THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 11, 1996 TAG: 9607110400
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CAPE CHARLES LENGTH: 45 lines
Three current and former town officials were indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on felony counts of obtaining money under false pretenses.
Those indicted include former Police Chief Bill Lewis, who was charged with four counts; town Treasurer Ella Stratton, charged with one count; and former Town Clerk Ruth McNamara, also charged with one count.
Stratton is still the Eastern Shore town's only bookkeeper and was working Wednesday.
None of the three could be reached for comment Wednesday.
``The allegation is they made false reports to the town and were paid on the basis of those false reports,'' said Bruce Jones, the commonwealth's attorney in Northampton County.
Jones said Lewis - who was fired under a cloud of suspicion last November - allegedly diverted thousands from a $40,000 grant that was given to the Cape Charles Police Department to fight drugs. The indictments came as the result of a state police investigation into the town's finances.
Councilman Chris Bannon said he wasn't surprised by the charges.
``I'm so tired of how they stonewalled our questions at council meetings and gave us snotty answers,'' Bannon said Wednesday.
With fellow council members Frank Wendell and Libby Thomas, Bannon grew suspicious last year when Cape Charles couldn't pay a roofing contractor even though it had deposited $69,000 for the job.
They started looking at the town's finances, particularly those of the Police Department, which was nearly $42,000 over budget in 1994 alone.
Bannon and others were criticized by neighbors.
``I feel sorry for the people,'' Bannon said, ``but happy that we have been exonerated.''
Wendell said he wants to push the issue further. He has called repeatedly for a fraud audit of the town's finances.
But the council has voted against such an audit several times because it is expensive and the town is broke.
``I feel this set of indictments should be just the beginning of a long-overdue inquiry into the questionable business dealings of the former town administration,'' Wendell said.
``Throw the bedsheets back, and let's see who's in there.''
KEYWORDS: ARREST FELONY by CNB