Man sentenced for role in Roanoke area crack cocaine ring

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - A fifth member of a crack cocaine distribution ring that authorities said operated in the Roanoke area has been sentenced on federal charges.

    U.S. Attorney Julia Dudley said 25-year-old Frederick Maurice Perry of Kinston, North Carolina, received a sentence of eight years and nine months Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke. He also will be on probation for five years for the charge of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine.

    The five defendants pleaded guilty in May to charges related to the crack cocaine distribution organization. Three were sentenced in July, and the fourth earlier this month.