Pubdate: Thu, 14 Oct 1999  
Source: Roanoke Times (VA)
Copyright: 1999 Roanoke Times
Contact:  201 W. Campbell Ave., Roanoke, Va. 24010
Website: http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/index.html
Author: Tad Dickens, The Roanoke Times, He Sold Cocaine And LSD And Bought Marijuana 

BIG ISLAND MAN PLEADS TO DRUG CHARGES

The prosecutor said he would accept lesser possession pleas from Anthony
Farmer's wife and son because Anthony Farmer was the ringleader.

BEDFORD - A Big Island man arrested with his wife and son-in-law on drug
distribution charges pleaded guilty Wednesday in Circuit Court.

Anthony "Tony" Farmer, 36, pleaded guilty to four counts of cocaine
distribution, one count of LSD distribution and one count of possession of
marijuana with intent to distribute. The marijuana charge came after Farmer
bought more than 20 pounds of pot from an undercover officer, said Assistant
Commonwealth's Attorney Dirk Padgett.

Farmer, of the 1000 block of Sunset Hill Road, his wife, Monica Farmer, 36,
and his son-in-law, 19-year-old David A. Underwood, were arrested in April
at their home, where Monica Farmer ran a day-care center. Monica Farmer and
Underwood were charged with distributing LSD, and are scheduled for trial
Oct. 27.

Padgett said he would accept guilty pleas from Underwood and Monica Farmer
on a lesser charge of LSD possession because Tony Farmer "is the ringleader
and his wife is seven months pregnant."

"I believe they were brought in by" Tony Farmer, Padgett said.

In the April raid, Bedford County deputies also seized three poker machines
from a Big Island video store that Tony Farmer co-managed. But Padgett said
he did not pursue charges in that matter.

Farmer's sentencing date has not been set.

Others arrested in the sweep who pleaded guilty Wednesday to drug charges were:

Danny W. Martin, 41, of Moneta, to two counts of cocaine distribution.
Martin was sentenced to serve a year in prison with nine years suspended.

Charles B. Little, 32, of Johnson's Mountain, to two counts of cocaine
distribution. He was sentenced to serve two years in prison, with 18 years
suspended.

Benjamin F. Manning Jr., 37, to two counts of cocaine distribution. Manning,
a former itinerant construction worker arrested at a Bedford County motel,
was sentenced to serve three years in prison, with seven years suspended.

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