Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993 TAG: 9312230115
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Lucy Mae Barlow, who took the money while working as a cashier at the civic center's box office, had faced a felony embezzlement charge and up to 20 years in prison.
But Roanoke Circuit Judge Roy Willett reduced the charge to a misdemeanor, gave Barlow a suspended 12-month jail sentence and ordered her to perform 150 hours of community service.
Barlow's boss, former head cashier Patricia Willis, was acquitted of a similar charge when a judge ruled she did not have criminal intent when she took $900 from a safe.
Prosecutors said both women put personal checks in the safe, took cash, and made sure their checks were never cashed.
Willis' lawyer, however, argued that the uncashed checks were informal IOUs that - while certainly improper - were not illegal.
Barlow, 49, pleaded guilty to embezzlement in November, before Willis' charge was dismissed by Judge Jack Coulter.
Defense attorney Susan Cohen alluded to the outcome in Willis' case in asking that Barlow's felony charge be reduced.
Willett noted that while each case should rest on its own merits, "courts cannot sentence in a vacuum, and have to be made aware of pertinent information."
Even Chief Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony asked that Barlow receive no jail time - a request she said her office makes "seldom, if ever" in such cases.
Barlow, who has no prior record except a traffic ticket, has repaid the money, expressed her remorse and cooperated fully with authorities, Anthony said.
"I'm not a criminal," Barlow testified. "I feel very bad about what happened."
Still, Anthony argued against reducing the charge to a misdemeanor. "What she did was steal $7,000, and that's a felony in anybody's book," Anthony said.
Barlow had testified that Willis took money from the safe in her presence and once told her, "We could get in a lot of trouble" if the scheme was discovered.
Not only did Barlow take more money than Willis did, prosecutors noted, but the checks she wrote did not cover the full amount taken from the safe.
Barlow, who worked for the civic center for 14 years, resigned as soon as the money was discovered to be missing.
Willis also has resigned, and her legal problems may not be over.
Anthony said Wednesday that prosecutors have filed a motion asking Coulter to reconsider his decision to dismiss her embezzlement charge.
by CNB