Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 19, 1990                   TAG: 9005190102
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FORMER COLEMAN EXECUTIVE LOSES BANK INTEREST SUIT

Joe Shumate Jr., 60, sought $25 million from NCNB. Shumate claimed that NCNB charged Coleman excessive interest from 1978 through November 1982.

But a jury in U.S. District Court in Roanoke found on Thursday that NCNB did not breach its contract with Coleman Furniture and Shumate with regard to interest.

Stephen Hodges, an Abingdon lawyer representing NCNB, said during the four-day trial that interest charged on the $7 1/2 million package of loans was in line with the contract terms and had no significant impact on the company's failure.

"The result of the trial was that the amount was not an overcharge," Hodges said Friday.

Shumate has been involved in years of legal battles over his personal finances and his failed company. Shumate's actions - suits and countersuits - have been on the dockets of Bankruptcy and Western District courts in Roanoke for several years.

Pulaski Furniture Corp. bought the Coleman Furniture plant in 1983, after the company declared bankruptcy and despite Shumate's efforts to maintain control. He went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in an unsuccessful effort to block the sale.

Coleman Furniture's sales plummeted from $18 million to $7 million, and that is what led to the bankruptcy, Hodges said earlier.

In 1988, Shumate pleaded guilty to charges of failing to inform a bankruptcy court of interest received on some bank accounts. He received a two-year probation term and was fined $500.

The jury's verdict in favor of NCNB this week "ends this case in this court but actually there are a couple of small items left," Hodges said.

The court is expected to enter a judgment within the next month against Shumate for the past-due payment of a $200,000 loan, Hodges said.

The amount is subject to some interest calculations but should be between $350,000 and $400,000, he said. The court determined some months ago that Shumate owed the money, Hodges said.