
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 26, 1995                   TAG: 9510260063
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NO-CONTEST PLEA IN SCOUT MONEY THEFT

A former Girl Scout troop worker, who got her hand caught in the cookie jar when she took money from cookie sales last spring, pleaded no contest to an embezzlement charge Wednesday in Salem Circuit Court.

Catrice Yolanda Stokes-Goode, charged with taking about $2,600 from a Lynchburg Girl Scout troop, was not convicted of the single embezzlement charge, but Judge G.O. Clemens said the evidence presented in court is sufficient to find her guilty.

He took the case under advisement until a pre-sentence investigation report can be completed; he is scheduled to make his ruling in January.

Goode's attorney, Mark D. Kidd, said his client was facing hard times when she took the money this past spring.

"She just needed money and thought she would be able to pay it back later," Kidd said.

"That is still her goal," to pay back the money, Kidd said. "She's quite remorseful."

Goode could face up to 20 years in prison for the felony, said Commonwealth's Attorney Fred King.

King said the incident occurred between February and May of this year. The Virginia Skyline Girl Scout Council, the troop's headquarters, is in Salem.

by CNB