Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: TUESDAY, June 7, 1994 TAG: 9406070088 SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: |By MIKE HUDSON| |STAFF WRITER| DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A Roanoke Valley lawyer has been sentenced to a year in jail for stealing nearly $60,000 by writing bad checks and taking money from young clients' trust funds.
George W. Harris III testified Monday during a hearing in Salem Circuit Court that he used the money to support his cocaine habit.
``The craving for cocaine is worse than anything,'' Harris said. ``You lose all sense of control. The drugs talk to you - tell you what to do.''
Harris, 34, said he had been using cocaine for about 12 years. But his habit did not get out of control until a couple of years ago, when he switched to the most potent forms of the drug: crack and ``free base.''
He said he hasn't used cocaine since July, and is determined to stay clean. He promised to repay all the money he stole.
Judge James Lumpkin gave Harris a 20-year prison sentence, but suspended all of that time except for a year in jail. Lumpkin also ordered that Harris serve an indefinite time on probation, perform community service, and pay $500 a month to repay his victims.
Lumpkin, a retired judge from Richmond, was brought in after Roanoke Valley judges disqualified themselves because Harris is the son of General District Judge George Harris.
The younger Harris pleaded guilty to 20 charges - three embezzlement counts and 17 counts of larceny by check - in Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem.
Lumpkin noted that state sentencing guidelines called for no jail time in Harris' case. But Lumpkin said Harris' crime was aggravated by the fact that he was a lawyer who took advantage of children.
Lumpkin said defendants who are convicted of burglary to support their cocaine habits usually come from disadvantaged backgrounds. ``They were deprived to begin with,'' the judge said.
By contrast, Lumpkin said, Harris had the advantages of a good education and the support of a prominent family.
Harris said he takes all the blame for what he did.
``I brought shame down on the lawyers' profession. ... The rest of my life will be used to try to be a benefit to other people.''
He went through a 28-day inpatient drug program in Newport News last fall and continues with outpatient therapy at Mount Regis Center in Salem. He has been volunteering as a counselor at Mount Regis, and recently was hired to work part-time at the center. He is also doing legal research for an attorney.
His family already has come up with $15,000 toward repaying the young people whose trust accounts were pilfered. Prosecutor Donald Caldwell suggested that Harris was ``hitting up Mom and Dad'' for ``bailout money.'' But Harris, who has given up his law license, said he would work hard to pay off the rest of the money himself.
Since he was indicted, he said, some of his friends have died from drugs. When you get hooked on cocaine, he said, you're going to end up in one of three places: ``You go to an institution, you go to jail or you die.''
Getting caught stealing was really a blessing, Harris said, because ``that's where I was headed - to my death.''
``To those who much is given,'' the judge concluded, ``more is expected.''
by CNB