Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 18, 1994 TAG: 9403180071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I completely went on a binge," Deborah A. Stanley told Roanoke Circuit Judge Jack Coulter.
"I realize my drug use has affected a lot of people, and I'm sorry for that," she testified. "But the truth is that I'm an addict, and addicts do things like that."
Authorities said the crime spree was unusual in two respects:
So many break-ins - more than a dozen homes and churches were burglarized in about a month - were concentrated in a small area of Northwest Roanoke.
Most of thefts were pulled off in broad daylight and within plain view of neighbors, with Stanley and at least two other culprits wheeling away televisions, VCRs and microwaves in city-issued recycling bins.
Stanley, 30, admitted to police that she pushed many of the loads to her home at Caru Apartments. At least one recycling bin was found tossed into a nearby wooded area.
She quickly smoked up her profits, trading a $250 television set for a $50 rock of crack.
At the time of the burglaries last fall, Stanley was on parole for several offenses in the Tidewater area, including armed robbery, unlawful wounding and theft convictions. She faces an additional 10 years for violating her parole.
Stanley attributed most of her criminal troubles to her drug habit, which she said started when she was 14 years old.
Prosecutor Betty Jo Anthony had asked for a 27-year prison sentence on 18 charges of burglary and grand larceny.
But in opting for a lesser sentence, Coulter said he believed Stanley had "some residue of character and strength - decimated by drugs." Coulter imposed a 32-year sentence but suspended half of it.
Probation Officer Jane Shelor testified that the total value of stolen goods exceeded $12,000, with about half of that covered by homeowners' insurance.
Stanley, who has moved from one minimum-wage job to another, is unable to pay her victims back, defense attorney Mary Lambert said.
"If she had the money to make restitution, she would have been using it to buy drugs, instead of stealing from peoples' houses," Lambert said.
Coulter ordered Stanley to make restitution, but acknowledged such an order may be a "forlorn and futile gesture."
One resident told authorities he was not concerned about getting his property back, Shelor testified, but would like to have Stanley attend his church as part of her sentence.
Other victims were less forgiving. "I'm killing the b----," one man muttered as he left the courtroom.
by CNB