PALATKA (Florida) DAILY NEWS

August 16, 2006

Evans Sr. distributed crack, says ex-worker

By Wes Wolfe

JACKSONVILLE - A former employee testified on Tuesday that Ronald Evans Sr. gave him crack cocaine on multiple occasions at the Evans’ labor camps in East Palatka and North Carolina.

Wilbur Cain’s testimony came on the second day in the trial of Evans Sr. and his wife, Jequita, on charges of facilitating a continuing criminal enterprise.

Cain, who is serving time in Pennsylvania for burglary and escaping from a halfway house, also provided testimony implicating Evans Sr., 58, in violations of federal labor law.

Evans Sr. and Mrs. Evans face life imprisonment if convicted. The trial is being held in U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan’s court.

Cain worked on the North Carolina camp several times from 2003-2005, he said. During his first stay at the camp, he said Evans Sr., Ronald Evans Jr. and Mrs. Evans stayed at a house on the property. Irvin Sutton, referred to as “Soul Man” in court, would go to the house, then distribute crack to the workers in a barn on the property for $10 a rock, Cain said.

Sutton, 68, is currently at large and wanted by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office for selling cocaine in connection to this case. Cain said workers were able to buy crack, beer and cigarettes at the barn and the amount of the purchases came out of their weekly pay.

During another trip to North Carolina, Cain testified he and other workers cleaned up the camp and got the facility into shape. Cain said at the end of the day, workers would receive dinner from Mrs. Evans, 45, at the back of the house and Evans Sr. would hand each person three crack rocks, including two on the last day of the week-long project.

Cain also said he received four crack rocks a week for cleaning bathrooms at the East Palatka camp and received three rocks for mowing the lawn at the Evans house, which were placed in his weekly pay envelope. As well, he said it was possible to get paid in rocks for helping make a trailer-load of boxes on Sundays at a packing shed at one of the farms the labor camp serviced.

A subsequent week-long cleanup occurred in 2005, in which Cain said he drove Evans Sr. to the North Carolina camp in Evans Sr.’s truck. The workers received two rocks a night, Cain said. Upon their return to the East Palatka camp, Cain said they received another two crack rocks from Sutton, but had to wait until Sutton received word from Evans Sr. that it was OK.

Cain testified that Evans Sr. also personally distributed crack at the East Palatka camp. Evans Sr. had a “special line” on Sundays, when a worker could ask for crack or put his or her name on a list for additional crack, Cain said. The prosecution produced records with names and numbers on them which Cain confirmed were requests for crack. Each of the former workers who have testified said usually the only time crack could be purchased at the camp pump house was Monday-Friday. At another time, Cain said he asked Evans Sr. for $30, but Evans Sr. said he could not pay in cash and instead gave Cain three crack rocks.

Crack arrived at the camp pump house, Cain said, by Evans Jr. giving the rocks to Sutton either in a white envelope or in an orange pill bottle.

On his first trip to the North Carolina camp in 2003, Cain said he rode in a van driven by a man called “White Boy,” also known by his first name of Gary. Nathaniel Davenport drove the other van taken on the trip. Only Evans Sr., Ronald Evans Jr., Johnson - also known as “Shine” - and Gilbert LaBeaud III were certified to drive company vehicles by the U.S. Department of Labor. Also, only two vans and a converted school bus were authorized for transportation of the workers. For the 2005 excursion, Cain said he drove Evans Sr. to the North Carolina camp in Evans Sr.’s truck.

U.S. Department of Labor investigator Terri Whaley said during her testimony Tuesday she and the other two investigators with her saw a man named Tony Johnson with an unauthorized third van during the Department of Labor’s inspection in May 2004. Evans Sr. said the third van was “not to be used,” but Whaley said they saw Tony Johnson driving the van May 11 and May 17, along with a fourth unauthorized van driven by Davenport. It was later discovered Davenport owned the van he was driving, but was not certified to drive farm workers.

Steve Marlowe of the Department of Labor said the questionnaire filled out by Evans Sr. indicated only he did payroll, the camp did not serve meals and did not charge rent. At the time of the investigation, Whaley said they did not see documents showing deductions for food, rent or cash advances. However, Emma Mae Johnson and Cain testified they worked in the kitchen and cooked meals for the workers and the camp charged workers 75 cents for sodas at lunchtime, when meals would be served. Cain and another worker, William Miller, said they had $50 deducted from their pay at the end of the week for rent and meals.

Miller, who is charged in Arkansas with threatening a person with a BB-gun, gave testimony similar to that of Emma Mae Johnson in that he said crack was available everywhere in the camp, not just at the pump house. Miller said he knew of several other workers at the camp he could buy from, including Sutton and “runners” for other dealers. He also said Emma Mae Johnson would call local drug dealers and bring them to the camp. She said crack was readily available in the Palatka area and people used a phone at the camp to call for deliveries of crack “all the time.”

Miller acknowledged he bought crack, beer and cigarettes at the pump house, and gave prices for the products that corresponded with prices named by the other two camp workers who testified. He said he was not satisfied with the crack at the camp, though. He said he did not get his money’s worth.

Although Evans Sr. and his wife are being tried at the same time, Evans Sr. is also charged with transporting untaxed cigarettes across state lines and polluting Cow’s Creek, which runs near the East Palatka camp.

Testimony was set to resume this morning at 9, with Cain finishing his time on the stand. Prosecutors said they plan to call three other former camp employees and two Florida Department of Agriculture Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco investigators.