Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 14, 1993 TAG: 9309140123
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Linda T. Dobbins, 37, of Colonial Drive, Dublin, pleaded guilty in Pulaski County General District Court to a reduced charge of petty larceny and was ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.
Dobbins was charged in July with embezzlement after she was accused of not turning over to SHARE Virginia the money she collected from participants of the community service-for-food program.
Judge Ed Turner suspended a $500 fine and also suspended a 90-day jail sentence. Dobbins may have to serve the time and pay the fine if she does not complete the community service.
Kathy Rayne, director of SHARE Virginia, a nonprofit community service and food distribution program, said earlier this year that Dobbins was a host for the Dublin area. For $13, sales tax and two hours of community service, participants receive a food package valued at about $30.
Rayne said Dobbins would collect money from participants then forward it to SHARE. But in December 1992 and January of this year, Raines said, Dublin participants received food packages but SHARE did not receive the money.
SHARE obtained a $1,600 judgment against Dobbins and her husband in May.
At about the same time, Dobbins' husband, J.W. "Tommy" Dobbins, was suspended from his job as a Dublin town police officer pending the outcome of a state police investigation.
On July 1, Dublin Town Council reinstated Dobbins to the force. Mayor Benny Keister said the state investigation found no criminal wrongdoing by Officer Dobbins.
State police began its investigation in mid-May. James Hartley, Giles County's commonwealth's attorney, was appointed special prosecutor after Pulaski County Commonwealth's Attorney Everett Shockley removed himself from the case because he had worked with Officer Dobbins for a number of years.
Linda Dobbins told investigators "she had been sick recently and that had put a tremendous financial strain" on her. She said she used the money to pay doctor and hospital bills, said Hartley.
Monday, Hartley said the reduced charge was not uncommon given the circumstances of the case.
Linda Dobbins repaid the money to SHARE in July, Hartley said, and the organization was not interested in having her convicted of a felony.
by CNB