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Cocaine Trial for Amy Cooper Continues
11/17/09 - 10:28 AM

WMBB News Department

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The government resumes its case Tuesday morning in the federal drug trial of the girlfriend of Dr. Michael Reed.  Amy Cooper is on trial before Judge Richard Smoak charged with using a telephone to solicit the sale of a controlled substance, a mixture of cocaine. She has pleaded not-guilty.

The day started with the continued testimony from co-defendant, Hector Melara.  Melara, who will be sentenced in December, testified that Cooper and Reed had been buying cocaine from him for personal use.  Melara agreed with Cooper’s defense, testifying that she didn’t know it was a kilo of cocaine he was delivering to Reed’s house until the day of the deal.

The government’s case includes two phone calls from Cooper to Melara, the first indicating that he needed to wait 10 minutes before arriving with the cocaine and the second indicating that it was okay to complete the transaction.

Following Melara’s testimony, Capt. Ricky Ramey of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office took the stand. Ramey helped serve the warrant at Reed’s house.  He also says he witnessed Melara deliver the cocaine and that he saw Cooper enter the house.  Cooper says she was not in the house during the exchange of $30,000 for the cocaine.

After the warrant was served, Ramey said that Cooper at first denied involvement.  He testified that after he told her he had seen her enter the house with Melara she said “you’re kidding me” and looked nervous.  The government is continuing it’s questioning of Ramey, with cross-examination to follow by the defense.

There is no indication yet that Cooper will take the stand in her own defense.

Reed pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distrubute cocaine after a $30,000 purchase of more than a kilogram of cocaine. He was sentenced to 57 months in prison on Friday.

Monday’s Court Proceedings

The federal drug trial of Amy Cooper, the girlfriend of Dr. Michael Reed, is now under way.  A jury was selected from a pool of about 40 people Monday morning.  The 14 member panel, which includes two alternates, consists of eight women and six men.  The trial began Monday afternoon.

Cooper is charged with using a telephone to solicit the sale of a controlled substance, a mixture of cocaine.  She has pleaded not-guilty.

Cooper’s defense doesn’t dispute that she agreed to participate in handing over $30,000 in order to purchase a kilogram of cocaine from co-defendant Hector Melara.  The defense although argues that the exchange would have happened with or without Cooper’s assistance.  The government says Cooper was an aid in the deal.

The Drug Enforcement Agency called a witness to testify about how the wire tapping process works before beginning to play nearly 20 phone conversations.  The calls provide details into the interactions between Melara, Cooper and Reed.  Those conversations indicate that Reed had not shared with Cooper that he was purchasing more than user amounts of cocaine. 

On the day that Cooper is accused of calling Melara, the prosecution says everyone involved in the deal was running late.  That’s when they say Reed asked Cooper for her help.  Cooper then called Melara to ask him to wait for ten minutes because she had people at her home.  During a second phone call she let Melara know that they were gone and he could come over.

The prosecution says that Copper and Reed were purchasing cocaine for personal use once every two weeks.  They say Reed would ask Cooper to test the cocaine for quality since she had been a user for five to six years.

Melara himself is also testifying.  He tells the court that the exchanges of cocaine often happened in the parking lots of businesses such as Home Depot, Winn Dixie and CVS as well as at Reed’s home.  We also learned that Melara was operating a limo service up until his arrest.

Cooper was out of jail on pre-trial release up until last week when she was ordered to turn herself in.  She was found guilty of violating her conditions of release by talking to her boyfriend and co-defendant in the case, Dr. Reed.

Federal prosecutors say Cooper introduced Reed to drugs.  Reed was sentenced to just under five years in prison followed by four years of supervised release.  Reed pleaded guilty in July to cocaine conspiracy and admitted to investing $60,000 for two kilograms of cocaine smuggled in from Belize.

The indictments followed two years of investigation by federal authorities and included a total of eight co-defendants.  After Cooper’s trial is complete there will only be one person who has not yet been sentenced, Hector Melara.  Melara is scheduled to appear in court in December but first he is expected to give testimony about Cooper’s involvement in the conspiracy. 

The other co-defendants learned their fates on Thursday and Friday.  Israel Lerma received the longest sentence, he will spend life in prison.  Rob Lee Young received the shortest with 30 months of time to serve.