Drug charges dropped against prominent Leesburg businessman

Drug charges against a prominent Leesburg businessman were dropped today prior to a preliminary hearing in Loudoun County General District Court due to a lack of evidence.

Thomas C. Watson, 41, was arrested March 19 on charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute after police said a package with oxycodone and MDMA was delivered to his Leesburg home.

According to the Leesburg Police Department, the package, which contained 10 oxycodone pills and 8.5 grams of MDMA, also known as ecstasy, was delivered to Watson's home on the 400 block of Davis Avenue SW at 9 a.m. Leesburg Police had worked with U.S. Postal Inspectors to track the shipment.

From the time of his arrest, Watson, the founder of Capital Computers and Network, an IT company, denied the charges against him.

"He did not accept the packages - in fact he rejected them. He wrote on the packages 'Return to Sender' and 'Wrong Recipient.' They were placed in his car to take to the post office for return," Marilyn Rust, acting as Watson's spokesperson, told the Times-Mirror in a written statement in March. "It was the police who opened the package."

Watson's business has earned accolades around the county, receiving Leesburg's Community Steward award and being nominated for the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce's best small business award. Up until his arrest, Watson had served on the Town of Leesburg's Technology and Communication Commission as chairman. His arrest prompted Leesburg mayor Kristen Umstattd to propose felony background checks for all potential commission appointees, also requiring nominees to fill out a questionnaire on criminal history.

Watson had previously been found guilty of assault in 1995 in Tuscon.