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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990                   TAG: 9004030285
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MCAFEE ASKS CUT OF PRISON SENTENCE

Norton ex-lawyer Carl McAfee asked a federal judge Monday to reduce the 15-month prison sentence he faces for helping Olga Thrasher in her drug-dealing and money-laundering efforts.

Judge Jackson Kiser took the matter under advisement and said he would rule on McAfee's motion before Wednesday, when McAfee is scheduled to report to a federal prison at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

McAfee's attorneys asked that his sentence be dropped to a probation term, that he be given credit for the 600 hours of community service he was required to perform and that the interest that has accrued on his $50,000 fine be reduced.

McAfee did community service at St. Mary's Hospital Psychiatric Center and Knights of Columbus in the Norton area, according to court records. He has paid the $50,000 fine but still must pay interest - which Kiser is to determine.

McAfee claims it was not clear when the interest on his fine would begin accruing. Calculated from the date of sentencing, interest on his fine by now would amount to $13,000, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Peters.

On Monday, McAfee's attorneys filed 40 to 50 letters from people in the Western Virginia community attesting to his character.

McAfee was convicted in 1988 on charges of being an accessory after the fact to the drug-dealing and money-laundering efforts of Thrasher, the widow of a missing drug pilot. McAfee contended he did nothing wrong and provided only legal advice to Thrasher, his client.

In February, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected McAfee's appeal.

McAfee's law license has been revoked. "A well-established and highly regarded reputation for McAfee and his family has been destroyed not only by his conviction but also by unfair and self-serving speculation and conjecture by persons with access to the news media," reads the motion for reduction, filed in U.S District Court in Roanoke. "The imposition and further suffering through the incarceration of Carl McAfee will serve no justifiable end."

Peters said the government objects to any reduction in McAfee's sentence.

by CNB