TESTIMONY PEPPERED WITH STREET TALES

Day seven of the trial of four men charged with running a
Charlottesville narcotics ring focused on a marijuana delivery gone
bad, an alleged kidnapping and a drive-by shooting.

When a large chunk of a 50-pound marijuana shipment went missing in
the spring of 2004, an "upset" Louis Antonio Bryant pointed a gun at
the man he suspected of taking it, according to testimony from
22-year-old Jonathan Banks.

Bryant, Terrance Suggs, Claiborne Lemar Maupin and John Darrelle
Bryant are all charged with racketeering, or committing crimes to
protect a Char-lottesville-based drug enterprise. Their trial will
continue past the Thanksgiving holiday into next week.

Banks said Suggs, who is from Philadel-phia, delivered the weed to
him in a large moving box. After the marijuana had been divided into
three smaller amounts, Banks said, some of it was stolen out of the
trunk of his car.

His older brother, Lamont Payne, testified that he had arranged the
delivery from behind bars so that profits could go to the mother of his child.

Payne's best friend, Louis Bryant, allowed Suggs to stay at his
house, Banks said, and was involved in trying to find out who stole
the marijuana.

Bryant wrongfully accused a man named Curtis Johnson of the theft and
threatened to shoot him, according to Brandon Scott, Banks' roommate
and one of the real marijuana bandits.

Armed with a black semiautomatic pistol, Bryant pointed the gun at
Johnson while asking him where he wanted to take a bullet, Scott said.

Later, a still-armed Bryant orchestrated an all-night search on the
streets of Charlottesville for another suspected thief, Robert "Face"
Pryor, Banks said. Johnson, who was taken along for the ride, cried
continually and, at one point, began writing out a last will and testament.

Bryant ultimately gave up the hunt for the night, and Johnson
returned home unharmed, Banks said.

Scott said he and two other friends, including Pryor, stole the
marijuana out of the trunk of Banks' car. They eventually sold the
weed for $20,000.

In the weeks after the theft, Pryor's father's house was the target
of a drive-by shooting. His mother and sister testified that they
were hassled by men asking about Pryor's whereabouts.

Payne, Banks and Scott have already pleaded guilty to a drug
conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing. They are among several
witness-defendants who hope to receive lighter sentences for their
cooperation with the government.

With each such witness, Bryant's lawyer, Jonathan L. Katz, emphasizes
that the men stand to gain personally from their testimony against his client.

The men have all said they've been told to tell the truth and have
been made no promises by prosecutors.

Payne grew up with Bryant, and the two were close friends and
business partners in a struggling recording business. Bryant was a
rap artist who went by the name "Bugsy Stacks," or "B-Stacks."

"It's very hard for me to do so because he's my best friend and I
love him," Payne said of testifying.

The trial will resume today. Court will be closed Thursday and Friday.