Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 23, 1991 TAG: 9103230109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: VICTORIA RATCLIFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Augusta County Commonwealth's Attorney Lee Ervin said in a letter this week to Stokes' attorney that "there is not sufficient evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, any type of criminal conduct by your client . . . "
Ervin was appointed to direct the investigation after Roanoke County Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart disqualified himself because Stokes was a personal friend and treasurer of his 1987 election campaign.
Burkart said Ervin agreed to take the case after three other commonwealth's attorneys turned him down. Prosecutors who declined to handle the case told him they thought the investigation was politically motivated or that it would hurt them politically to get involved, Burkart said.
Stokes, clerk since 1967, said in August that the allegations were groundless. She requested the state police investigation.
She said Friday that although she expected the investigation to clear her name, she still has been upset by the accusations. "I lost 15 pounds. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I knew I hadn't stolen anything, but it was still upsetting."
The head of investigations for the state police office in Salem, Cecil Handy, said last fall that Stokes "was alleged to have received funds which would have been either county or state funds and . . . retained them for personal use." He said the investigation was to focus on allegations that Stokes rented out the records room after hours, kept fees for performing marriages and filed inappropriate mileage claims for out-of-town travel.
The allegations were made last summer by Gary Whitmer, a former bookkeeper in the office who was fired by Stokes in January for insubordination. Whitmer wrote a letter to state auditors and later complained to state police.
Stokes said Friday that Whitmer's accusations were politically motivated. "I have been put through this by an employee who wanted my position," she said. Whitmer had told several people he was going to run for clerk, she said. "I think it was jealousy."
Whitmer could not be reached for comment Friday.
Stokes said that deputy clerks in her office have continued to perform professionally while the investigation was conducted and that the quality and quantity of work performed in her office has not suffered.
The allegations against Stokes stemmed from her handling of petty cash for items such as stamps and copying fees, her method of paying clerks who stayed in the records room after hours for lawyers who needed access to it at unusual times, her collecting of fees for marriages she performed in the courthouse and her filing of travel vouchers for mileage and hotel bills.
by CNB