Drug roundup nets 16

By JIM TALBERT\Staff
TAZEWELL – A Princeton man accused of selling steroids is among 16 people indicted during a special session of Tazewell County’s Grand Jury last week.
Craig Steven Cook, 37, faces one count of distribution of Stanozolol, a schedule III controlled substance. Stanozolol is an anabolic steroid available as an injection and in pill form.
It is used by body builders and other athletes but is banned by most sanctioning bodies of professional sports. Ben Johnson was stripped of his Gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1988 Olympics after testing positive for Stanozolol.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Dennis Lee said the allegation against Cook is that he approached an off duty police officer and offered to sell him steroids. The officer then went to the narcotics task force with the information.
In addition to Cook, the list of indictments includes senior citizens and people the commonwealth alleges tried to rip off undercover agents. Charles Newton Asbury, 62, is indicted for seven counts of distributing various drugs.
Charles Raymond Perdue, Jr, 66, of Rocky Gap faces one count of distribution of cocaine. David Allen Baldwin, aka Super Dave, 53, is charged with three counts of distributing cocaine, one count of distributing oxycodone and one count of possessing a firearm while in possession of a controlled substance.
Lee said the investigation into Baldwin’s activities went back several years and was a joint effort with the Russell County Narcotics Task Force. Latoya Lynn Nicholas of Tazewell is charged with conspiracy, grand larceny and criminal solicitation.
The Commonwealth alleges Nicholas robbed the agent sent to attempt to buy drugs from her. The list also has a mother and daughter accused of selling cocaine from the same address in Bluefield.