Grizbacker1
Well-known member
I am sick and tired of stupid cat fans (you know who you are) who constantly bash Missoula and UM with their drug references as though they are lilly white. Apparently they are in denial in Bozoville. Time for kitty fan to clean up their own house before they take cheapshots at UM and Missoula. UM and Missoula can take care of themselves.
Cocaine spreading into community
By TED SULLIVAN Chronicle Staff Writer
Montana State University has a long-standing reputation as a small university in a sleepy mountain town, where cowboys and farmers intermingle with ski bums and mountain climbers.
ERIK PETERSEN/CHRONICLE Evidence confiscated by the Missouri River Drug Task Force includes an eight ball of cocaine, a tube for snorting, and a bag containing nearly two ounces of coke are shown at the Law and Justice Center Friday. Jokingly referred to as Moo U, or the school of cows, plows and sows, MSU recently adopted its own slogan, “Mountains & Minds,” to highlight it's growing notoriety for cutting-edge research and scientific breakthroughs in an area surrounded by top-notch ski resorts and blue-ribbon trout streams.
But MSU now finds itself in the limelight for much less desirable reasons: a former assistant football coach selling methamphetamine, former athletes involved in cocaine trafficking, a drug-related murder and a fired football coach.
The university's reputation has taken a hit.
“I look at it, and I'm just heartbroken,” MSU President Geoff Gamble said last week. “We're a very good university and we have very good athletic programs, and to have so much negatively painted across both the athletic program and the university is just heartbreaking.”
Although charges have been filed in the various criminal cases, the trials are months if not years away. But the court records are already beginning to show patterns.
June 2006 -- the same month Jason Wright was found murdered on the city's west side -- comes up again and again.
At least six former MSU athletes are accused of having been involved in a cocaine-trafficking ring or having played a role in a cocaine-related homicide.
And five of the six former athletes no longer belonged to MSU athletic teams at the time they allegedly got involved with drugs.
“You've lost touch with them once they are no longer student athletes,” Big Sky Conference Commissioner and former MSU athletic director Doug Fullerton said. “Once they leave the athletic program, you pretty much lose your attachment to them.”
COCAINE BECOMES CITY'S DRUG PROBLEM
Until 18 months ago, cocaine was not a big problem in the Gallatin Valley, said Sheriff's Lt. Dan Springer, commander of the Missouri River Drug Task Force.
Marijuana, which has always been popular in the valley, and methamphetamines were the main drugs being distributed and used in the area, Springer said.
But then the drug world changed.
“We have seen a huge shift from meth to coke,” Springer said. “It's now the drug of choice. Marijuana is still probably the most prevalent drug we see, but cocaine is probably right up there with it.”
In the seven years from July 1999 to July 2006, drug investigators seized and purchased an average of 253 grams of cocaine a year, according to MRDTF statistics.
In the past nine months, officials have already seized and purchased 2,227 grams of cocaine -- nine times the average of each of the previous years -- and there are still three months left in the fiscal year.
To put it another way, investigators have seized or purchased more cocaine in the past nine months than in all seven previous years combined.
“Ten years ago we just didn't find (cocaine),” Springer said. “Now it's just very prevalent and is the norm.”
One explanation is that as meth became more popular, the price went up, peaking at $2,200 an ounce in late 2005, Springer said. That made cocaine cheap by comparison, selling for up to $900 an ounce, Springer said.
Since much of the drug world is economics, the sudden expense of meth and the relative affordability of cocaine likely contributed to the flip in popularity.
But in the months since then, the prices have continued to fluctuate. Cocaine has become more expensive -- from roughly $900 an ounce to $1,400 an ounce - and the price of meth has dropped, from $2,200 to $1,800 an ounce.
Another explanation for the flip could be the Montana Meth Project's advertising campaign and other educational programs, which have given meth the reputation of being taboo, Springer said.
Cocaine just seems safer.
The drug is typically imported from Spokane, Wash., Denver, Salt Lake City or California, Springer said.
And Bozeman residents from all walks of life are snorting or injecting the drug, from high school and college students to professionals and labor workers, Springer said.
“Cocaine for a long time has been considered a rich person's drug, but we are seeing it all over,” Springer said. “We are surprised all the time at who is using.”
Users usually buy one-eighth of an ounce, an "eightball," at a time for roughly $200. Narcotics officers said they haven't seen evidence of crack cocaine being sold in Bozeman.
FORMER MSU ATHLETES CHARGED
Almost simultaneous with the influx of cocaine was the involvement of former, or then current, MSU athletes in drug and cocaine-related crime, according to court records.
Former MSU wide receiver Rick Gatewood, 23, and his brother, Randy Gatewood, 21, who is not a MSU athlete, face federal charges of being “runners” for a Bozeman cocaine-trafficking ring from June 2005 to May 2007, according to court records.
The brothers are accused of being part of a drug-dealing cartel run by another former MSU football player, who goes by the street names “Demetrius,” “D” or “DW,” according to court records.
Users knew the drug ring as the main supplier of cocaine in Bozeman, police have said.
“DW” wanted to eliminate rival cocaine dealers in town, according to court records, and at one point told a runner to “keep his ears open” for other people bringing cocaine into Bozeman because it was his territory.
Then, on June 17, 2006, Randy Gatewood was allegedly involved in a fight in front of the Rocking R Bar in which two men were punched, kicked and pistol whipped, according to court records.
Former MSU basketball player Branden Miller and former MSU football player John Lebrum, both 22, also participated in the beating with Randy Gatewood, according to court records. Lebrum and Miller may still be charged in that incident, Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said last week.
Six days after the downtown brawl, police say another suspected cocaine dealer, Livingston native Wright, was kidnapped outside Perkins Restaurant and shot to death, according to court records. His body was found in a field off Huffine Lane.
During the early days of the murder investigation, handguns connected to the homicide were found in a locker at MSU's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse belonging to Jacques Wilson, a former MSU basketball player.
On June 29, former athletes Miller and Lebrum, were arrested and charged with deliberate homicide, aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence in connection with killing Wright and covering up the crime. They are in Gallatin County's jail on $1 million bail while awaiting trials scheduled for early next year.
Also in June 2006, three other former MSU football players - cornerback Andre Lamar Fuller, wide receiver Edward Torrance Sullivan and cornerback Derrick Lamont Davis Jr. - allegedly sold cocaine or marijuana to police informants. All three men have pleaded innocent.
Whether the Rocking R Bar fight, Wright's murder, cocaine-trafficking ring and drug-dealing charges against Fuller, Sullivan and Davis are linked remains a tightly held secret. Across the board, officials in the Gallatin County Attorney's Office, FBI, Missouri River Drug Task Force and Gallatin County Sheriff's Office have refused to comment.
It didn't help the MSU athletics department that all this came on the heels of the 2004 arrest and conviction of former assistant football coach Joe O'Brien for selling methamphetamine.
Following the arrests, concerned MSU officials sought an NCAA review of its recruiting practices.
The NCAA's report, released in February, suggested improvements in recruiting, academic and social-mentoring programs, and in the graduation rate of MSU football players.
But the arrests kept coming. And that, combined with academic issues in recent years that have cost MSU football scholarships, led the university to fire former football coach Mike Kramer.
“What's been happening is a black cloud over all our kids,” athletic director Peter Fields said after Kramer's firing. “You feel bad for the athletes. You feel bad for the staff that has worked so hard. They get painted with a brush that they're part of a drug university, when it's far from the truth. But that is the perception that is out there, so we need to change that perception.”
CHANGES ON THE HORIZON
Bozeman is a small, isolated town without much diversity. And many of the students at MSU have never been around minorities, with the possible exception of Native Americans.
The transition for minority athletes from urban, populated cities into Bozeman can be difficult, Fullerton said. For many of them, it's a different world.
“It's a very different culture you're bringing them in to. They're going to feel very alone in a place like Bozeman,” Fullerton said. “The student athlete is going to experience things in Bozeman that can be very offensive.
“You just have to get kids who have a chance of succeeding at your school --- academically and socially. You just want them to understand the environment they're getting in to. How will they handle that?” he said.
Incoming athletes have several resources supporting them when they arrive on campus, Camie Bechtold, MSU's associate athletic director, said.
The school offers a life-skills class, including lessons on social and academic adjustments, and the cultural differences between big cities and Bozeman.
MSU also has guest speakers talk to athletes about being in the limelight and what's expected of them. In addition, athletes attend orientations, volunteer in the community and have academic and social mentors, Bechtold said.
“It's really set up to help them adjust,” Bechtold said. “I think we have some components in place. Could we do better? Absolutely.”
One place MSU could do better is helping athletes make the transition from athletes to regular students or graduates, Bechtold said.
Five of the six former MSU athletes arrested in the past year, who by most accounts were good citizens during their athletic careers, got into trouble after leaving their football or basketball teams.
“Sometimes it's hard because they don't feel connected” after leaving their teams, Bechtold said.
To help outgoing athletes make the transition, MSU plans to start offering a junior-level life-skills course on leadership, careers and planning for the future, Bechtold said.
“All institutions are working hard on these issues, because they all have the same issues,” Fullerton said. “They've risen to the surface so much in Bozeman. I just don't know why.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story
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Cocaine spreading into community
By TED SULLIVAN Chronicle Staff Writer
Montana State University has a long-standing reputation as a small university in a sleepy mountain town, where cowboys and farmers intermingle with ski bums and mountain climbers.
ERIK PETERSEN/CHRONICLE Evidence confiscated by the Missouri River Drug Task Force includes an eight ball of cocaine, a tube for snorting, and a bag containing nearly two ounces of coke are shown at the Law and Justice Center Friday. Jokingly referred to as Moo U, or the school of cows, plows and sows, MSU recently adopted its own slogan, “Mountains & Minds,” to highlight it's growing notoriety for cutting-edge research and scientific breakthroughs in an area surrounded by top-notch ski resorts and blue-ribbon trout streams.
But MSU now finds itself in the limelight for much less desirable reasons: a former assistant football coach selling methamphetamine, former athletes involved in cocaine trafficking, a drug-related murder and a fired football coach.
The university's reputation has taken a hit.
“I look at it, and I'm just heartbroken,” MSU President Geoff Gamble said last week. “We're a very good university and we have very good athletic programs, and to have so much negatively painted across both the athletic program and the university is just heartbreaking.”
Although charges have been filed in the various criminal cases, the trials are months if not years away. But the court records are already beginning to show patterns.
June 2006 -- the same month Jason Wright was found murdered on the city's west side -- comes up again and again.
At least six former MSU athletes are accused of having been involved in a cocaine-trafficking ring or having played a role in a cocaine-related homicide.
And five of the six former athletes no longer belonged to MSU athletic teams at the time they allegedly got involved with drugs.
“You've lost touch with them once they are no longer student athletes,” Big Sky Conference Commissioner and former MSU athletic director Doug Fullerton said. “Once they leave the athletic program, you pretty much lose your attachment to them.”
COCAINE BECOMES CITY'S DRUG PROBLEM
Until 18 months ago, cocaine was not a big problem in the Gallatin Valley, said Sheriff's Lt. Dan Springer, commander of the Missouri River Drug Task Force.
Marijuana, which has always been popular in the valley, and methamphetamines were the main drugs being distributed and used in the area, Springer said.
But then the drug world changed.
“We have seen a huge shift from meth to coke,” Springer said. “It's now the drug of choice. Marijuana is still probably the most prevalent drug we see, but cocaine is probably right up there with it.”
In the seven years from July 1999 to July 2006, drug investigators seized and purchased an average of 253 grams of cocaine a year, according to MRDTF statistics.
In the past nine months, officials have already seized and purchased 2,227 grams of cocaine -- nine times the average of each of the previous years -- and there are still three months left in the fiscal year.
To put it another way, investigators have seized or purchased more cocaine in the past nine months than in all seven previous years combined.
“Ten years ago we just didn't find (cocaine),” Springer said. “Now it's just very prevalent and is the norm.”
One explanation is that as meth became more popular, the price went up, peaking at $2,200 an ounce in late 2005, Springer said. That made cocaine cheap by comparison, selling for up to $900 an ounce, Springer said.
Since much of the drug world is economics, the sudden expense of meth and the relative affordability of cocaine likely contributed to the flip in popularity.
But in the months since then, the prices have continued to fluctuate. Cocaine has become more expensive -- from roughly $900 an ounce to $1,400 an ounce - and the price of meth has dropped, from $2,200 to $1,800 an ounce.
Another explanation for the flip could be the Montana Meth Project's advertising campaign and other educational programs, which have given meth the reputation of being taboo, Springer said.
Cocaine just seems safer.
The drug is typically imported from Spokane, Wash., Denver, Salt Lake City or California, Springer said.
And Bozeman residents from all walks of life are snorting or injecting the drug, from high school and college students to professionals and labor workers, Springer said.
“Cocaine for a long time has been considered a rich person's drug, but we are seeing it all over,” Springer said. “We are surprised all the time at who is using.”
Users usually buy one-eighth of an ounce, an "eightball," at a time for roughly $200. Narcotics officers said they haven't seen evidence of crack cocaine being sold in Bozeman.
FORMER MSU ATHLETES CHARGED
Almost simultaneous with the influx of cocaine was the involvement of former, or then current, MSU athletes in drug and cocaine-related crime, according to court records.
Former MSU wide receiver Rick Gatewood, 23, and his brother, Randy Gatewood, 21, who is not a MSU athlete, face federal charges of being “runners” for a Bozeman cocaine-trafficking ring from June 2005 to May 2007, according to court records.
The brothers are accused of being part of a drug-dealing cartel run by another former MSU football player, who goes by the street names “Demetrius,” “D” or “DW,” according to court records.
Users knew the drug ring as the main supplier of cocaine in Bozeman, police have said.
“DW” wanted to eliminate rival cocaine dealers in town, according to court records, and at one point told a runner to “keep his ears open” for other people bringing cocaine into Bozeman because it was his territory.
Then, on June 17, 2006, Randy Gatewood was allegedly involved in a fight in front of the Rocking R Bar in which two men were punched, kicked and pistol whipped, according to court records.
Former MSU basketball player Branden Miller and former MSU football player John Lebrum, both 22, also participated in the beating with Randy Gatewood, according to court records. Lebrum and Miller may still be charged in that incident, Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said last week.
Six days after the downtown brawl, police say another suspected cocaine dealer, Livingston native Wright, was kidnapped outside Perkins Restaurant and shot to death, according to court records. His body was found in a field off Huffine Lane.
During the early days of the murder investigation, handguns connected to the homicide were found in a locker at MSU's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse belonging to Jacques Wilson, a former MSU basketball player.
On June 29, former athletes Miller and Lebrum, were arrested and charged with deliberate homicide, aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence in connection with killing Wright and covering up the crime. They are in Gallatin County's jail on $1 million bail while awaiting trials scheduled for early next year.
Also in June 2006, three other former MSU football players - cornerback Andre Lamar Fuller, wide receiver Edward Torrance Sullivan and cornerback Derrick Lamont Davis Jr. - allegedly sold cocaine or marijuana to police informants. All three men have pleaded innocent.
Whether the Rocking R Bar fight, Wright's murder, cocaine-trafficking ring and drug-dealing charges against Fuller, Sullivan and Davis are linked remains a tightly held secret. Across the board, officials in the Gallatin County Attorney's Office, FBI, Missouri River Drug Task Force and Gallatin County Sheriff's Office have refused to comment.
It didn't help the MSU athletics department that all this came on the heels of the 2004 arrest and conviction of former assistant football coach Joe O'Brien for selling methamphetamine.
Following the arrests, concerned MSU officials sought an NCAA review of its recruiting practices.
The NCAA's report, released in February, suggested improvements in recruiting, academic and social-mentoring programs, and in the graduation rate of MSU football players.
But the arrests kept coming. And that, combined with academic issues in recent years that have cost MSU football scholarships, led the university to fire former football coach Mike Kramer.
“What's been happening is a black cloud over all our kids,” athletic director Peter Fields said after Kramer's firing. “You feel bad for the athletes. You feel bad for the staff that has worked so hard. They get painted with a brush that they're part of a drug university, when it's far from the truth. But that is the perception that is out there, so we need to change that perception.”
CHANGES ON THE HORIZON
Bozeman is a small, isolated town without much diversity. And many of the students at MSU have never been around minorities, with the possible exception of Native Americans.
The transition for minority athletes from urban, populated cities into Bozeman can be difficult, Fullerton said. For many of them, it's a different world.
“It's a very different culture you're bringing them in to. They're going to feel very alone in a place like Bozeman,” Fullerton said. “The student athlete is going to experience things in Bozeman that can be very offensive.
“You just have to get kids who have a chance of succeeding at your school --- academically and socially. You just want them to understand the environment they're getting in to. How will they handle that?” he said.
Incoming athletes have several resources supporting them when they arrive on campus, Camie Bechtold, MSU's associate athletic director, said.
The school offers a life-skills class, including lessons on social and academic adjustments, and the cultural differences between big cities and Bozeman.
MSU also has guest speakers talk to athletes about being in the limelight and what's expected of them. In addition, athletes attend orientations, volunteer in the community and have academic and social mentors, Bechtold said.
“It's really set up to help them adjust,” Bechtold said. “I think we have some components in place. Could we do better? Absolutely.”
One place MSU could do better is helping athletes make the transition from athletes to regular students or graduates, Bechtold said.
Five of the six former MSU athletes arrested in the past year, who by most accounts were good citizens during their athletic careers, got into trouble after leaving their football or basketball teams.
“Sometimes it's hard because they don't feel connected” after leaving their teams, Bechtold said.
To help outgoing athletes make the transition, MSU plans to start offering a junior-level life-skills course on leadership, careers and planning for the future, Bechtold said.
“All institutions are working hard on these issues, because they all have the same issues,” Fullerton said. “They've risen to the surface so much in Bozeman. I just don't know why.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story
Printer friendly version Subscribe
