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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 15, 1991                   TAG: 9103150906
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DISMISSAL OF FRAUD CHARGE FOR FORMER GE WORKER DENIED

A federal judge denied a request to dismiss the charges after testimony ended in the fraud trial of a former General Electric employee credit union manager.

Testimony concluded Thursday in the trial of Sharon Carol Steele, 41, who is charged with obtaining more than $140,000 illegally from April 10, 1987 through Feb. 29, 1988, the day she resigned as manager of the Lynchburg financial institution.

Army Sgt. Dennis Robert Burlingame, 37, her boyfriend during the period and now her husband, is a co-defendant.

Their attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson to dismiss the charges at the conclusion of testimony, arguing that the credit union board was aware of the loans and that supervisors approved Steele's overtime.

by CNB