Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 8, 1990 TAG: 9006080182
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By NEAL THOMPSON NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Gregory L. DeHart, 23, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court last month to nine breaking and entering charges and eight grand larceny charges.
But DeHart's attorney, John Quigley of Radford, argued Thursday he should get a light sentence because he agreed to cooperate with police after his arrest last year.
Quigley said DeHart confessed last July only because Christiansburg police led him to believe he would be put on probation and not sent to jail if he did so.
Quigley further argued that DeHart got sucked into a life of crime because of the influence of his older brother, Edward H. DeHart Jr., 27, and the financial problems of the near-bankrupt carpet company he owned.
Both DeHart brothers, who live in Christiansburg, have been charged in connection with a series of break-ins and thefts from March to July last year in 13 jurisdictions in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina
Greg DeHart already has been convicted and sentenced to 33 years in other jurisdictions including Roanoke, Franklin and Madison counties.
"The only reason I resorted to stealing is because I exhausted my resources at the bank, exhausted my resources with my parents and it came down to where I feel I had no other options. It was a bad option," DeHart testified.
"It was my own stupidity for doing this," he said. "I feel ashamed for being in this position and for putting other businesses throughout the state in this position."
Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith said: "Mr. DeHart has been rampaging up and down the interstate stealing with his brother with no reason other than his financial gain."
Keith said DeHart showed no remorse for what he had done.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Devore agreed.
"This young man's given me a lot of problems," Devore said before sentencing him. "And he still shows no remorse. . . . It's a shame."
by CNB