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Deputies arrest anti-drug activist in bust
By TAMARA LUSH © St. Petersburg Times, published September 22, 2000
On Wednesday, Gardner was charged with selling crack cocaine to an undercover deputy within 1,000 feet of a church. The 46-year-old woman sold 0.3 grams of crack for $40, officials said. According to a deputy's report, the drug deal happened on June 2 at the intersection of Pine Hill Road and Cobb Street -- the exact location where Gardner shooed away drug buyers just two years ago. "I'm surprised," said Gardner's friend Laura Burch. "She was trying to help clean up the neighborhood." Three months ago, local officials and residents of the Pine Hill area said it had become safer and less drug-ridden, thanks to dozens of arrests and the efforts of community activists like Gardner. Pine Hill is home to about two dozen people. A few years ago, it was an infamous, open-air drug market that served a dangerous clientele. In 1999, residents banded together and demanded that law enforcement help get drugs -- mostly crack cocaine -- out of the neighborhood. Other efforts, such as clearing garbage off the streets and clearing thick brush from the roadways, helped increase neighborhood pride. Gardner was instrumental in that cleanup, according to Times articles. During a community meeting with Sheriff Cannon on Feb. 10, 1999, Gardner stood up and said she could not keep drug dealers from infiltrating her mother's yard at Pine Hill Road and Cobb Street. Cannon replied, "You're obviously not doing enough." On Wednesday, people who answered the door at Gardner's home would not discuss her arrest. Others in the neighborhood were unaware that she had even been arrested. Pasco County Sheriff's spokesman Jon Powers said Gardner's arrest came during the Summer Slam, a series of drug busts financned by a state grant and conducted by the Sheriff's Office and five local law enforcement agencies. About 36 people in Pasco County were arrested during the operation. Narcotics deputies had been looking for Gardner since the massive drug bust, Powers said, and finally caught up with her on Wednesday. Gardner, of 6141 Pine Hill Road, Port Richey, was charged with possession of crack cocaine and sale of crack within 1,000 feet of a church. She was booked into the county jail in Land O'Lakes and a judge later released her Thursday on supervised recognizance. According to records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Gardner has a criminal record that includes felony convictions for aggravated assault on a police officer and forgery.
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