Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 29, 1993 TAG: 9309290138
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE and RON BROWN STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Cease already knew the details, but he wanted to make sure Hodge would be comfortable with his decision to hire an administrative employee with a drug conviction on his record.
Meredith explained that he had put his life in order since he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana charge in 1983 in West Virginia. Meredith had worked his way through college and shown early promise as a policy analyst under Cease in Morgantown, W.Va., where Cease worked before coming to Roanoke County in mid-1990.
Hodge agreed that Meredith deserved a second chance.
"That was all right with me," Hodge said Tuesday. ". . . There are several aspects to the criminal justice system. One is rehabilitation."
The decision turned out to be an embarrassing one for the Roanoke County Police Department last week when Meredith was named as a key figure in an anabolic-steriod distribution ring based in West Virginia.
County officials have stressed that Meredith, who resigned Monday, was merely an administrative employee who studied policies and procedures.
"I would have never hired him as a sworn police officer," Cease said.
Cease declined to discuss his personal feelings about Meredith, but it was clear in an interview Tuesday night that he was deeply disappointed by the indictment.
Cease first learned that Meredith was facing charges on Sept. 21 when Meredith was named in a seven-count federal indictment on charges of distributing steroids in West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. Steroids are used by some athletes and bodybuilders to enhance muscle tone, but the drugs can have debilitating side effects.
Authorities first focused on Meredith following the arrest of another man in August. That man provided police with names of suspected steroid distributors, including Meredith.
A source familiar with the investigation said Meredith was not interviewed prior to the indictment.
In 1979, Meredith was completing a graduate degree in criminal justice at West Virginia University when he began work as an unpaid intern with the Morgantown Police Department.
"His work product was very good," said Sgt. Greg Fleming of the Morgantown police. "Pertaining to his writing of special orders and procedures, he did an exemplary job."
Cease, who at the time was chief of police in Morgantown, said he knew some - but not all - of the details about Meredith's past.
"I knew enough from discussions with him to know that he would never be a sworn police officer."
In 1983, Meredith was indicted on a felony charge of possession with intent to distribute marijuana in Kanawha County, W.Va. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of possession, a misdemeanor.
At his sentencing, the judge formally withheld a finding of guilty provided that Meredith serve 150 hours of community service.
Cease said that Meredith appeared to be well on his way to putting his past behind him when he began drawing up suggested policy changes for the Morgantown Police Department.
"He pulled himself up by the boostraps," Cease said. "He was very sharp. He was very analytical."
In July 1990, Cease took over as head of the newly formed Roanoke County Police Department. There were no written policies, and Cease said he needed a policy analyst with experience who could start right away.
Cease brought in Meredith, who had finished his graduate program and was willing to work on a temporary basis.
A few months later, Cease and Meredith made an appointment to see Hodge. In November, Meredith was hired as a permanent police administrative analyst with an annual salary of $23,159.
In that role, Meredith helped develop the department's administrative policies and was a member of a four-member team that last year achieved Cease's goal of becoming the first police department in the area to gain national accreditation.
"If society starts taking the view that someone who is convicted of a minor crime never gets another chance, we have done mankind a disservice," Cease said.
"I took a chance on someone who I thought was rehabilitated."
by CNB