Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 14, 1993 TAG: 9301140177
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ABINGDON LENGTH: Medium
EX-WASHINGTON COUNTY JAILER GETS 37-MONTH TERM
Washington County's former chief jailer drew a 37-month sentence in federal court Wednesday for embezzling nearly $15,000 and giving an unprescribed drug to another deputy.Robert A. Clendenen Jr., 45, must report to the U.S. marshal's office Feb. 12 to begin his sentence.
U.S. District Judge Sam Wilson sentenced Clendenen to 37 months on each of the charges to which he pleaded guilty, but ordered all sentences to run concurrently.
Wilson also said Clendenen must pay back $14,933.54 directly to Washington County Sheriff Joe Mitchell to replace about $10,000 taken from an inmate telephone fund and the rest from a fund paid into by work-release inmates.
Clendenen pleaded guilty Sept. 11. Under the plea agreement, other federal charges were dropped, including allegations that Clendenen traded prescription drugs to prisoners for oral sex - which Clendenen has steadfastly denied.
His attorney, Gray Robinson, asked Wilson at Wednesday's sentencing hearing to consider imposing the minimum 30-month sentence. Until these charges, Robinson said, Clendenen had a clean record.
He said the only drug charge of which Clendenen was convicted stemmed from him giving a drug to a fellow employee who had a prescription for the drug but had left it at home that day.
And he asked that the start of Clendenen's sentence be delayed until June 1, so he could be present to see his son graduate from school.
Although the plea agreement included the provision that the government would not oppose a minimum sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bondurant did oppose any delay in the start of the sentence.
Wilson rejected delaying the start of the sentence, saying it was not a customary practice. He also waived any fine, noting that Clendenen is in dire financial straits, but not the reimbursement.
He ordered that Clendenen remain under probation office supervision for three years after his release, participate in any drug testing and mental health treatment sought by his probation officer, have no firearms at his home and submit to searches as ordered by the officer.
Clendenen had been chief jailer in Washington County from 1984 through 1991, the year the FBI began investigating allegations against him.
He apparently will not have to spend any time in the jail he once supervised while waiting to be transferred to a federal institution to complete his sentence. "We think it could well be dangerous for him to be incarcerated locally," Robinson said.