ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997 TAG: 9702200071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
A teen-ager who helped rob a couple on the Blue Ridge Parkway last summer was sentenced Wednesday to 60 days in jail, with a warning from the judge that if he violates his probation, he'll go to federal prison.
Richard D. Watkins, 19, of Goodview will be allowed to leave jail to go to work. He will be on probation for three years and must pay $150 restitution to one of the victims for a pair of sunglasses that was broken. He earlier pleaded guilty to larceny.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson expressed "amazement" that someone who had made it to age 18 without getting in trouble would then participate "in something as reckless as this."
Wilson warned Watkins that if he violates his probation, Wilson will revoke it and sentence him to the maximum allowed by law.
Watkins and three friends were riding around one night last summer when they spotted a car on the Chestnut Ridge Overlook. They decided to rob the couple inside with a pellet gun one of the boys had, said Charlie Dorsey, Watkins' attorney. It was a "completely spontaneous" decision, Dorsey said.
A tearful Watkins told Wilson that he has had trouble sleeping since the robbery and wishes he could take back that day.
"It's easy for anyone to say they've learned from their mistakes," he testified. "It's been seven months since then, and I can honestly, truly say I've learned from that."
Watkins, the only adult among the four charged, ended up in federal court because the parkway is federal land. Federal prosecutions of juveniles are rare, and the three underage boys are being prosecuted in Roanoke Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Their trials are set for March and May.
The robbed couple followed Watkins' car after the stickup and reported the license number to police. Watkins was arrested at a 7-Eleven about 90 minutes after the robbery. The U.S. Park Service recovered the woman's purse, with money still inside, and an overnight bag.
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