Gay
D.C.
resident
Wyatt
Wood
was
sentenced
to
15
years
in
jail
on
Oct.
18
on
federal
drug
trafficking
charges
following
a
four-year
investigation
that
led
to
the
prosecution
of
more
than
30
“retail”
dealers
to
whom
Wood
supplied
crystal
methamphetamine
and
other
drugs,
according
to
a
statement
by
the
Office
of
the
United
States
Attorney
for
the
District
of
Columbia.
The
30
or
more
people
prosecuted
in
the
crackdown
bought
the
drugs
from
Wood
through
an
informal
“wholesale”
network
that
Wood
created
to
help
him
sell
the
drugs
on
a
retail
basis
to
a
mostly
gay
clientele
that
patronized
gay
bars
and
nightclubs
in
the
District,
said
Assistant
U.S.
Attorney
Martin
Dee
Carpenter,
the
lead
prosecutor
in
the
case.
“The
gay
part
of
this
had
nothing
to
do
with
our
interest
in
pursuing
this
investigation,”
Carpenter
said.
“When
we
have
evidence
in
drug
dealing,
we
just
follow
the
evidence
to
wherever
it
takes
us.”
Narcotics
investigators
with
the
D.C.
and
Arlington
police
departments
and
agents
with
the
U.S.
Drug
Enforcement
Administration,
who
worked
jointly
on
the
investigation,
named
the
probe
“Operation
Tina
Town.”
Tina
is
a
common
nickname
for
crystal
meth.
The
operation
was
part
of
a
larger,
nationwide
crackdown
on
crystal
meth
called
“Operation
Wildfire,”
that
involved
more
than
200
U.S.
cities
and
resulted
in
the
arrest
of
427
people
involved
in
illegal
activities
associated
with
methamphetamine
throughout
the
country,
the
U.S.
Attorney’s
office
said.
Court
records
show
that
Wood
pleaded
guilty
to
series
of
drug
trafficking
charges
in
September
2003,
more
than
two
years
before
United
States
District
Court
Judge
Thomas
F.
Hogan
sentenced
him
last
week.
The
court
records
show
that
Wood
and
his
attorney,
Thomas
Abbenante,
signed
a
10-page
agreement,
dated
Sept.
10,
2003,
in
which
Wood
initially
promised
to
cooperate
in
the
government’s
investigation
into
D.C.-area
drug
operations.
But
subsequent
court
documents
filed
by
the
U.S.
Attorney’s
office
state
that
Wood
broke
the
agreement
shortly
after
signing
it
and
provided
no
significant
help
in
the
probe.
Wood’s
attorney,
Thomas
Abbenante,
said
he
was
disappointed
in
the
length
of
the
sentence
imposed
by
the
judge.
“This
case
is
a
tragedy
for
Mr.
Wood
and
his
family,”
Abbernante
said.
“I
had
hoped
that
the
judge
would
have
accepted
my
recommendation
for
a
sentence
of
125
months,
which
comes
to
10
years.”
Abbernante
said
he
never
comments
on
questions
of
witness
cooperation
in
criminal
cases.
A
sentencing
document
filed
by
the
U.S.
Attorney’s
office
on
Oct.
17
states
that
Wood
was
released
on
his
own
recognizance
in
September
2003
upon
agreeing
to
a
plea
bargain
arrangement.
The
document
says
he
was
arrested
on
a
bench
warrant
on
Nov.
22,
2004,
after
he
was
found
in
possession
of
crystal
meth
and
other
drugs
—
all
of
which
violated
the
terms
of
his
release
and
the
agreement.
The
document
says
the
bench
warrant
was
issued
after
Wood
failed
to
show
up
for
a
Nov.
16,
2004,
pre-sentencing
hearing.
He
has
been
held
in
custody
since
the
time
of
his
November
arrest.
The
same
document
says
Wood
violated
another
part
of
his
release
and
plea
agreements
when
he
sold
his
house
on
the
1200
block
of
Florida
Ave.,
NW.
In
the
agreement,
Wood
promised
not
to
interfere
with
the
government’s
decision
to
seize
the
house
under
federal
narcotics
statutes.
At
least
two
suspects
in
the
probe
who
died
under
suspicious
circumstances
are
being
investigated
as
possible
homicides,
Carpenter
said.
Carpenter
said
a
third
person
died
after
falling
from
the
roof
of
his
apartment
building
on
16th
Street,
NW,
and
a
fourth
is
believed
to
have
died
from
a
drug
overdose.
Carpenter
said
Wood
is
not
a
suspect
in
any
of
these
cases.
The
sensitive
nature
of
the
investigation
prompted
the
U.S.
Attorney’s
office
to
request
and
receive
permission
by
the
court
to
seal
all
records
of
the
Wood
investigation
beginning
in
September
2003,
three
months
after
Wood’s
initial
arrest
in
June
2003.
In
a
development
that
surprised
prosecutors
and
police,
Judge
Hogan
unsealed
the
case
during
Wood’s
Oct.
18,
2005,
sentencing
hearing.
Channing
Phillips,
a
spokesperson
for
the
U.S.
Attorney’s
office,
said
Hogan
told
those
attending
the
hearing
that
he
unsealed
the
case
because
it
was
important
for
the
public
to
learn
about
the
seriousness
of
crystal
meth
use
in
the
D.C.
metropolitan
area.
In
recent
years,
gay
community
organizations
have
sponsored
forums
and
educational
campaigns
on
the
dangers
of
crystal
meth
use
and
its
impact
on
gay
men,
especially
gay
men
who
are
part
of
the
“club
scene.”
Experts
say
crystal
meth
is
highly
addictive
and
causes
skin
lesions
and
damage
to
teeth
in
addition
to
mental
problems.
In
addition,
because
of
the
boost
in
energy
it
gives
users,
some
experts
say
crystal
meth
use
lowers
inhibitions
and
often
leads
to
gay
men
practicing
unsafe
sex,
which
can
lead
to
a
variety
of
sexually-transmitted
diseases.
Carpenter
refused
to
release
the
names
of
the
30
or
more
D.C.-area
people
arrested
in
connection
with
the
Wood
investigation.
He
said
releasing
their
names
would
create
a
chilling
effect
that
would
discourage
them
and
others
arrested
in
local
drug
operations
from
cooperating
with
law
enforcement
agencies.
Court
records
show
that
Wood
was
...
