Pubdate: Sat, 17 May 2008
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2008 The Charlotte Observer
Contact:  http://www.charlotte.com/observer/
Author: Clif Leblanc, The (Columbia) State

COCAINE USE WIDESPREAD, RAVENEL SAYS

Investigation into Ex-S.C. Treasurer's Habit

Transcripts Show Drug Was Common, Casually Used in Social Circles

Cocaine circulated so readily in Charleston's upper-crust circles 
that former State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel confessed that, in his 
orbit, users shared the powder "like a football ... back and forth." 
The then-rising political star privately described his casual drug 
culture to a SLED investigator last spring when Ravenel was first 
confronted about his drug use.

Ravenel portrayed himself as being drawn from a healthy lifestyle 
into a cocaine world that stretched from the Upper King Street bar 
district to mansions south of Broad Street.

"I was sort of addicted to working out," Ravenel told Lt. Frank 
O'Neal during conversations on June 15 and 16.

"Then, recently ... I was just kinda, you know, I was just looking 
to, I don't know, I was around people that were doing it." 
Transcripts of the interviews obtained by The State under 
open-records laws show that Ravenel discounted the extent of his 
habit. He told O'Neal he did not use drugs in high school or at The Citadel.

By the time Ravenel was sentenced in March to 10 months in federal 
prison, he acknowledged he first experimented with drugs at 15, using 
marijuana. During the sentencing hearing, one of Ravenel's attorneys 
told federal Judge Joe Anderson his client's drug use was a "social 
problem." Anderson countered that Ravenel was "not forthcoming 
fully," noting Ravenel didn't immediately tell investigators how much 
and how often he used. Cocaine highs fueled Ravenel's successful 
commercial development career, and his drug use zoomed in 2005, 
according to information released in court. Records show he was using 
drugs during the period when he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. 
Senate in 2004, as well as during his campaign to become the state's 
chief financial officer in 2006.

Ravenel, 46, is free on bail and has yet to report to prison to begin 
his sentence. Efforts this week to reach him and his attorney Bart 
Daniel were unsuccessful.

'Sharing' Cocaine

During the telephone conversations, O'Neal pressed Ravenel to 
characterize the cocaine culture among Charleston's elite."I mean 
it's everywhere," Ravenel responded. "Sharing, you know, like ... a 
football, and we're throwing back and forth to each other. I wasn't 
trying to hoard it or anything."

The identities of people Ravenel named were redacted from 28 pages of 
SLED documents. But the picture that emerges is that Ravenel's drug 
partners included a board of directors member, real estate 
developers, someone "from a very affluent family with vast property 
ownership throughout the state," and a pharmaceutical salesman.

Some investigators have described Ravenel's crowd as "Charleston dilettantes."

O'Neal, who teamed with federal agents on the case, pushed Ravenel to 
name any "big guy," especially politicians or attorneys.

Ravenel waffled, then said none were elected officials or lawyers. 
But later, he said he had given it more thought. "I've been thinking 
about this attorney or politician; I don't know of one single 
attorney," he told O'Neal. List of places to buy Ravenel also 
recounted his favorite places to buy drugs: his home, apartments on 
Meeting Street, a boat and restaurants and bars. Ravenel dodged 
O'Neal's questions about the frequency of his cocaine use. "Maybe 
five or 10 times from each (partner), but I don't know. Those are 
like forgettable moments. You don't want to remember 'em." He told 
the investigator the first time he used cocaine was at a Charleston 
New Year's Eve party in 2002.

Early in the investigation, he acknowledged he bought one to two 
grams at a time, often from a street dealer he knew as "Hash" or 
"Hashmere." Hash has been identified as co-defendant Michael Miller, 
who was charged with the same offense and sentenced to an identical 
penalty. Ravenel also disclosed that one of his key suppliers was in 
the wine business. Wine-tasting expert Pasquale Pellicoro has been 
charged but is a fugitive; authorities believe he has returned to his 
native Italy.

Remarks on Other Users

Ravenel also dished on some in his cocaine circle.

He referred to one man as "well studied ... a good father." Yet the 
convicted former state treasurer said, "I just think he's just kinda 
maybe a poor leader."

Ravenel called one woman "a leech" and said another had sex with a 
man at his Church Street home while her date waited in the kitchen. 
Even as he was under investigation, Ravenel kept a busy schedule. He 
told O'Neal he had to "check my schedule on my government Blackberry" 
before he could schedule a meeting with chief federal prosecutor 
Reggie Lloyd. During another interview with O'Neal, Ravenel stopped 
the conversation because he had to make a speech to Girls State, an 
organization that teaches civic mindedness to accomplished high 
school seniors. The treasurer cooperated with investigators from the 
moment they approached him in a parking garage at the State House.

He seemed resigned to his future. "Where do you think this is going?" 
Ravenel asked. "Major scandal and jail and all this stuff."

He told O'Neal he had learned his lesson. He said the last time he 
bought cocaine was May 25, 2007.

"And now I don't want to do it. I've been scared straight. I promise 
I won't do this (expletive) ever again." 
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