Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 22, 1993 TAG: 9305220096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Spieth, 31, was back in court Friday with the same promise.
Roanoke Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein gave him the benefit of doubt, but warned the Cave Spring High School graduate that he had better mean it.
Weckstein said that Spieth had put himself in a situation - like pyramid schemes used by "old-time cons" - in which the penalty will grow exponentially each time he appears in court.
"If you get out and backslide, you will have used up your credibility with me," Weckstein said.
The judge sentenced Spieth to 20 years in prison, suspended after he serves three years, for two grand larceny convictions in Roanoke County and one in Roanoke.
The time in jail will be in addition to a five-year sentence he is serving in Roanoke County Jail on an unrelated theft conviction.
The latest charges stem from the late 1980s, when Spieth left town after using false names to buy a $20,000 vehicle and obtain two credit cards.
He surfaced last year in California, where he had obtained a scholarship to a premed program at San Diego State University under another false name.
On Friday, Spieth pleaded guilty to two remaining pending charges in Roanoke County. He told Weckstein that the last 17 months he has spent in prison have inspired him to change his ways.
He testified that he had thrown away 10 years of his life and a promising future on drugs. "If I don't remain clean and sober, I'm either going to end up incarcerated for the rest of my life or deceased."
Weckstein ordered Spieth to serve five years of probation after his release, pay $5,721 in restitution, submit to random drug screenings and undergo substance abuse treatment.
by CNB