The 30-year-old Roundtree was identified last year by city police as the most prolific cocaine dealer in Newburgh, supplying customers who traveled to the city from 35 to 40 miles away.The case against Frederick Roundtree's Newburgh-based cocaine crew ended last week with a 30th guilty plea, but the biggest fish is thinking about getting off the hook.Roundtree's sentencing was postponed by Orange County Court Judge Nicholas DeRosa, because Roundtree is contemplating changing his mind about pleading guilty. Part of his plea-bargain deal last month included giving up his right to appeal. His lawyer, Paul Trachte of Newburgh, says Roundtree may want to renew his challenge to the validity of wiretaps that were a key part of the case.DeRosa disagreed with the defense contention that Newburgh police didn't properly "minimize" wiretapped conversations that weren't germane to the case, and he also ruled that police had no other means to investigate Roundtree's crew. Trachte argued that police successfully infiltrated the crew by using confidential informants.When DeRosa ruled against him, that left Roundtree facing the prospect of a trial and a maximum of 48 years in state prison if he was convicted of all the charges he faced.Instead, Roundtree accepted a deal: Plead guilty to a single felony drug-possession charge in exchange for eight years in prison, and give up a chance to renew his arguments about the validity of the wiretaps that snared him."I think the main concern now is the waiver of his right to appeal with regard to that issue," Trachte said.Roundtree's due back in court on this week.In addition to Roundtree, 31 people were indicted after an investigation of his crew's activities last year. Two of those people are still at large. The others all pleaded guilty to charges ranging from conspiracy to second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony.The No. 2 man in Roundtree's organization, J.W. Hamilton, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in state prison and five years' parole.The last open case in the Roundtree indictment ended with a guilty plea on Thursday. Charles Arline of Newburgh pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor conspiracy charge, in exchange for a sentence of time already served in jail. He had been facing a felony conspiracy charge.His lawyer, Phil Schnabel of Chester, says that a former Orange County prosecutor, David Hoovler, helped ensure the plea bargain on Thursday by pointing out flaws in the wiretaps that were evidence against Arline. Hoovler's now a defense lawyer in Chester.Other people familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they didn't want to jeopardize future dealings with lawyers and judges, say that Arline was offered a deal because he was the last loose end in the Roundtree case. The prosecutor, Gary Heavner, left the Orange County District Attorney's Office last year and is now a prosecutor in Rockland County.
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