Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 15, 1995 TAG: 9504170004
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
His palms were still sweaty after the hearing, even after Circuit Judge Duane Mink commended him for his progress and released him from jail.
Moore, 20, was charged last April with two counts of distributing marijuana and two counts of distributing LSD. He pleaded no contest in October and was to serve three years of a 10-year sentence before being released and placed on probation for seven years.
But Mink told Moore then that he could serve the time in the Radford City Jail and be given daily release to attend classes and continue working at two New River Valley restaurants. The judge said that if Moore continued speaking to young people to discourage them from drug abuse, he would consider releasing him early.
Moore didn't let the judge down. Wednesday, he told Mink he had made the most of his six months in jail. He worked at his two jobs, earning a promotion to manager at one. He joined a substance-abuse counseling group at the jail. He earned good grades at New River Community College. He spoke to the entire Shawsville Middle School student body and to several church groups.
"I feel good when I come out of there. It's enjoyable," Moore said. "What I try to show them is that I made the decision to use drugs ... about eight years ago [and] I try to show them what lies in their future," should they go down the same road.
His attorney, Joey Showalter, attended Moore's first talk. He said Moore was visibly shaken by the prospect of facing 100 years in prison (the maximum sentence), and his audience of young people was just as affected.
Moore is clearly "someone making an effort to make changes in his life," testified David Hurd, a counselor with New River Community Services Board who leads the jail group. "I would consider him a model to the other young people coming into the group."
Moore testified he didn't feel like much of a model when he began serving his sentence.
"At first, it just seemed hopeless," he said.
But he got excited about a new semester at New River, about receiving thank-you cards from the youth groups he addressed and about the prospect of advancing to restaurant manager.
"I realize that it was really out of whack, my perspective on everything," Moore told the judge. " ... It did take me going to jail to get away from all this stuff."
Judge Mink was impressed with Moore's adjustment.
"I believe that this young man has done more than anyone I've ever had in the past," Mink said.
"Had he just sat in the jail, he'd be out in nine months," likely released on parole, Mink said. Instead, Moore took to heart Mink's goal of giving reasonable sentences while rehabilitating and educating defendants and other young people.
Mink ordered Moore's immediate release Wednesday and placed him on probation, providing he continue the speaking engagements and substance abuse counseling.
Here is what happened to the other nine people named in our pages in last year's sweep:
David C. Bonesteel, 22, a Ferrum College student from Herndon; two counts of distributing psychedelic mushrooms; pleaded no contest; found guilty; five years in prison on each charge. After serving three years, the rest will be suspended and he will be placed on probation.
Donta Sherrod Bundick, 19, Ferncliff Avenue, Roanoke; pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing cocaine; 10 years on each charge to be served concurrently; released on probation after serving 3 years.
Scott Erik Golden, 25, Second Avenue, Radford; felony marijuana distribution, misdemeanor marijuana distribution; and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
Golden pleaded guilty to both misdemeanor charges and was given a six-month, 10-day suspended jail sentence. He pleaded guilty to the felony and received a three-year suspended prison sentence; ordered into a drug rehabilitation program and donated $10,000 to the Police Narcotics Fund.
James Lee Goldsmith, 26, Calhoun Street, Radford, two counts of distributing marijuana; pleaded not guilty. In one case, he was found guilty of misdemeanor possession but only as an accommodation; 12 months in jail, suspended after serving 30 days; $500 fine and a $1,000 donation the Radford Police Narcotics Fund.
Jimmy Turk, Goldsmith's lawyer, said an accommodation sale "means that it was a not-for-profit sale simply to accommodate a friend." Goldsmith was found guilty of the second misdemeanor charge; 12-month suspended jail sentence and $250 fine.
Darrell Travis Labbe, 20, Radford, one count of distributing marijuana; pleaded no contest to a lesser misdemeanor charge; under advisement for two years, during which time Labbe must serve four months in jail and make a $4,000 donation to the Police Narcotics Fund.
Jason C. Pollard, 20, Blacksburg; one count of distributing LSD and one count of distributing marijuana. The LSD charge was amended to an accommodation charge. Pollard pleaded no contest to both charges; under advisement until June; Pollard must receive counseling.
Shawn T. Spencer, 22, a Ferrum College student from Chesterfield, two counts of distributing psychedelic mushrooms; pleaded no contest to one charge and not guilty to the other; found guilty of distributing and given five years in prison.
On the charge not contested, he was found guilty of a lesser charge of possession; sentenced to five years in prison, two of which are concurrent with the first five-year term, for a total of eight years. After serving two years, he will be placed on probation. If Spencer does community speaking while on work release, Mink would consider suspending part of the sentence.
Paul Dennis Tickle, 39, Fairfax Street, Radford; distributing less than one ounce of marijuana; pleaded guilty; three-year suspended prison sentence and placed on probation.
Jeremy Worthy, 21, Radford; three felony charges of distributing marijuana; pleaded guilty to lesser, misdemeanor charges; 90 days in jail; $2,000 fine and a $4,000 donation to the Police Narcotics Fund. The matter was taken under advisement for two years and Worthy was placed on probation.
by CNB