Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 26, 1994 TAG: 9401260228
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SOURCE: GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
State Sen. Robert Russell, a Republican from Chesterfield County, submitted his resignation Tuesday, about an hour before a judge sentenced him to five years in prison for embezzling.
The judge suspended all but a year of the prison term and allowed Russell to remain free on bond until he finishes appealing the decision.
"That could take two years," said prosecutor Paul Ebert, who was summoned from Prince William County to handle the case after local attorneys excused themselves.
A jury convicted Russell in November of taking $13,650 from a bicycle racing club while he served as treasurer. He used it to pay for his son's Olympic training. Russell has repaid about $7,000 and was ordered Tuesday to repay the balance.
Between his conviction and sentencing, Russell took part in the General Assembly session, helping manage the state's money as a member of the Senate Finance Committee.
State law prohibits felons from being legislators, but it would have taken a two-thirds majority of the Senate to boot Russell before he exhausted his appeals.
The last time such a vote took place apparently was in 1926, when a Democratic senator from Norfolk was expelled for being a forger.
Republicans looking to avoid a similar embarrassment summoned Russell on Monday afternoon to discuss his future.
"They expressed to me then their deep concern about the message my continued presence made," Russell said outside the county courthouse after being sentenced. With a Republican governor and unprecedented voting strength in both houses of the legislature, he said, "the party wants to establish itself. . . . I think I was blurring that."
Sen. Joseph Benedetti of Richmond, the top Republican in the Senate, said he told Russell "he ought to resign." Benedetti spoke of his former colleague in funereal terms: He was a "very, very capable politician who really relished the role" of serving in the legislature. "I'm sure this was one of the hardest things he has ever done. We regret his passing."
Russell, 51, once was a rising star in his party. He served a single term in the House of Delegates, beginning in 1982, and had been a senator since 1984.
On Tuesday, he told the judge that the dissolution of his career was "a personal hell that I will live with no matter where this goes."
He became choked with emotion as he spoke to the judge, and became emotional again later while facing reporters. But Russell refused to apologize for the crime or even to discuss it, citing his appeal of the verdict.
"I'm going to go home, have lunch with my wife and enjoy this warm weather before it turns cold again," he said. "I'm going to figure out what to do with the rest of my life."
If Russell's appeal falls through, he will serve his year behind bars at the county jail. He would be eligible for parole after about two months, said Ebert.
Even before the sentence was imposed, politicians were scurrying to replace Russell. As president pro tempore of the Senate, Norfolk Democrat Stanley Walker is charged with arranging a special election in Chesterfield County, probably in the next three weeks.
Russell's district is overwhelmingly Republican, and two Republican delegates already have been mentioned as possible successors. If one of them wins, that will necessitate another special election to fill the House seat.
Russell's departure also opens a seat on the Senate Finance Committee. Steering Committee Chairman Richard Holland, a Democrat from Windsor, will oversee the appointment and said he would seek another Republican. Moments after the Senate adjourned, ambitious Republican senators flocked to Holland to lobby for the coveted position.
Staff writer Rob Eure contributed to this story.
by CNB