The career of one of the most successful drug dealers in the state ended last summer in a scum-covered pond in rural Dinwiddie County after a wild chase, a crash and gunfire.

As Ray Prosise's customized, lime-green Chevrolet Suburban slowly sank, law-enforcement officers watched as the 36-year-old ex-convict tossed cocaine out the window, turning the murky water white.

Better known as "Steiner," Prosise was considered by law-enforcement officers to be the biggest supplier of cocaine and crack cocaine in western Petersburg and Dinwiddie and Sussex counties.

He was sentenced to life in prison plus five years yesterday by U.S. District Judge Richard L. Williams for conspiracy to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and related charges.

A tall, stocky, balding man wearing a blue jail jumpsuit and leg irons, Prosise declined to make a statement before being sentenced. Williams said that given the evidence, the need for deterrence and public safety, "the court finds the sentence is fair and appropriate."

When authorities tried to stop his Suburban, Prosise fled, ramming a car occupied by a Drug Enforcement Administration agent and nearly hitting an agent who was on foot. The agent fired several times and hit the vehicle. Prosise then drove into the pond.

According to court documents, Prosise boasted in jail that he bought as much as 20 kilograms of cocaine at a time and had thrown a half a kilogram of the drug and a handgun into the pond in the pre-dawn darkness when he was arrested.

Authorities didn't recover any cocaine, which is water soluble, around or inside the sodden Suburban.

But at the bottom of the pond, divers found a loaded, .40-caliber Glock handgun. Prosise was convicted April 1 for possessing a firearm while a felon and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

The jury also convicted Prosise of assaulting a federal officer; possession of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute it; obstruction of justice; and use of a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking.

Trial testimony showed Prosise got the cocaine from someone in North Carolina. Court documents show he had at least two others transport the drugs for him.

His mother, Bertha M. Prosise, 52, and brother, Trevawn Prosise, testified against him after Prosise drew them in over the telephone after he was arrested.

While at the Northern Neck Regional Jail awaiting trial, he used a telephone to call his mother and brother and told them where they could find half a kilogram of crack cocaine authorities missed when they searched his property.

His mother already had found $3,000 in cash in a pair of pants he left at her house. Trevawn Prosise found the crack cocaine, which later was sold for $15,000.

Bertha Prosise pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction of justice and was sentenced to time served and agreed to forfeit the $18,000.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the Sussex Sheriff's Office, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and others.

Prosise was released from a Virginia prison in 2001 after convictions in 1993 and 1994 in Petersburg and Dinwiddie for selling cocaine and firearm offenses.

Contact Frank Green at (804) 649-6340 or fgreen@timesdispatch.com.