http://www.roanoke.com/sports/vtfootball/wb/146678

Friend of Ore found guilty
Tony Majette and Tech player Branden Ore had different stories about bags of crack.

In the end, it was the Branden Ore movie, not the Tony Majette movie, that the jury believed.

There had been two days of testimony and arguments that told two stories -- differing movies, Public Defender Larry Shelton said -- of how Majette and Ore, the star Virginia Tech tailback, came to be stopped in a Cadillac carrying a dealer-level load of crack cocaine.

There had been more than 412 hours of apparently agonizing jury deliberations, with jurors announcing they were deadlocked and the judge telling them to keep trying.

And finally, on Thursday evening, there was a verdict: Majette was guilty of possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute it. When he is sentenced, he will face 10 years to life in prison.

It was a case and an outcome similar to many in federal court. What set Majette's trial apart was the involvement of Ore, who was brought to the witness stand a week after an Orange Bowl performance that was one of the game's few highlights for the Hokies, who lost 24-21 to Kansas.

The defense said Ore had the motive and opportunity to hide two bags of crack that police discovered the evening of June 5, 2006. Ore took the stand Wednesday to deny it.

The trial presented two narratives. Among the few points of agreement was that the incident began with Majette driving a silver Cadillac that belonged to his girlfriend. Ore was in the front passenger seat. There were four tires in the back seat.

According to Ore, he was riding along to see tires similar to some Majette had bought. Shelton, who represented Majette, said the two actually were on their way to buy marijuana for Ore.

They passed several police cars parked at a house on Blacksburg's Roanoke Street. Majette, whose driver's license was suspended, quickly headed around the block. A patrol car followed.

Ore said the lights and siren panicked Majette, who pulled a plastic bag from his pocket and tossed it into Ore's lap. Ore said he wanted no part of it and pushed it aside.

Shelton emphasized that Blacksburg officer Michael Czernicki, who stopped the car because he thought it was driving erratically and its windows were tinted too dark, testified he turned on his lights just before he pulled in behind Majette and Ore on Lee Street. Shelton said Majette could not have tossed anything after the lights came on because Czernicki and other officers were too close and would have seen it.

Majette was arrested for driving with a suspended license. Majette's girlfriend picked up Ore and took him to get his own license so he could drive the car away. While Ore was gone, police found the crack, one bag between the passenger's seat and the door and the other on the floor behind the passenger's seat. In total, there was about 23 grams of crack, an amount authorities said exceeded personal use.

When Ore returned, he and Majette were taken to Blacksburg's police station. There, Ore wrote out a statement about Majette flipping the bag to him.

Accounts of Majette's own interview with police differed.

Blacksburg police Sgt. Anthony Wilson testified that Majette accepted responsibility for the drugs. Shelton argued his client gave a more defiant reply that basically challenged police to charge him. There was no documentation of the exchange.

There was corroboration, however, that Majette asked to become an informant. He ended up telling officers about a local drug dealer -- though nothing that led to an arrest.

Majette's short cooperation with police ended in late 2006. He was jailed on a separate drug charge on which he had been convicted weeks before he and Ore were stopped.

One of the trial's few witnesses besides Ore and police was Anthony Lamont Long, the man whom Shelton said Ore wanted to buy marijuana from and also the dealer about whom Majette later told police. Brought from jail, Long testified he bought and sold drugs with Majette, but knew Ore "only from the TV."

Shelton called Long's testimony worthless. He said police were reluctant to charge a football star and urged the jury not to be "misled by the government's view of Branden Ore as some sort of innocent."

"We'll never know what happened in the car," responded Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Bassford. "... We just know the drugs were there and we'll have to decide for ourselves."

1/11/2008 1:34:12 PM

thread title is A++


for a second I thought that crack was a mineral that could be mined (therefore ore)... then i was like "wait, I certainly would've known if you could mine crack."

[Edited on January 11, 2008 at 1:51 PM. Reason : .]

1/11/2008 1:48:06 PM

May-may-may-make crack like this

1/11/2008 1:50:37 PM

Quote :

"thread title is A++"

1/11/2008 2:02:05 PM

summary plz

1/11/2008 2:05:16 PM

^ Brandon Ore, VT RB, won't be charged in a crack cocaine case.

1/11/2008 2:36:25 PM

Brandon Ore was riding in the passenger seat with the other guy in Blacksburg (Ore says to look at rims, the other guy says to buy weed).

Cops pull over the driver. They find crack by the passenger seat. Ore says the driver threw the crack at him when the police turned their lights on. The driver said it was Ore's.

Jury believes Ore.

1/11/2008 2:37:59 PM

clearly brandon ore is too much of a bitch to be down with this

1/11/2008 3:03:56 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3301997

Ore kicked off team; sources say Hokies coaches grew weary of player's attitude

Virginia Tech running back Branden Ore, the Hokies' leading rusher in their charge toward the 2007 FedEx Orange Bowl, has been dismissed from the team.

"During recent meetings with Branden Ore, we have decided that it would be best for Branden to pursue other opportunities," coach Frank Beamer said in a statement released by the school Wednesday. "Branden has had many great moments here at Virginia Tech, and we wish him well in the future."

Beamer did not offer details for Ore's removal, but according to people with knowledge of the situation, the coaching staff simply grew impatient with Ore's lackadaisical attitude and lack of commitment to the team. The Hokies waited for Ore to mature for more than two seasons and gave up after he failed to reach what once seemed to be enormous potential.

A redshirt senior, Ore played in all 14 games last season, starting 13. He led the Hokies in rushing with 992 yards and was second on the team in scoring with 10 touchdowns. In the Orange Bowl, a 24-21 loss to Kansas, he rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

Ore was in and out of Beamer's doghouse during his three-year career in Blacksburg. Before his sophomore season in 2006, Ore withdrew from classes during spring semester and returned home to Chesapeake, Va., where he worked at a 7-Eleven warehouse. At that point, Virginia Tech's coaches were already frustrated with Ore skipping workouts, classes and mandatory study halls.

"I think players and coaches have to have a relationship," running backs coach Billy Hite said in October 2006. "At that point, I had no relationship with Branden. I'd never had him in the office just to talk about life. It was always for something Branden did wrong. One mistake always led to a second and a third. He was on the fence."

Hite could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Beamer refused comment beyond his statement.

Ore seemed to get off the fence as a junior, when he ran for 1,137 yards and 16 touchdowns. But after what seemed to be a breakout season, he was severely out of shape when he reported to training camp before last season. He had returned home during summer school rather than remain in Blacksburg with his teammates, many of whom were participating in the team's voluntary conditioning program.

Running behind a rebuilt offensive line last season, Ore failed to gain 100 yards until the Hokies' 11th game. He averaged only 3.7 yards per carry and had only two 100-yard efforts in 14 games. Then Ore was suspended from playing in the first quarter of the Orange Bowl because he was late for a bowl practice.

Five days after the game, Ore testified in a federal drug case in Roanoke, Va., in which his close friend was charged with possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. The charges stemmed from a June 2006 traffic stop in Blacksburg. Ore testified his friend, Tony Majette, tossed a bag of cocaine in his lap after police stopped the car. Ore was never charged and testified the drugs did not belong to him.

Ore's loss figures to be a big blow for a Virginia Tech offense that last season ranked 110th in total yards in Division I-A (330.5) and 53rd in points scored (28.7). The Hokies return quarterbacks Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon, but must replace the bulk of their receiver corps. Junior Kenny Lewis Jr., a former minor league baseball player, ran for 205 yards and four touchdowns last season. Junior Jahre Cheeseman ran for 133 yards and one score.

The Hokies redshirted two highly touted running backs last year -- Darren Evans of Indianapolis and Josh Oglesby of Garner, N.C. In February, Virginia Tech signed one of the country's top tailback prospects in Ryan Williams of Manassas, Va.

3/19/2008 6:23:10 PM

My paint bleeding like blood
And my trunk shakin like thunder
Ridin up to Baltimore
Wit 4 keys under my bumper

3/19/2008 6:30:10 PM