SENTENCE COULD AFFECT TAXI SERVICE

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 29, 1992                   TAG: 9201290047
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-11   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Medium
SENTENCE COULD AFFECT TAXI SERVICE
A cab company owner received a two-year prison sentence Tuesday that could affect the future of taxi service in Pulaski.
Verlin E. Chrisley, 49, pleaded guilty to abducting his wife at gunpoint June 28, 1991.
Circuit Judge A. Dow Owens accepted a plea agreement including two years to serve for unlawful use of a firearm and a 10-year suspended sentence for abduction. Chrisley will be on probation for 10 years after his release.
Chrisley will not start serving his sentence until Feb. 28, so he can have time to find a buyer for his company. He owns Blue & White Cabs and Deluxe Cabs, which operate 17 of the 22 taxis in Pulaski.
Town Council had approved 13 cab permits for Blue & White and four for Deluxe on a temporary basis Dec. 17, with the provision that it would review those approvals after the disposition of the charges against Chrisley. Council members indicated they would not approve them if he was convicted of the charges.
The town's remaining five taxis are run by Jim Dandy Cabs.
As Commonwealth's Attorney Everett Shockley outlined the case Tuesday, Chrisley and his wife were in the process of separating and he had driven her to Dublin to see her attorney.
Shockley said the attorney had seen Chrisley grab his wife as they got out of the car and point a pistol at her before they entered his building. The attorney slipped out a side door. Chrisley, finding the office locked, tried to kick down the door and damaged it.
He then drove away with his wife and ended up back at their home, where he made some threats against her but did not carry them out. Pulaski County Sheriff Ralph Dobbins telephoned the home and persuaded Chrisley to release his wife. Chrisley was armed with two pistols, a .32 and a .25 caliber, when arrested.
"It was such a silly thing for Mr. Chrisley to have done. I'm sure he realizes that," Owens said after hearing the presentation.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB