ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120053
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PEARISBURG
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Under the plea bargain accepted by Circuit Judge Duane Mink, Neely pleaded guilty only to a misdemeanor of being an accessory after the fact to attempted conspiracy. The amended charge does not mention possession of any drug.
The second charge of conspiracy to possess crack cocaine was not prosecuted by Giles Commonwealth's Attorney Garland Spangler.
Neely was fined $2,500, sentenced to two days in jail, ordered to perform 200 hours of community service, given driver's license restrictions for six months so he can only drive in connection with his employment, required to pay $551 to law enforcement agencies toward the costs of their investigation, and will be subject to random drug screening tests for a year.
Under the plea-bargain, the fine, jail time and half the community service hours were suspended, leaving 100 hours to be performed.
Neely said afterward that he had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor because, since the original charges were filed last year, his business suffered from difficulties in getting the necessary bonds to bid on new jobs.
"Because of this, we have lost business and I have been forced to lay off some of my employees," he said.
Neely is a major New River Valley contractor. His firm, for example, was the general contractor on last year's significant repairs to the roof of Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum. It also repaired the Montgomery County Courthouse in 1994.
"My case was originally set for trial in December, but it was delayed until February over my objection. As this trial date approached, it became obvious to me that my trial would again be postponed. This meant that our company would lose more business and more employees would be laid off. So I came to the decision to plead guilty to a misdemeanor in order to get back to work and to get our employees back on the job," he said.
Spangler said the informant who would have been the key witness in the conspiracy charge had changed his story, leading to that charge being dropped. There was a concern that the same man would change his story regarding the other charge, he said, which was why the prosecution agreed to the reduced charge.
Neely "had said he was going to be vindicated, and I guess we just didn't want him to be vindicated," Spangler said.
The charges followed a long investigation of Neely, which started when Neely reported $250 stolen from his truck, former Narrows Police Chief Buck Clemons said last year. Police were told of Neely's alleged involvement with cocaine by the man who had the money and who was not charged with anything.
Neely's wife, Patti, accompanied her husband into the judge's chambers where the case was heard. General District Court was being held in the courtroom.
James Hartley, the previous county prosecutor, represented Neely. He said Neely already performs a lot of community service, and is already subject to random drug testing because of his job.
"That's why he readily agreed to this," Hartley said. "He just wanted to get it behind him. ... He just felt like he couldn't afford to have it hanging over his head."
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