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Leon Williams went to closing to purchase |
Leon Williams had already plopped down more than $1,000 for new carpet and toiled away an afternoon starting a fence for his Schnauzers.
He'd spent a stressful month enduring the loan process and selling his house in Caroline County.
But 15 minutes before closing on his dream home, a phone call from Fredericksburg Circuit Court changed everything.
The secluded, cedar-sided home on a hill in Fredericksburg's Alum Spring neighborhood was now surrounded by crime scene tape--and state police had just filed paperwork to seize it as a drug house.
"And just like that, I've got no place to live," he said.
Williams, 46, never imagined he'd have a problem with the seller, Barbara Hooten Beck.
She is the ex-wife of Stafford County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge David Beck and former sister-in-law to city Mayor Bill Beck.
But according to state police, her son, 27-year-old John David McCue Beck, is one of the region's top marijuana suppliers. Authorities allege he used his mother's $280,000 house at 119 Springwood Drive not only to grow marijuana, but to warehouse large quantities shipped in from New York.
When Williams bid on the house Feb. 19, he didn't know the state police Blue Ridge Narcotics Task Force had raided it last summer as part of an investigation into "large-scale marijuana trafficking from New York to Virginia."
But the March 13 arrest of the investigation's target is exactly what led to Williams' loss.
That Saturday morning, a state trooper spotted a black 1995 BMW without an inspection sticker on southbound I-95 just north of U.S. 17 in Stafford.
Trooper E.D. Brown stopped the car about 7:50 a.m., and noticed the strong odor of marijuana as he approached.
Inside, he found a small amount of suspected marijuana in a plastic bag "for personal use," state police Sgt. Gary Settle said.
The driver and his two passengers were arrested, then troopers did a more thorough search of the BMW. In the trunk, they found a black duffel bag stuffed with 13 plastic bags of suspected marijuana buds, according to Settle.
"This is high-grade marijuana with a high street value," he said. "There was one pound in each bag."
Police describe the type of marijuana found as high-potency "BC Bud" from Canada.
It had a street value of over $600,000, Settle said.
Police charged Beck, along with the driver, 26-year-old Gonsalo Ceja Jr., and the front-seat passenger, 23-year-old Jessica Lynn Acors, with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and transporting more than five pounds of marijuana into the commonwealth, Settle said. All are from Fredericksburg.
Drug Task Force agents soon learned about Beck's arrest and moved to seize his mother's house in Fredericksburg under the state's forfeiture laws.
Police had raided the house on July 25 of last year after a four-month investigation, but found only cash, grow lights, a tiny amount of suspected marijuana and photographs of marijuana plants, according to search warrant affidavits. No one was ever charged in the bust.
Agents believe John Beck--a former soccer star at Brown University--had learned of their investigation and moved his "grow operation" elsewhere, the affidavits state.
The investigation began when two confidential informants called police saying they were worried about John Beck's two small children.
"Their concerns were that John Beck was using marijuana and selling marijuana in large quantities in front of his children," police Investigator David Rawls wrote in the affidavit. Rawls also wrote that Beck had his mother and his 2-year-old son help him cultivate and water the plants.
The informants described the basement of the house as being filled with complicated lighting and ventilation systems, but when police got there, the operation was gone, court records show.
Barbara Beck has not been charged. She could not be reached for comment.
State police said the investigation is continuing. City prosecutors would not comment.
John Beck is now being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.
Leon Williams is still out thousands of dollars in processing fees and moving costs, but he's found another home in King George County.
He's keeping his fingers crossed.
"Let's hope nothing falls through this time," he said.
To reach KARI PUGH: 540/374-5413 kpugh@freelancestar.com
