Owens sentenced to 20 years in federal prison
ROANOKE – Barry “B.J.” Owens Jr. lived in New Castle when he was arrested a year ago and charged with bringing in heroin from Pennsylvania. But after his sentencing in federal court Monday, his address for the next 20 years will be a federal prison.
The 30-year-old who himself estimated he had brought in 35,000 bags of heroin into Craig County and the Roanoke Valley was sentenced by Judge Samuel Wilson in U.S. Western District of Virginia Court in Roanoke.
Barry "B.J." Owens Jr.
That was the same court where he signed a plea agreement and pled guilty on Feb. 3 to four heroin charges and one of conspiracy to distribute heroin. He has been in jail awaiting trial since he was arrested in late September.
Before federal marshals led him back a holding cell and eventually prison on Monday, Owens was allowed to hug his mother and father, younger sister and a family friend.
Mother Carol Owens testified as a character witness for her son, whom she said “would take off and give the shirt on his back to someone who needed it.”
She agreed with the judge that drugs had ruined her son’s life, but said she didn’t know about many of the crimes he was convicted of since he turned 18 or the vast list of drugs he had taken over the years, which the judge read to her.
“I didn’t know it (his drug addiction) was as bad as it is until recently,” Carol Owens said. “He’s never let me know.”
B.J. Owens told the probation officer who prepared the pre-sentencing report – and which the judge read to Owens’ mother – over the years drugs he had used drugs ranging from alcohol and marijuana to cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin LSD, Ecstacy, morphine, methamphetamine, mushrooms and prescription drugs.
“I do realize he’s done wrong,” Carol Owens told the judge, “and he has to pay for that…I feel like he needs to have a rehabilitation program to get over this.”
Darlene Archull, who said she was Carol Owens’ best friend, testified she had known B.J. Owens since he was 2, “and he’s always been a good-hearted fellow.”
In answer to questions from defense attorney Terry Grimes as to how her friend’s son had changed, she said, “He wasn’t the sensitive, kind young man I knew him to be.”
Before Wilson sentenced Owens, Grimes pointed out that others involved with him in bringing in heroin had received lesser sentences than what federal sentencing guidelines called for.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Wolthuis urged the judge to follow sentencing guidelines because of Owens’ past criminal history as well as the public safety standpoint of Owens’ demonstrated drug trafficking activity.
“Mr. Owens estimated he brought in 35,000 bags of heroin to the streets of Roanoke and Craig County,” Wolthuis said.
“He’s going back and back and back into drug trafficking,” the prosecuting attorney pointed out.
When he sentenced Owens, the judge asked if he had choices of where he wanted to serve his time. Owens said Butner, N.C.
Owens’ arrest for the heroin charge in court this week came after he and Pennsylvania resident Edwin Cartegena were in a car stopped on a routine traffic stop in Shenandoah County. Police said there were hundreds of bags of heroin in the car.
On Sept. 16, a grand jury of the Western Judicial District of Virginia indicted Owens on four charges of distributing heroin on Feb. 24, 2010; March 2, March 5 and March 11; and one charge of conspiring to distribute heroin between spring 2008 and September 2010.
Craig County Sheriff Clifford Davidson said Owens’ arrest came from combined investigation efforts by his office, the New River Regional Drug Task Force and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
Owens was arrested six weeks before a massive drug bust in Craig County that rounded up 32 men and women on a total of 56 drug and related charges, including several heroin offenses and one fatality from a drug overdose.
Editor’s note: The original version of this article incorrectly identified Owens’ father.
As someone who was in the courtroom that day I would like to know how my father turned into my younger brother for one. And I am sure there a lot of people who are just so happy about my brother reciving this kind of time. Well I hope you enjoy ur smile 4 now bc it will come back to u I’m sure. The press has made my brother out to be a monster. He was not charged with near that amont of drugs and the traffic stops he wasn’t charged with anything eithe anyways I know BJ and what a great person he is and how wonderful he is to be around. I also know he is sick he’s an addict but I guess drugs addicts don’t get the same treatment as crazy people who kill someone. Drugs addicts get years n prison for supplying their habits and people who say there crazy and kill get a few months in jail or a mental hospital and its probarly the medias fault because of the way they like to make people out to be monster and really don’t even print everything they just print the bad th at they want people to hear not the parts that actually make someone sound human.
Amber,
I am sorry for your loss of your brother, but remember “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions”. Sometimes “good” people do bad things, and society needs to punish those who do. Think about all of the others that have been harmed by BJ’s supplied drugs.
Everyone is responsible for themselves, and if they made the choice to buy drugs from BJ that was THIER choice, and they were breaking the law buying just as much as he was selling. If they chose to buy the drugs, they “ruined” their own lives. Let’s not blame BJ for everything. Following the rule of “supply and demand” apparently he was supplying because they were demanding. The buyers had no one but themselves to blame. So let us not all point fingers at the suppliers, and act like he is this “evil” person. Drugs have affected his life, so instead of bringing him and others in the same situation down why not encourage them and build them up, and try to give them the help they need…rehab, not jail. They’re not criminals. They have a problem, just like those of you who like to run off at the mouth with your hateful know-it-all comments. In my opinion, I’d rather be around the person who helped me carry my groceries out to my car in the rain (BJ) than listen to those bring people like him down with thier cynical selfish attitudes.
April thank you for your comment. I agree with you. And mike my brother was not the one who hurt any one. They hurt them selves they bought it and I’m sure he wasn’t their only supplier. There are more people than him that sold drugs in this county. No offense to any one who did. But I would be willing to bet no one gets the kind of time he did. He is a addict like many of the others who got caught. The diiference is he gets to spend 20 yrs n jail and no one will spend 20 months. I’m sorry for everyone invloved her. But Mike if u want to talk about people who were hurt and people getting jail tim, why did bjs supplier only get 5 years. He suppplied BJ and many others but he will walking the streets to do it again in less than 5 years. Is that justice I think not.
We can’t justify bad behavior with other bad behavior, just as we can’t lump all offenders into a mold where they all get what is deserved. Our system, for the most part works very well. There are appeal procedures and if in the end the justice system believes that society is best served by a 20 year sentence, then so be it. I agree that everyone is responsible for their own actions as in the buyers, but in that same sense so is BJ responsible for his actions addicted or not. Was it not his choice in the beginning to start taking the drugs he got addicted to? We can’t compartmentalize peoples actions; that just because they are good in one are does not excuse them from their actions in another. Again, I am sorry for your loss of your brother. Continue to stand by him and pray for him and maybe when he gets out, probably less that the 20 years, he can go back to being the good person you remember and can help others with their addictions. God Bless.
I have no doubt my brother will beat his addications. And yes it was his choice and you don’t see him pointing fingers about were he is at today. He is doing his time. However no one else needs to point fingers either. They chose to do the drugs so whatever came out of it for them that is theirs not anyones elses. And as far as the justice system I agree that every case is different. And we will all see how it unfolds but there were a lot of 2nd and even some 3rd time offernders in the drug bust. We will see how fair it all is. That is my only point here I am not saying he should not have to pay for his actions. My point is no one else is any better so they should get to pay for their actions as well. Instead of being to snitch their way out of it or blame someone else and get out of it. Everyone invloved here are adults and they should pay the price for actions. Not be a coward and snitch people out and point their blame else where.
BJ is not a “bad” person; let he who is without sin cast the first stone. He is no worse than anyone else in this matter, and I find it ridiculous just because someone “tattles” they get a lighter sentence. Because someone knows how to run their mouth, their wrongdoing is a lesser offense?
Agreed April!
Wham bam thank you, maam, my questions are asnewerd!
Tards…