Document text
Gasso pleads guilty to attempted possession By DANI DODGE After getting caught up in a federal drug sting, Gold Hill Public Works Superintendent Royal Gasso pleaded guilty Friday to attempting to possess heroin - a felony. Deputy District Attorney Judy Harper said Gasso talked with a major heroin dealer numerous times while the dealer's phone was tapped by federal agents. Two of the calls were taped. "There were a number of calls that showed the two had been in frequent contact, but only two calls were taped and they were about meeting up at the Griffin Creek place where these drug deals went down," Harper said. At least one of the calls was made on Jan. 21, 2000, Harper said. In June 2000, the FBI went to Gasso's Gold Hill office and asked him about the conversations. At first Gasso denied any involvement with drugs, Harper said. But then the federal officers played him the tape. "After hearing the conversation, he admitted he was the person overheard," Harper said. "He admitted (that) during the past year, he had gotten high on heroin on three or four occasions. "He said he had an attraction to dope." The Jackson County grand jury indicted Gasso, 50, in November on charges of criminal conspiracy, attempted delivery of a controlled substance and attempted possession of a controlled substance. Back in the mid-1980s, Gasso had been convicted in New York of possession of heroin with the intent to distribute. According to testimony in court and court records, he had several parole violations since then as well as a 1998 conviction in Jackson County of driving under the influence of intoxicants. The latest arrest constituted another parole violation and Gasso spent eight months in federal prison. During that time, Gold Hill City Administrator Tony Paxton sent him grants to review as possible funding sources for projects in the city of Gold Hill. "We sent him reading material for projects," Paxton said. "We knew he was coming back and had plenty of time on his hands to read lots of regulations and rules." After his release from federal prison in February, Gasso was welcomed back to the city with a party, including cake. Paxton said Gasso has been "functioning extremely well as the public works superintendent." Paxton said the Gold Hill council next meets on Nov. 5, but he doesn't expect Gasso's conviction to be among the matters discussed. "Unless Mr. Gasso brings it up himself, I do not believe the council will discuss it basically because, to the best of our knowledge, nothing has affected his work performance," Paxton said. "The council was very supportive when he was in federal detention. "I think they believe whatever the situation, he's overcome that and is performing admirably for the city of Gold Hill." While in court Friday, Gasso declined comment other than to admit his guilt to attempting to possess heroin. In exchange for the guilty plea, other charges against him were dropped. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation and 40 hours of community service. If he successfully completes probation, his conviction will change from a felony to a misdemeanor. "He has been punished not only by the federal prosecutors, but because of his position with the city of Gold Hill and this being splashed all over the papers," said his attorney, Carl Caplan. Caplan said that while Gasso's problem is an addiction to heroin, "he's done everything he can to stay away from it." "He slipped and fell, but didn't kill himself," Caplan concluded. Although FBI agents had seen Gasso's silver Jeep Cherokee in the area of drug buys and heard him talking with a major drug dealer, Harper said that it was really Gasso's admissions to FBI that provided the strongest evidence in the case. "I never had him in possession of heroin," she said. "It was the statements that hurt him." She said, though, that a parole officer said Gasso has been doing well since his release from prison. After leaving the courtroom, Gasso declined comment except to say: "I pled guilty so all my past wouldn't come out in the paper." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.