Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 1, 1993 TAG: 9309010152
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Julian Glenn Benoit, 21, was one of two men charged with stealing 10 firearms from a Catawba residence in October.
Benoit testified Tuesday that he and two other men took the guns to Worcester, Mass., where they sold them for $1,200, Claytor said.
A few days later, several of the stolen guns were used in an armed robbery in Athol, Mass.
In June, another gun - a .357 Magnum - turned up in New Jersey, where it was used to kill a drug detective outside a courtroom in Essex County.
Under sentencing guidelines, Benoit would have received only one year in jail because he had no prior criminal record.
But Claytor argued Tuesday that Benoit should serve at least 10 years in prison because of the seriousness of the events set in motion by the Catawba burglary.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Trabue sentenced Benoit to two years in the Roanoke County/Salem Jail and ordered him to pay half of the $19,000 restitution owed to the homeowner.
Trabue noted that the jail term was consistent with the two-year sentence that Circuit Judge G.O. Clemens had given a co-defendant, Christopher Karroll Morris, 19.
A third suspect, Randall Cofske, was charged with armed robbery in Athol shortly after the Catawba burglary. He has not been charged in Roanoke County.
Claytor said that police have not recovered most of the stolen guns, including a semiautomatic Colt .45.
"They're probably up in Massachusetts, and I hope they stay there," he said.
by CNB