Sometimes, the wheels of justice move v-e-r-y slowly. And in the case of a 62-year-old Chantilly woman, they all but ground to a halt.
But things are churning once again for Alicia Q. Stefanopoulo, of 13298 Leafcrest Lane, Apt. 202-A, in the Shenandoah Crossing community. The year-old, drug-distribution charge against her has now been sent to the grand jury.
In an April 6, 2005 affidavit for a search warrant to look for possible evidence in her home, an undercover, Fairfax County police detective explained what led to her legal troubles. He wrote that investigation revealed Stefanopoulo was allegedly selling cocaine here, and one particular person had reportedly purchased a total of about 2 1/2 kilograms from her.
According to Capt. Dave Vice, commander of the police department's Organized Crime and Narcotics Division, a kilo of cocaine weighs 2.2 pounds and usually sells in Northern Virginia for $23,000-$28,000/kilo.
However, he added, it's often broken into grams for sale. In that case, he said, one gram of cocaine would sell for about $80. Since there are 1,000 grams in a kilogram, one kilo of cocaine would then have a street value of about $80,000 — and 2 1/2 kilos would fetch approximately $200,000.
In the affidavit, the detective wrote that Stefanopoulo lived mainly in New York City, but also maintained a residence in Chantilly. He learned, as well, that she drove a black BMW and he was able to obtain its license-plate number.
Through this information and other computer checks, he identified Stefanopoulo, of the Leafcrest Lane address, as the person who'd allegedly sold the cocaine. He also wrote that, on April 5, 2005, Stefanopoulo was expected to return to Chantilly "to deliver at least one kilogram of cocaine" for another person to sell.
On that date, the detective did surveillance and discovered Stefanopoulo's black BMW parked on Leafcrest Lane. The next day, he arranged for a controlled purchase of cocaine from her. The deal was set to take place in the parking lot of a Chantilly grocery store.
But, wrote the detective, the buyer was then allegedly advised by Stefanopoulo to go to another location to pick up the kilo from someone else who reportedly had it in his truck.
According to the detective, police surveillance units watched Stefanopoulo leave her Chantilly apartment and drive her BMW to meet with the man with the truck. They also reportedly saw her speak with him and receive "a blue bag through the passenger window," wrote the detective.
He further noted that she then allegedly drove to the grocery-store parking lot, met the buyer and placed the blue bag inside his/her vehicle. Then, he wrote, Stefanopoulo left and drove back to her apartment.
Afterward, the buyer gave the detective a bag "that appeared to contain a kilogram of cocaine. A field test of the substance reacted positive for the presence of cocaine."
Police executed the search warrant, the same day, at Stefanopoulo's Chantilly home, seizing records and documents, plus a wallet containing identification. They arrested Stefanopoulo, April 7, 2005, charging her with distribution of cocaine.
She was supposed to appear in court, two months later, but the case was continued several times until last Tuesday, July 18. At that time, General District Court Judge Stewart Davis certified the charge against her to the grand jury for possible indictment.