UNMASKING OF A DA [View All]

[NoPasaran]

PAMPA — The FBI's public unmasking of a drug-ruined district attorney earlier this year turned a mirror on this part of the Panhandle.

FBI agents descended upon Richard James Roach Jan. 11 in a Gray County courtroom. They opened his briefcase to find two firearms and a small quantity of methamphetamine. They found more than two dozen guns, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, a variety of pills and child and adult pornography at Roach's office and home.

Roach, 54, pleaded guilty to one charge of owning a firearm while using illegal drugs. He awaits sentencing in the coming weeks under house arrest at the home of his stepfather, Weldon Trice, a respected former high school football coach in Canyon, just south of Amarillo.

Those in this jurisdiction of five Panhandle counties who labored for him in fear and incomprehension are certain Roach's arrest prevented an even bigger tragedy. Those he left behind to clean up his mess, including a wife he drained of everything but indifference, believe Rick Roach is yesterday's news. Except that he isn't, because methamphetamine is an ongoing front-page story here.

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http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/stories/03/6roach.html