Maintenance Personnel Discover Weapons in Barracks Wall Locker at Camp Lejeune

Photo courtesy of The Black Urban Times

Maintenance personnel aboard Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune discovered several weapons and ammunition during a routine maintenance check of the permanent personnel barracks located on Camp Lejeune mainside last week.

NCIS and military police responded within minutes of the call from the barracks area manager after the maintenance man notified him of his find.

The unidentified Staff Sergeant had the weapons stored in a wall locker in his barracks room....Full story here
Photo courtesy of The Black Urban Times

Photo / Camp Lejeune MCB USMC.MIL


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Alabama Woman Pleads Guilty in Overdose Case

By LINDELL KAY
Daily News Staff
An Alabama woman pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday in the 2006 drug overdose death of a Camp Lejeune Marine.
Belinda McDonald pleaded guilty to the charges of involuntary manslaughter, trafficking in opium and selling Oxicotin in connection with the death of Pvt. Jason Beaird. McDonald was sentenced to 7ﾽ to 9 years in prison by Senior Resident Onslow County Superior Court Judge Charles Henry.
Prosecutors said Beaird was found unresponsive in his barracks and later died at the Naval Hospital on Dec. 9, 2006.
Beairds manner of death was ruled accidental due to drug toxicity due to excess fentanyl, according to autopsy reports.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents received confidential reliable information that McDonald was involved in the death of Beaird. Members of the Jacksonville Police Department Special Operations Division assisted NCIS with making three controlled buys of painkillers from McDonald, prosecutors said.
McDonald was arrested in January 2007 on drug charges. She admitted to NCIS that she sold three fentanyl patches to Beaird a few hours before he died, said Assistant District Attorney Rene Reilly.
Toxicology reports later confirmed Beaird died of a fentanyl overdose.
McDonalds defense attorney, Wally Paramore of Jacksonville, told the court that his client was brought to Onslow County from a small Alabama town by a husband who later abandoned her, and she became a drug addict who sold narcotics to support her habit.
It is really a terrible series of events that gets us here, he said.
Paramore complimented NCIS on their investigation, calling it overwhelming.
McDonald told the court she had no one to blame but herself for what happened.
I made my own decisions, she said. Im not putting it off on anybody.

Operation Shark Attack Nets More Arrests in North Carolina

By Lindell Kay

More than a dozen active-duty military members have been charged with selling drugs on and around Camp Lejeune since September, according to local and federal authorities.
Eight more arrests March 31 - the most recent wave of Operation Shark Attack - came after authorities raided three houses in Pender County, according to information released over the weekend.
Charges in the eight arrests ranged from trafficking cocaine to possession of marijuana, said Surf City Police Chief Mike Halstead.
So far, 182 felony charges have been made against 43 people - 28 civilians and 15 members of the active-duty military. Six arrests for military personnel are still pending. Authorities refused to release the names of the most recent arrestees, citing an ongoing investigation.
Operation Shark Attack was "created to disrupt narcotics distribution in the communities which have a direct affect on Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River," Halstead said.
Shark Attack began in September with the Surf City Police Department, the Holly Ridge Police Department and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service combining forces to conduct controlled drug buys and gather intelligence, said Kevin Marks, a NCIS supervisory special agent.
As the operation progressed, the assistance of several other agencies was required, Halstead said.
The operation grew to include participation from the Jacksonville Police Department, the Pender County Sheriff's Department, the National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, the North Topsail Beach Police Department, the Wilmington Police Department and the 15th Judicial Circuit Drug Enforcement Unit.
So far authorities have seized:
852.71 grams of marijuana,
265 dosage units of Ecstasy,
121 dosage units of prescription medications,
39 grams of crack cocaine,
and 461.7 grams of powdered cocaine.
Law enforcement estimates the combined street value of the drugs to be $81,516.20.
"This operation is a tremendous example of interagency cooperation," Halstead said. "I cannot brag enough on the teamwork displayed by every agency involved. From the military to federal and local law enforcement, every agency had one singular goal: rid our streets of illicit illegal narcotics that affect military, citizens and children alike. We accomplished much, and we plan to keep it that way."

Man Charged with Felony Peeping in North Carolina

By LINDELL KAY
Daily News Staff
The wife of a Jacksonville man charged with taking nude photos of an intoxicated teenager tried to erase the pictures from a digital camera before law enforcement could obtain the images, according to court documents.
Dustin Paul Cosper, 38, a Camp Lejeune Marine staff sergeant, was charged Monday by the Onslow County Sheriff’s Department with crime against nature, felony secret peeping, and second-degree sexual offense against a 16-year-old girl. He had his first court appearance Tuesday morning and remains in jail under a $50,000 bond.
His wife, Marie Michelle Cosper, was told by a social worker to preserve the photographic evidence of the alleged crime, but she erased the photos instead, according to affidavits attached to search warrants obtained by The Daily News.
Sheriff’s Capt. Rick Sutherland said the investigation is still open and he would not comment on possible charges against Marie Cosper.
Charlotte Martin, Dustin Cosper’s stepdaughter, said her family is being torn apart by what has happened.
"I have a mom in Brynn Marr (a mental behavioral hospital) and a stepfather in jail," she told The Daily News on Tuesday. "We are in a whirlwind. My stepfather just got back from Iraq; I don’t know what to believe."
After talking to reporters outside the Cosper home on Hunter Ridge Drive on Tuesday afternoon, Martin sat crying in her pickup truck before driving away.
Unfolding events of the last 10 days has Martin questioning her own beliefs, she said.
"On (March 7), during the evening hours, Dustin Paul Cosper consumed alcoholic beverages with his wife and (the 16-year-old)," according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Department.
Dustin Cosper is accused of going to where the teenage girl was sleeping and undressing her, according to warrants.
Dustin Cosper then took photos of the girl with his hands on her genitals and buttocks, according to warrants.
Three days later, on March 10, the girl told her doctor about what had happened. The doctor informed Social Services and a social worker contacted Marie Cosper who said she had the photos on a digital camera, according to an affidavit signed by Sheriff’s Sgt. John Getty.
The social worker "told Marie Michelle Cosper that she needed to keep those pictures so the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office could see them and explained to her that she had to make a law enforcement and district attorney referral," Getty wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
When Getty called Marie Cosper, she said she erased the pictures on the digital camera so no one could see them, the affidavit states.
However, the alleged victim had already removed the Olympus XD memory card from the camera and hid it in the console of an armchair in the Cosper home. She then told Martin where the card could be found.
Martin retrieved the card and it was handed over to law enforcement, according to affidavits and an interview with Martin.
A search warrant shows the card was searched for images of the girl and other child porn.
Investigators would not discuss what was found on the card, saying only that they obtained enough evidence to make an arrest in the case.
Dustin Cosper is an electric maintenance technician with 2nd Radio Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, said 1st Lt. Philip Klay, a spokesman for II MEF. Cosper joined the Marine Corps in August 1994 and has deployed twice to Iraq. His awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal with two bronze stars in lieu of third award, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with two bronze stars in lieu of third award, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

Camp Lejeune Restaurant Gets Presidential Visit

Alicia Cruz
Senior writer
theblackurbantimes.com

Seems like Broaster Chicken & Ribs on Western Blvd was the place to be last Friday.

Last Friday was the day that President Barack Obama visited Marine Corp Base Camp Lejeune to give a speech. The president landed at the Marine Corp Air Station Cherry Point Friday morning in Air Force One, then took helicopter Marine One to Camp Lejeune for the speech to Marines aboard the base.

According to White House spokesperson Gannet Tseggai statement to Amanda Hickey of the Jacksonville Daily News, President Obama sampled not only the food at Broaster Chicken, but the President had an aide sent to Smithfield's Chicken and Barbeque on Western Blvd., for food as well.

According to Smithfield's general manager, Ken Davis, on Friday, a woman entered Smithfield's and went to the counter and asked where she could sit five to seven people. After a hearty meal consisting of barbeque, beans and potato salad, she left the restaurant, but not before shaking his hand and passing along a coin that Davis assumed was a tip.

Davis told her that he wasn't allowed to accept tips, but she insisted and left the store. "When she left, I looked to see what she gave me. It was a gold coin that said ‘Presidential Food Service for the White House'," Davis said. His son looked it up online and learned that the coin means that the food went to either the president or his immediate family.

The Presidential Food Service is part of the White House Military Office, according to the White House Web site. Its operational units include the White House Communications Agency, Presidential Airlift Group, White House Medical Unit, Camp David, Marine Helicopter Squadron One, Presidential Food Service, and the White House Transportation Agency. They are "the most visible part of the WHMO's support to the President," the Web site said.

Davis says he plans on putting the coin in a shadow box that he can hang in the store. The aide's visit to Broaster Chicken left employee Bonnie Belaney excited about her encounter with White House staff."We were very excited to know that they were helping the local businesses ... and excited to know that it was for the president because I never would have thought (it would happen). It was a very exciting day," Belaney told Daily News reporter, Amanda Hickey. "It just never would have been a thought in my mind. I would think that they would be at maybe the Officer's club on base or something like that."Each employee received a coin, one of which will be hung in the store.

I couldn't attend the speech as I was still recovering from my bout with pnuemonia, but Iwatched it on television. I have to admit, I was pretty bummed that I didn't get to meet the President or really see him. That is one interview that would have set the trail blazing for theblackurbantimes, please believe me. I never really cared for Broaster or Smithfield's but hey, if it's good enough for our President, it's good enough for moi. I'll stop by there for a quick dinner and let you know how it turns out.

Navy Corpsman charged with possessing weapon of mass destruction

LINDELL KAY
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Camp Lejeune Corpsman facing serious charges as police find a military M81 time blasting fuse, a concealed gun, ax, machete, and Molotov cocktails in his possession.
A man charged Thursday with possession of a weapon of mass destruction was arrested Tuesday by Onslow County Sheriff's deputies with a concealed gun, ax, machete, and Molotov cocktails in his car, about 100 feet from the Hubert Volunteer Fire Department, where his estranged wife's roommate works as a firefighter.
Navy corpsman Gregory Desmond McGill, 25, had outstanding warrants charging him with communicating threats against his wife and trespassing on her roommate's property, which is on Sandridge Road, not far from the fire department.
And while he spent two days in jail charged with making domestic violence threats, detectives found a military M81 time blasting fuse in his home on Glenwood Drive and charged him Thursday with possession of a weapon of mass destruction.
In a restraining order request filed this week at the Onslow County Courthouse, McGill's wife, Tori Lyn McGill, complained that McGill threatened to shoot her and her roommate, Matthew Joseph, over the weekend. The complaint states McGill went to his wife's house on Sandridge Road and threatened her. His wife's roommate told McGill not to come back.
Deputies responded, and while they were reviewing video footage from a surveillance camera at a gas station across the road, McGill again went to the house. Deputies told him he would have to leave and not come back, which he later did, according to the complaint.
The complaint states that McGill's two small children were with him in his car each time he is said to have threatened his wife.
His wife applied for an arrest warrant at the Magistrates Office on Monday and warrants were taken out against McGill for communicating threats and trespassing.
Just past midnight Tuesday, deputies discovered McGill in his vehicle, pulled off the side of Hubert Boulevard with his lights off. He was served the outstanding warrants and also charged with carrying a concealed knife and concealed gun.
He is accused of having a knife on a chain under his shirt and a black .45-caliber pistol in a shoulder harness, according to warrants.
McGill was given a bond of $1,000, but was required to wait in jail two days since he was accused of making threats in a domestic violence situation. After a search of his home, detectives also charged him with the weapon of mass destruction count.
He was given a $2,500 bond and bonded out of jail Thursday afternoon.
McGill is scheduled for a first appearance in court this morning. He is also scheduled for a court appearance in April on charges of identity theft and obtaining property by false pretense in which his wife's roommate is the alleged victim, according to the N.C. Court System.

Daily News staff member Mike McHugh contributed to this report. Contact crime reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456.