Friday, November 03, 2006
Arrests follow a string of scandals
Henry County officials and residents said they hope the latest scandal won't demoralize the community.
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Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times
Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell walks outside the Poff Federal Building in Roanoke.
Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times
U.S. Attorney John Brownlee talks about the investigation of the Henry County Sheriff's Office at a press conference held today at the Poff Federal Building in Roanoke.
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- Arrests follow a string of scandals
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- See list of the charges and those indicted
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Indictment
Messsage board
COLLINSVILLE -- Thursday's arrest of Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell and several of his deputies was met with weary frustration in a community that's seen all too much scandal and struggle in recent years.
The incident brought remembrances of similar events in Southside's past, such as the arrest of former Henry County Administrator Sid Clower, the indictment of a county sheriff in the 1970s and, farther back, the great moonshine conspiracy trial of 1935, which took place just to the north in Franklin County.
"This is the most shocking thing to me since the situation with Sid Clower several years ago," said H.G. Vaughn, chairman of the Henry County Board of Supervisors. "We've been working awfully hard to get the county back on track with lots of positive things. ... I'm just trying to keep upbeat."
During a meeting later in the day, the board passed a resolution requesting the resignation of Cassell, who faces federal charges including money laundering, making false statements to federal authorities and obstruction of justice.
In the resolution, the board wrote that although it didn't intend to determine guilt or innocence, "Sheriff H.F. Cassell's ability to manage his department is irreparably damaged in light of these events."
Martinsville Mayor Kimble Reynolds lamented the possible effect the news could have on community morale and its perception by outsiders.
"I hope people won't forget a lot of the good things we've been trying to do and have accomplished in moving Southside forward," Reynolds said. "Unfortunately you run into times or situations when you have actions of a few reflecting poorly on a lot of good people working for the betterment of the area."
Michael McPeek, a former state trooper who unsuccessfully ran against Cassell in 2003, said the indictments put a "black eye" on law enforcement in Henry County.
"I think that the citizens of Henry County deserve better," McPeek said. "Henry County, Martinsville, the whole Southside, we deserve some good news. We don't deserve the bad news."
Just up the street from where state police troopers stood watch at the sheriff's office, patrons crowded into Pigs-R-Us for lunch.
"I think it's a disgrace," said Ron Poteat, a Collinsville man who heard about the arrests by word of mouth. "This does not represent the people of Henry County."
It was just four years ago that Clower made news after he was caught embezzling $818,323 from the Henry County Public Service Authority, which he also ran. He served 15 months in prison and was later sentenced to an additional 41 months for failing to pay back taxes to the federal government.
The Clower incident added insult to the economic injuries of a region that suffered the loss of thousands of jobs in the furniture and textile industries.
Since then, though, the community has moved forward. Earlier this year Gov. Tim Kaine signed legislation creating the New College Institute, which will offer four-year degrees to Southside students, and this fall it began offering its first classes.
And last month, the Harvest Foundation announced plans to build a state-of-the-art arena and soccer complex.
But Cassell's arrest brought those memories of Clower back to the forefront.
"In a community that had just been rocked by the scandal associated with Sid Clower, this type of thing doesn't do us any good in terms of the morale of the community," said state Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Henry County, who was first elected to the General Assembly the same year Cassell was first elected sheriff. "Unfortunately these things go on from time to time, and you've got to endure them when they occur."
Armstrong's colleague, state Sen. Roscoe Reynolds, D-Henry County, warned against judging Cassell and the others too hastily.
"It's important to our system of justice that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty," Reynolds said. "It's easy to overlook that sometimes."
He remembered the case of former Henry County Sheriff C.P. Witt, who in the late '70s was accused of embezzling money and indicted while still in office.
Though charged and tried, Witt was eventually found not guilty, though voters denied him two bids for re-election.
But the scale and scope of Thursday's indictments more closely resemble a 1935 case in Franklin County. In that case, 34 people, including the county commonwealth's attorney, a former sheriff, four deputies, a state officer and a federal agent, were indicted for their alleged involvement in a moonshine conspiracy ring.
The trial, documented by former lawyer Keister Greer in his book "The Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935," included accusations that the commonwealth's attorney and then-sheriff had run a protection racket, demanding tribute from moonshiners. If not paid, the officials would seize the bootleg alcohol and sell it to others.
All but three of the accused conspirators were convicted. Carter Lee, the commonwealth's attorney who was also the grandnephew of Civil War General Robert E. Lee, had been accused of masterminding the plot but was one of the few who were acquitted.
