer County Prosecutor Byron Konschuh.

Rees, who is free after posting $2,500 bond pending a pretrial 
examination Thursday, said the rap on him is a bum one.

"Me, being the house owner, they say I maintained a drug house," Rees 
said. "I guess I did, but I didn't even know it."

Antonio E. Webb, 35, who Rees said rented part of his Hadley Road 
house for 12 years, was bound over to circuit court Tuesday on a 
series of felony charges in connection with an Oct. 31 narcotics raid 
by the Thumb Narcotics Unit.

A gram of crack cocaine and marijuana cigarettes and seeds were found 
in a dresser at the residence.

Webb faces felony charges of delivery of cocaine less than 50 grams 
and manufacturing marijuana. He also faces misdemeanor charges of 
contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The latter charge stemmed from the discovery of a 4-year-old in the 
house during the Halloween night raid. The child was found playing a 
Nintendo video game about 3 a.m., when officers conducted the raid.

A 14-year-old also was found in the house. Neither child belongs to 
Rees or Webb, but Webb brought them to the house from Flint, Konschuh 
said.

After police completed the investigation and laboratory tests on the 
suspected cocaine and marijuana found during the October raid, Webb 
and Rees were arrested on warrants issued by Konschuh.

Konschuh said the resisting charge was issued because Rees refused to 
pull his hands from under the covers during the raid and then fought 
police during the arrest.

"They came into my room at 2 a.m. or a little after, told me to get 
out of bed," Rees said. "I was not clothed, and they pounced on me. 
They tried to pull my arm under me, and like most 70-year-olds, I 
suffer from arthritis."

Rees, a retired farmer and Buick employee, said he never before has 
been in trouble. He lives on Hadley Road near I-69, which was built 
through the family farm in 1964.

"(Webb) used to have friends coming over and playing cards, having a 
good time, but I absolutely don't use drugs," Rees said. "This is a 
big surprise."

The elderly defendant admitted he sometimes shared a swig of whiskey with Webb.

"I lived my life, and he lived his," Rees said.
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