Pubdate: Tue, 17 Oct 2006
Source: Charlotte Sun Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2006 Sun Coast Media Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.sun-herald.com/newsch.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1708
Author: Alyssa Schnugg, Staff Writer

PEEPLES RECEIVES SUSPENDED SENTENCE

PUNTA GORDA -- Vernon Peeples Jr. apologized in court Monday for 
bringing shame to his family's name after being arrested twice on drug charges.

Peeples, a former local Democratic Party chairman, pleaded no contest 
to charges of possession of cocaine, possession of less than 20 grams 
of marijuana and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Circuit Judge Michael McHugh accepted the plea agreement and 
sentenced Peeples to a suspended term of one year in prison. He will 
not serve any time in jail as long as he successfully completes six 
months of drug offender community control, or house arrest, and then 
two years of drug offender probation.

The charges stem from arrests in December 2004 and September 2005 
when the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office SWAT team raided his home.

"I think it was an equitable resolution to the case," said Assistant 
State Attorney Don Mason. "The court also took into consideration Mr. 
Peeples has no prior convictions at all."

A SWAT team raided Peeples' Gilchrist Avenue home on Dec. 30, 2004. 
Police found 10.9 pounds of marijuana, most of it packed into two 
black suitcases in a bedroom, authorities said.

Investigators also uncovered cocaine and drug paraphernalia, along 
with $3,000 cash, according to reports.

Peeples' co-defendant, Elizabeth Picerno, 42, pleaded no contest in 
July to the same drug charges and was placed on six months of 
community control and two years of drug offender probation.

On Sept. 1, 2005, the SWAT team raided the house again and found 
Peeples and Picerno in the master bedroom with two small chrome vials 
containing cocaine and another small vial containing marijuana.

Peeples made a formal statement in court, apologizing for his actions 
and the shame it brought to his family's name.

Peeples has been involved in the Charlotte County Democratic Party 
for years. His father, Vernon Peeples Sr., served 10 years in the 
Florida House of Representatives.
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