Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 17, 1995 TAG: 9502170042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
It came in bags, cut into sausage, hamburger, steaks, ribs and roasts.
Deer meat, that is.
And Deputy E.F. Hairston of the Henry County Sheriff's Office, working undercover, said he bought $260 worth from from a Martinsville man who operates a meat processing plant in Franklin County. Included in one batch of meat was a bagful with the word ``hungry'' written on it - which investigators believe was intended for the Hunters for the Hungry program.
Selling and buying venison is a no-no in Virginia, and a felony sale of deer meat charge against Timothy L. Belcher, 32, was certified to a grand jury Thursday after a preliminary hearing in Franklin County General District Court.
The charge is upgraded from a misdemeanor to a felony when sales total more than $200 within a 90-day period.
Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood said this is the first time he has dealt with an illegal sale of deer meat charge in his 11 years as the county's chief prosecutor.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Henry County Sheriff's Office teamed up to conduct a sting operation of Belcher's business - the Rolling Meadows Grocery near the Henry County line - late last year.
The investigation was spurred by public complaints, said Sgt. Ron Henry, a game warden in Franklin County.
Thursday, Hairston testified that Belcher sold him meat four times in the span of about a month - the sales in amounts of $30, $80, $30 and $120.
The meat later was weighed by Henry, with the four sales totaling 227 pounds.
Henry also had the meat tested to make sure it was venison.
In addition to the bag labeled with the word ``hungry,'' several other packages were marked with people's names, Henry testified.
David Roberts, who helps Belcher process meat, testified that Rolling Meadows' policy is to process a deer and then label the top package of the meat with the owner's name.
Roberts also said the store writes the word ``hungry'' on the top bag of batches of deer meat to be sent to the Hunters for the Hungry program.
But Roberts and two other witnesses testified that Belcher did not sell meat and only sought to recoup the processing cost for meat left unclaimed - a fee allowed by state law.
However, Judge George Jones believed the evidence was sufficient to certify the charge, saying, ``I feel like this was some type of sale.''
by CNB