Man wanted as fugitive in connection with drug trafficking charge from 1988
By Ben Orcutt

borcutt@nvdaily.com

FRONT ROYAL -- A local restaurateur is back in Massachusetts to face a 21-year-old charge of trafficking cocaine.

Elias Efremidis, 52, of 208 Fox Chase Drive, Front Royal, was arrested on Feb. 25 by Front Royal police and charged with being a fugitive from justice for a pending 1988 charge in Boston for possession with the intent to distribute 200 grams or more of a mixture containing cocaine, according to court documents.

Efremidis, also known as Louie Rodinos or Ilias Rodinos, was flown back to Massachusetts on Thursday, according to a news release issued Friday by Jake Wark, press secretary for the Suffolk County district attorney's office in Boston.

Wark says that Suffolk County Clerk Magistrate Gary D. Wilson agreed with Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Allison Callahan that because Efremidis has family and property in Warren County, he was a flight risk.

Wilson set a $500,000 cash bond and ordered that Efremidis not leave Massachusetts while his case is pending. A Suffolk County Jail employee said that as of Friday, Efremidis had not posted bond.

"U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials have also placed a detainer on Efremidis as they examine the status of his immigration from Greece," Wark says.

Wark says Callahan detailed for the court the actions of Efremidis during the early morning hours of Feb. 26, 1988, that led to his arrest. Refusing to spend the night in an adjoining room after locking himself out of his room, Wark says Callahan told the court that Efremidis forced his way back into his room.

"Callahan said hotel security investigating that damage looked in Efremidis' rented room and saw numerous paper folds, powder on smooth surfaces, and other evidence of drug use," Wark says. "When security officers asked if he had narcotics in the room, Callahan said, Efremidis grabbed a plastic bag containing cocaine and attempted to flush it down the toilet. The security officers prevented him from doing so, Callahan said, and called Boston police.

"A search of the room led to the recovery of two additional bags of cocaine under his mattress, a scale, a beeper, and more than $3,900 in cash."

Although prosecutors asked that Efremidis be held on $500,000 cash bond in 1988, bond was set at $20,000 Wark says, which Efremidis posted and then fled. Efremidis is a being represented by John Valerio and is scheduled to appear in Suffolk County Superior Court for a bail hearing on March 26, with a pretrial conference set for April 21.

Efremidis' Massachusetts charges came to light after he was arrested on Jan. 20 for a class 2 misdemeanor of shining a laser light on Front Royal police officer Brian D. Miller. A subsequent investigation revealed to Efremidis' true identity.

Efremidis was associated with Victoria's Restaurant, which surrendered its liquor license on Feb. 17, according to officials at the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control's regional office in Staunton.

According to the ABC's Web site, Victoria's license for wine, beer and mixed drinks on premises originated on July 17, 2006, and is scheduled to expire on June 30. The restaurant and the Union Hall Lounge, which operated out of the same building, remain closed.


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