ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 10, 1996 TAG: 9610100054
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
A Montgomery County grand jury indicted three men on 47 charges in connection with a string of burglaries at construction sites and homes throughout the county dating back nearly four years.
James B. Stump, 30, of the 2800 block of Radford Road in Christiansburg was indicted Monday on 16 counts of grand larceny and 11 counts of breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny.
Wayne E. Stump, 27, of the 1600 block of Woods Vista Drive in Christiansburg was indicted on five counts of grand larceny and four counts of breaking and entering.
Schemil D. Means, 27, of the 2800 block of Peppers Ferry Road was indicted on six counts of breaking and entering and five counts of grand larceny.
Each charge carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
The charges involved thefts beginning in August 1992 and ending in March. The crimes occurred in Riner, Christiansburg and rural parts of Montgomery County, according to Sheriff Doug Marrs.
Marrs said one theft included a safe with about $2,000 taken from a church treasurer's house. Other property authorities said was involved in the thefts included: a generator, guns, collectable coins, tools, cabinets, a 35mm camera and even a kitchen sink.
Among the more than 200 indictments returned by the grand jury were three direct indictments against 59-year-old Josephine Smith for selling cocaine.
Smith was arrested Aug. 29 on separate charges that she and her 74-year-old husband sold crack cocaine from their Christiansburg home. Both husband and wife will appear in General District Court Nov. 12 for a preliminary hearing on the earlier charges. Those charges include: possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony, possession of a firearm while in possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana.
The Montgomery County Drug Task Force arrested Smith and her husband, William Bernice Smith, at the couple's home in the 600 block of Lyle Lane. Officers seized about 10 grams of crack cocaine worth an estimated $1,000 from the home along with a van, a car, about $7,900 in cash, a 12-gauge shotgun, a 28-gauge shotgun, a .380 caliber pistol and a small amount of marijuana, according to the task force.
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