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Founder of successful AAU basketball team arrested on drug charges
DEA charges Upper Marlboro resident with conspiracy to distribute heroin
by Travis Mewhirter Staff writer
D.C. Assault
D.C. Assault founder Curtis Malone was arrested on Friday on drug charges. The Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball program is one of the most successful in the nation, sending numerous players to top colleges and the National Basketball Association.
The founder of the successful Amateur Athletic Union boys’ basketball program D.C. Assault was arrested Friday in Washington, D.C., as part of a yearlong Drug Enforcement Agency investigation, according to court records.
A criminal complaint says DEA agents found a kilogram of suspected cocaine, 100 grams of suspected heroin, drug paraphernalia, and a .40-caliber handgun at the Upper Marlboro home of Herman Curtis Malone.
Malone, 45 — who is known as Curtis — and Micah Jerry Bidgell, 46, of Washington, D.C., are accused of dealing drugs. They were charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 100 grams of a mixture containing heroin and at least 500 grams of cocaine.
Malone and D.C. Assault were coming off one of the most successful summer Amateur Athletic Union circuits in recent memory. The arrest came 12 days after Malone’s 17-and-under gold team returned home from the Fab48 tournament in Las Vegas, where they won a championship, finishing the month of July with a 16-0 record,
Mary Manning Petras was initially listed as Malone’s lawyer on court documents, but when reached Monday by phone, she said she is not representing him.
Malone — a 1986 graduate of Parkdale High School in Prince George’s County, according to the Assault website — had no day-to-day activities with any of the teams, Assault General Manager Damon Handon said.
D.C. Assault fields nine different teams, in ages ranging from 11-and-under to 17-and-under. Numerous players in the program have gone on to play for major colleges and in the National Basketball Association.
“It’s shocking to me,” Handon said. “I’m floored. Nobody outside Curtis has any implications in any of these things. I can’t really speak on the situation. I’m just trying to let this thing play out in court. Since Curtis has founded the Assault, nobody associated with the team, no parents, no coaches, no players, have been affiliated with anything like this.”
When reached by phone on Monday, Micah Bidgell’s sister, Malika Bidgell, did not want to comment. She said she had only recently learned of the charges.
Gazette.net
DC Assault, Curtis Malone
