Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 24, 1993 TAG: 9312240165
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Although Kevin Meredith was cleared of 11 felony counts, a federal jury convicted him of one misdemeanor charge of possessing steroids.
The verdict came after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg, according to Sherry Muncy, assistant U.S. attorney .
Prosecutors had argued that Meredith, who was an administrative analyst for county police, purchased steroids in Morgantown, W.Va., and brought them back to the Roanoke Valley to sell to body-builders and other athletes.
A witness testified that he saw Meredith with 16 doses of steroids in a Morgantown home this past spring, Muncy said.
Meredith, 32, was convicted of possessing the steroids on that occasion, which the jury found was unrelated to a larger distribution scheme.
Two men involved in the distribution scheme have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, Muncy said.
Meredith will be sentenced later, and faces 15 days to two years incarceration and a fine of up to $1,500. He had faced up to 19 years on the felony charges.
When the Roanoke County Police Department was formed in 1990, Meredith was selected by Chief John Cease to help revise policies. He was not a sworn officer for the department.
Meredith was suspended after a West Virginia grand jury indicted him in September, and he resigned a short time later.
He was hired by Cease despite being charged in 1983 with felony possession of marijuana in Kanawha County, W.Va. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, and a judge took the case under advisement without convicting him.
Roanoke County officials have said they would not hire a sworn police officer with such a charge, but decided it should not prevent Meredith from taking an office job.
by CNB